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97-707: The Secretary of War , a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence. The War Department existed from August 7, 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force later joined

194-516: A basic structure to build acceptable practices of upstanding lives. At many of these institutions, Christian principles and practices were also part of the daily regime. Despite the untimely dissolution of the Freedmen's Bureau, its legacy influenced the important historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which were the chief institutions of higher learning for blacks in the South through

291-476: A building at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to the Executive Mansion , part of a complex of four matching brick Georgian/Federal style buildings for Cabinet departments with War in the northwest, Navy in the southwest and to the other side: State to the northeast and Treasury in the southeast. The War Department building was supplemented in the 1850s by a building across the street to

388-663: A humanitarian motivation. As a group, the black cohort showed the greatest commitment to racial equality; and they were the ones most likely to remain teachers. The school curriculum resembled that of schools in the north. The building and opening by the AMA and other missionary societies of schools of higher learning for African Americans coincided with the shift in focus for the Freedmen's Aid Societies from supporting an elementary education for all African Americans to enabling African-American leaders to gain high school and college educations. Some white officials working with African Americans in

485-686: A major source of documentation on the operations of the Bureau, political and social conditions in the Reconstruction Era, and the genealogies of freedpeople. The Freedmen's Bureau Project (announced on June 19, 2015) was created as a set of partnerships between FamilySearch International and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian 's National Museum of African American History and Culture ,

582-517: A new system of healthcare for the freedmen. Although a majority of the agency's relief rations went to freedpeople, a large number of whites also benefited. In Georgia, poor whites received almost one-fifth of the Bureau's rations. In North Carolina, the bureau employed: 9 contract surgeons, at $ 100 per month; 26 hospital attendants, at average pay each per month $ 11.25; 18 civilian employees, clerks, agents, etc., at an average pay per month of $ 17.20; 4 laborers, at an average pay per month of $ 11.90, for

679-477: A system of universal, state-supported public education; in addition, most had prohibited both enslaved and free blacks from gaining an education. This meant learning to read and write, and do simple arithmetic. Former slaves wanted public education while the wealthier whites opposed the idea. Freedmen had a strong desire to learn to read and write; some had already started schools at refugee camps; others worked hard to establish schools in their communities even prior to

776-408: A total annual salaries of $ 18,596.40, which is approximately $ 595,000 in 2024 dollars; enlisted men are detailed as orderlies, guards, etc., by commanding officers of the different military posts where officers of the Bureau were serving. Some misconduct was reported to the bureau main office that bureau agents were using their posts for personal gains. Colonel E. Whittlesey was questioned but said he

873-492: Is $ 821,600 in 2024 dollars. General Saxton was head of the bureau operations in South Carolina; he was reported by Steedman and Fullerton to have made so many "mistakes and blunders" that he made matters worse for the freedmen. He was replaced by Brigadier General R. K. Scott. Steedman and Fullerton described Scott as energetic and a competent officer. It appeared that he took great pains to turn things around and correct

970-587: Is now known as Hampton University. The Freedmen's Bureau published their own freedmen's textbook. They emphasized the bootstrap philosophy, encouraging freedmen to believe that each person had the ability to work hard and to do better in life. These readers included traditional literacy lessons, as well as selections on the life and works of Abraham Lincoln , excerpts from the Bible focused on forgiveness, biographies of famous African Americans with emphasis on their piety, humbleness, and industry; and essays on humility,

1067-596: The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum . With the help of more than 25,000 volunteers, the project was completed on June 20, 2016. Information about millions of African Americans is now accessible, allowing families to build their family trees and connect with their ancestors. In October 2006, Virginia governor Tim Kaine announced that Virginia would be

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1164-693: The American Freedmen's Inquiry Commission was established. Two years later, as a result of the inquiry the Freedmen's Bureau Bill was passed, which established the Freedmen's Bureau as initiated by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln . It was intended to last for one year after the end of the Civil War. The Bureau became a part of the United States Department of War , as Congress provided no funding for it. The War Department

1261-800: The Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position. When Washington was inaugurated as the first President under the Constitution , he appointed Knox to continue serving as Secretary of War. The secretary of war was the head of the War Department . At first, he was responsible for all military affairs, including naval affairs . In 1798,

