Reconstruction Era
Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau, was established in the Reconstruction era by an act of March 3, 1865. The Bureau supervised all relief and educational activities relating to freedmen, including issuing clothing and medicine. The Bureau also assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in the former Confederate States, border states, District of Columbia, and Indian Territory.The bureau was put into effect to protect the best interests of former slaves. Seventeen hundred dollars were spent to help establish 4,000 schools, 100 hospitals, and provide homes and food for past slaves. This bureau was also designed to help these former slaves find new jobs and improve their education and health.
Carpetbaggers
The term referred to the observation that these newcomers tended to carry carpet bags a common form of luggage at the time. The relocated northerners often formed alliances with freed slaves and southern whites who were Republicans, who were nicknamed scalawags.