1358-510: The Freedmen's Bureau , was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction , assisting freedmen (i.e., former slaves) in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a federal agency after the War, from 1865 to 1872, to direct provisions, clothing, and fuel for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children. In 1863,

1455-544: The Hampton Institute and Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute (from 1881). They said that black students should be able to leave home and "live in an atmosphere conducive not only to scholarship but to culture and refinement". Most of these colleges, universities and normal schools combined what they believed were the best fundamentals of a college with that of the home, giving students

1552-462: The Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for more effective control over the department and its bureaus. Secretary of War Elihu Root (1899–1904) sought to appoint a chief of staff as general manager and a European-type general staff for planning, aiming to achieve this goal in a businesslike manner, but General Nelson A. Miles stymied his efforts. Root enlarged

1649-828: The secretary of the Navy was created by statute, and the scope of responsibility for this office was reduced to the affairs of the United States Army . From 1886 onward, the secretary of war was in the line of succession to the presidency , after the vice president of the United States , the Speaker of the House of Representatives , the President pro tempore of the Senate and the secretary of state . In 1947, with

1746-575: The "State, War, and Navy Building" (now the Old Executive Office Building , and later renamed to honor General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower ), built in the same location as its predecessors. By the 1930s, the Department of State squeezed the War Department from its office space, and the White House also desired additional office space. In August 1939, Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring and Acting Chief of Staff of

1843-625: The American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, and in coastal artillery units in port cities, dealing with the threat of a naval attack. The United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000. Temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought

1940-468: The Army Air Forces gained virtual independence in every way from the rest of the army. After World War II, the Department of War abandoned Marshall's organization for the fragmented prewar pattern while the independent services continually parried efforts to reestablish firm executive control over their operations. The National Security Act of 1947 split the War Department into the Department of

2037-785: The Army George C. Marshall moved their offices into the Munitions Building , a temporary structure built on the National Mall during World War I. In the late 1930s, the government constructed the War Department Building (renamed in 2000 as the Harry S Truman Building ) at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom , but upon completion, the new building did not solve the space problem of the department, and

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2134-527: The Army and the Department of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Air Force served as operating managers for the new Secretary of Defense. In the early years, between 1797 and 1800, the Department of War was headquartered in Philadelphia ; it moved with the other federal agencies to the new national capital at Washington, D.C. , in 1800. In 1820, headquarters moved into

2231-529: The Board of War and Ordnance in 1776, operated by members of Congress. A second board was created in 1777, the Board of War, to operate separately from Congress. The Congress of the Confederation eventually replaced the system of boards with the Department of War. Only five positions were created within the department upon its creation: the Secretary at War, an assistant, a secretary, and two clerks. Shortly after

2328-536: The Bureau of most of its funding, and as a result it had to cut much of its staff. By 1870 the Bureau had been weakened further due to the rise of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) violence across the South; members of the KKK and other terrorist organizations, attacked both blacks and sympathetic white Republicans , including teachers. Northern Democrats also opposed the Bureau's work, painting it as a program that would make African Americans "lazy". In 1872 Congress abruptly abandoned

2425-514: The Bureau to deal with Indian affairs in the west. Upon returning from his assignment in November 1872, General Howard discovered that the Bureau and all of its activities had been officially terminated by Congress, effective as of June. While General Howard was dealing with Indian affairs in the west, the Freedmen's Bureau was steadily losing its support in Congress. President Johnson had opposed

2522-488: The Bureau, with the support of the military, had the primary authority. In certain areas, such as the Sea Islands , many freedmen were destitute. Many had tried to cultivate the land and began businesses with little to no success in the social disruption of the period. Suffering much less damage in the war than some other Deep South states, Texas became a destination for some 200,000 refugee blacks from other parts of

2619-402: The Civil War the enslaved could not marry legally, and most marriages had been informal, although planters often presided over "marriage" ceremonies for their enslaved. After the war, the Freedmen's Bureau performed numerous marriages for freed couples who asked for it. As many husbands, wives, and children had been forcibly separated under slavery , the Bureau agents helped families reunite after

2716-570: The Department of State ultimately used it. Coming into office with World War II raging in Europe and Asia, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson faced with the situation of the War Department spread through the overcrowded Munitions Building and numerous other buildings across Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland and Virginia . On July 28, 1941, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington, Virginia , which would house

2813-551: The Department of War. Many agencies still fragmented authority, burdening the chief of staff with too many details, making the whole Department of War poorly geared toward directing the army in a global war. General Marshall described the chief of staff then as a "poor command post." President Roosevelt brought in Henry L. Stimson as Secretary of War; after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , Stimson supported Marshall in reorganizing

2910-579: The Department of the Navy under the United States Department of Defense in 1949. The Department of War traces its origins to the committees created by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to oversee the Revolutionary War . Individual committees were formed for each issue, including committees to secure ammunition, to raise funds for gunpowder, and to organize a national militia. These committees were consolidated into

3007-515: The Education Act of 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as "an institution whose principal missions were and are the education of Black Americans". HBCUs graduate over 50% of African-American professionals, 50% of African-American public school teachers, and 70% of African-American dentists. In addition, 50% of African Americans who graduate from HBCUs pursue graduate or professional degrees. One in three degrees held by African Americans in

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3104-589: The Freedmen's Bureau and his attitude encouraged many people, especially white Southerners, to challenge the Bureau. But insurgents showed that the war had not ended, as armed whites attacked black Republicans and their sympathizers, including teachers and officeholders. Congress dismantled the Bureau in 1872 due to pressure from white Southerners. The Bureau was unable to change much of the social dynamic as whites continued to seek supremacy over blacks, frequently with violence. In his autobiography, General Howard expressed great frustration about Congress having closed down

3201-415: The Freedmen's Bureau could institute martial law in his district. All but three judges accepted their unwanted commissions, and the governor urged compliance. Perhaps the most difficult region reported by the Freedmen's Bureau was Louisiana 's Caddo and Bossier parishes in the northwest part of the state. It had not suffered wartime devastation or Union occupation, but white hostility was high against

3298-490: The Freedmen's Bureau to provide education for former slaves. The American Missionary Association (AMA) was particularly active, establishing eleven "colleges" in Southern states for the education of freedmen. The primary focus of these groups was to raise funds to pay teachers and manage schools, while the secondary focus was the day-to-day operation of individual schools. After 1866, Congress appropriated some funds to operate

3395-641: The National Archivist to preserve the extensive records of the Bureau on microfilm, and work with educational institutions to index the records. In addition to those records of the Bureau headquarters, assistant commissioners, and superintendents of education, the National Archives now has records of the field offices, marriage records, and records of the Freedmen's Branch of the Adjutant General on microfilm. They are being digitized and made available through online databases. These constitute

3492-499: The North, motivated by religion and abolitionism to teach in the South. In the early 21st century, new research has found that half the teachers were southern whites; one-third were blacks (mostly southern), and one-sixth were northern whites. Few were abolitionists; few came from New England. Men outnumbered women. The salary was the strongest motivation except for the northerners, who were typically funded by northern organizations and had

3589-417: The South passed new state constitutions disenfranchising most blacks by creating barriers to voter registration. They then passed Jim Crow laws establishing legal segregation of public places. Segregated schools and other services for blacks were consistently underfunded by the Southern legislatures. By 1871, Northerners' interest in reconstructing the South had waned. Northerners were beginning to tire of

3686-778: The South to help the freedmen and plant new congregations. By this time the independent black denominations were increasingly well organized and prepared to evangelize to the freedmen. Within a decade, the AME and AME Zion churches had gained hundreds of thousands of new members and were rapidly organizing new congregations. Even before the war, blacks had established independent Baptist congregations in some cities and towns, such as Silver Bluff and Charleston, South Carolina; and Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. In many places, especially in more rural areas, they shared public services with whites. Often enslaved blacks met secretly to conduct their own services away from white supervision or oversight. After

3783-591: The South were concerned about what they considered the lack of a moral or financial foundation seen in the African-American community and traced that lack of foundation back to slavery. Generally, they believed that Blacks needed help to enter a free labor market and rebuild a stable family life. Heads of local American Missionary Associations sponsored various educational and religious efforts for African Americans. Later efforts for higher education were supported by such leaders as Samuel Chapman Armstrong of

3880-648: The South, in addition to 200,000 already in Texas. Slavery had been prevalent only in East Texas , and some freedmen hoped for the chance of new types of opportunity in the lightly populated but booming state. The Bureau's political role was central, as was close attention to the need for schools. The Freedmen's Bureau had 58 clerks and superintendents of farms, paid average monthly wages $ 78.50; 12 assistant superintendents, paid average monthly wages 87.00; and 163 laborers, paid average monthly wages 11.75; as personnel in

3977-537: The United States Department of Defense. On the same day this act was signed, Executive Order 9877 assigned primary military functions and responsibilities with the former War Department split between the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force. In the aftermath of World War II, the American government (among others around the world) decided to abandon the word 'War' when referring to

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4074-697: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and the General Staff. He changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line. Concerned about the new territories acquired after the Spanish–American War, Root worked out

4171-586: The War Department building with its records and files was consumed by fire. The United States Military Academy at West Point and the Army Corps of Engineers were established in 1802. The Department of War was reduced in size following the end of the Quasi-War in 1802, but it was subsequently expanded in the years leading up to the War of 1812 . To accommodate this expansion, sub-departments were created within

4268-438: The advent of the Freedmen's Bureau. The Freedmen's Bureau schools were also open to poor whites, however, almost no whites attended because "Despite the absence of statewide systems in most Southern states, most parents preferred to consign their children to illiteracy rather than to see them educated alongside black children." Oliver Otis Howard was appointed as the first Freedmen's Bureau Commissioner. Through his leadership,

4365-692: The agency to leave. In their review, Steedman and Fullerton repeated their conclusion from Virginia, which was to withdraw the Bureau and turn daily operations over to the military. In South Carolina, the bureau employed nine clerks, at average pay each per month $ 108.33, one rental agent, at monthly pay of $ 75.00, one clerk, at monthly pay of $ 50.00, one storekeeper, at monthly pay of $ 85.00, one counselor, at monthly pay of $ 125.00, one superintendent of education, at monthly pay of $ 150.00, one printer, at monthly pay of $ 100.00, one contract surgeon, at monthly pay of $ 100.00, and twenty-five laborers, at average pay per month $ 19.20. Total annual salaries of $ 25,679.64 which

4462-785: The army under the War Powers Act of 1941 . He divided the Army of the United States (AUS) into three autonomous components to conduct the operations of the War Department: the Army Ground Forces (AGF) trained land troops; the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) developed an independent air arm; and the Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces ) directed administrative and logistical operations. The Operations Division acted as general planning staff for Marshall. By 1942,

4559-405: The assistant commissioners, realizing that African Americans would not receive fair trials in the civil courts, tried to handle black cases in their own Bureau courts. Southern whites objected that this was unconstitutional. In Alabama , the Bureau commissioned state and county judges as Bureau agents. They were to try cases involving blacks with no distinctions on racial grounds. If a judge refused,

4656-445: The bill, arguing that the Bureau encroached on states' rights , relied inappropriately on the military in peacetime, gave blacks help that poor whites had never had, and would ultimately prevent freed slaves from becoming self-sufficient by rendering them dependent on public assistance. Though the 39th United States Congress —controlled by Radical Republicans —overrode Johnson's veto, by 1869 Southern Democrats in Congress had deprived

4753-435: The black majority population. Well-meaning Bureau agents were understaffed and weakly supported by federal troops, and found their investigations blocked and authority undermined at every turn by recalcitrant plantation owners. Murders of freedmen were common, and white suspects in these cases were not prosecuted. Bureau agents did negotiate labor contracts, build schools and hospitals, and aid freedmen, but they struggled against

4850-579: The bureau set up four divisions: Government-Controlled Lands, Records, Financial Affairs, and Medical Affairs. Education was considered part of the Records division. Howard turned over confiscated property including planters' mansions, government buildings, books, and furniture to superintendents to be used in the education of freedmen. He provided transportation and room and board for teachers. Many Northerners came south to educate freedmen. By 1866, Northern missionary and aid societies worked in conjunction with

4947-501: The bureau. He said, "the legislative action, however, was just what I desired, except that I would have preferred to close out my own Bureau and not have another do it for me in an unfriendly manner in my absence." All documents and matters pertaining to the Freedmen's Bureau were transferred from the office of General Howard to the War Department of the United States Congress. The Bureau began distributing rations in

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5044-621: The civilian leadership of their military. One vestige of the former nomenclature is the names of the service was colleges: the Army War College, the Naval War College , and the Air War College , which still train U.S. military officers in battlefield tactics and the strategy of war fighting. The date "MDCCLXXVIII" and the designation "War Office" are indicative of the origin of the seal. The date (1778) refers to

5141-660: The conditions of slavery. Also, the Freedmen's Bureau only controlled a limited amount of arable land. The Bureau's powers were expanded to help African Americans find family members from whom they had become separated during the war. It arranged to teach them to read and write—skills considered critical by the freedmen themselves as well as by the government. Bureau agents also served as legal advocates for African Americans in both state and federal courts, mostly in cases dealing with family issues. The Bureau encouraged former major planters to rebuild their plantations and pay wages to their previously enslaved workers. It kept an eye on

5238-445: The contracts between the newly free laborers and planters, given that few freedmen had yet gained adequate reading skills, and pushed whites and blacks to work together in a free-labor market as employers and employees rather than as masters and slaves. In 1866 Congress renewed the charter for the Bureau. President Andrew Johnson , a Southern Democrat who had succeeded to the office following Lincoln's assassination in 1865, vetoed

5335-890: The decades of segregation into the mid-20th century. Under the direction and sponsorship of the Bureau, together with the American Missionary Association in many cases, from approximately 1866 until its termination in 1872, an estimated 25 institutions of higher learning for black youth were established. The leaders among them continue to operate as highly ranked institutions in the 21st century and have seen increasing enrollment. (Examples of HBCUs include Howard University , St. Augustine's College , Fisk University , Johnson C. Smith University , Clark Atlanta University , Dillard University , Shaw University , Virginia Union University , and Tougaloo College ). As of 2009 , there exist approximately 105 HBCUs that range in scope, size, organization, and orientation. Under

5432-537: The department and the army fell to Secretary Knox, while direct field command of the small Regular Army fell to President Washington. In 1798, Congress authorized President John Adams to create a second provisional army under the command of former President Washington in anticipation of the Quasi-War , but this army was never utilized. The Department of War was also responsible for overseeing interactions with Native Americans in its early years. On November 8, 1800,

5529-451: The department, with each one led by a general staff officer . These sub-departments were reformed into a modern system of bureaus by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun in 1818. Secretary Calhoun created the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, which served as the main agency within the War Department for addressing the issues regarding Native Americans until 1849, when Congress transferred it to

5626-454: The depots for the supplies. The ration was larger in winter and spring, and reduced in seasons when locally grown food was available. In 1866, the depot at Huntsville provided five thousand rations a day. The food was distributed without regard to race. Corruption and abuse was so great that in October 1866, President Johnson ended in-kind aid in that state. One hundred twenty thousand dollars

5723-597: The effort that Reconstruction required, were discouraged by the high rate of continuing violence around elections, and were ready for the South to take care of itself. All of the Southern states had created new constitutions that established universal, publicly funded education. Groups based in the North began to redirect their money toward universities and colleges founded to educate African-American leaders. Written accounts by northern women and missionary societies resulted in historians' overestimating their influence, writing that most Bureau teachers were well-educated women from

5820-688: The entire department under one roof. When construction of the Pentagon was completed in 1943, the Secretary of War vacated the Munitions Building and the department began moving into the Pentagon. The United States Secretary of War, a member of the United States Cabinet, headed the War Department. The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Military Establishment , later renamed

5917-405: The establishment of a government under President George Washington in 1789, Congress reestablished the War Department as a civilian agency to administer the field army under the president (as commander-in-chief ) and the secretary of war. Retired senior General Henry Knox , then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War . When the department was created, the president

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6014-423: The freedmen's schools. The main source of educational revenue for these schools came through a Congressional Act that gave the Freedmen's Bureau the power to seize Confederate property for educational use. George Ruby , an African American, served as a teacher and school administrator and as a traveling inspector for the Bureau, observing local conditions, aiding in the establishment of black schools, and evaluating

6111-543: The general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force (AEF) field headquarters, which he commanded. The general staff in the early 1920s exercised little effective control over the bureaus, but the chiefs of staff gradually gained substantial authority over them by 1939, when General George C. Marshall assumed the office of Army Chief of Staff . During World War II , General Marshall principally advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on military strategy and expended little effort in acting as general manager of

6208-615: The general staff to few members before America entered World War I on April 6, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson supported Secretary of War Newton D. Baker , who opposed efforts to control the bureaus and war industry until competition for limited supplies almost paralyzed industry and transportation, especially in the North. Yielding to pressure from Congress and industry, Secretary Baker placed Benedict Crowell in charge of munitions and made Major General George W. Goethals acting quartermaster general and General Peyton C. March chief of staff. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized

6305-487: The late stages of the war, the department took charge of refugees and freedmen (freed slaves) in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands . During the Reconstruction era , this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U.S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of

6402-498: The leadership of both parties in the state. He was warmly praised by observers on all sides. In an annual report dated October 1, 1866, it was reported that the Bureau had appointed twenty-four civilian special agents to assist the eighteen military officers who were already serving as Sub-assistant Commissioners. The Bureau played a major role in Georgia politics. It was especially active in setting up, monitoring, and enforcing labor contracts for both men and women. It also set up

6499-422: The major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood , his chief of staff, revived the Root reforms. The general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. The Congress reversed these changes in support of the bureaus and in the National Defense Act of 1916 reduced the size and functions of

6596-437: The mistakes made by his predecessors. The investigators learned of reported murders of freedmen by a band of outlaws. These outlaws were thought to be people from other states, such as Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee, who had been part of the rebel army ( Ku Klux Klan chapters were similarly started by veterans in the first years after the war.) When citizens were asked why the perpetrators had not been arrested, many answered that

6693-402: The natural sciences, and half the degrees held by African Americans in mathematics, were earned at HBCUs. Perhaps the best known of these institutions is Howard University , founded in Washington, D.C., in 1867, with the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau. It was named for the commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, General Oliver Otis Howard . After the Civil War, control over existing churches

6790-429: The newly founded Department of the Interior . The U.S. Soldiers' Home was created in 1851. During the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation and pay of two million soldiers, comprising both the regular army and the much larger temporary volunteer army. A separate command structure took charge of military operations. In

6887-401: The passing of the National Security Act of 1947 , the secretary of war was replaced by the secretary of the Army and the secretary of the Air Force , which, along with the secretary of the Navy, have since 1949 been non-Cabinet subordinates under the secretary of defense . The secretary of the Army's office is generally considered the direct successor to the secretary of war's office although

6984-527: The performance of Bureau field officers. Blacks supported him, but planters and other whites opposed him. Overall, the Bureau spent $ 5 million to set up schools for blacks. By the end of 1865, more than 90,000 former slaves were enrolled as students in such public schools. Attendance rates at the new schools for freedmen were about 80%. Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong created and led Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia in 1868. It

7081-594: The president of the board, the secretary wore no special insignia. The inspector general, quartermaster general , commissary general, and adjutant general served on the secretary's staff. However, the Army itself under Secretary Henry Knox only consisted of 700 men.     Federalist (4)     Democratic-Republican (8)     Democratic (14)     Whig (5)     Republican (25) Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands , usually referred to as simply

7178-608: The procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, wrote the charter of government for the Philippines, and eliminated tariffs on goods imported to the United States from Puerto Rico. Root's successor as Secretary of War, William Howard Taft , returned to the traditional secretary-bureau chief alliance, subordinating the chief of staff to the adjutant general, a powerful office since its creation in 1775. Indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power; President Theodore Roosevelt made

7275-465: The program, refusing to approve renewal legislation. It did not inform Howard, whom U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant had transferred to Arizona to settle hostilities between the Apache and settlers. Grant's Secretary of War William W. Belknap was hostile to Howard's leadership and authority at the Bureau. Belknap aroused controversy among Republicans by his reassignment of Howard. The Bureau mission

7372-425: The river corridors, which broke out across the South and caused many fatalities, especially among the poor. Freedmen's Bureau agents initially complained that freedwomen were refusing to contract their labor . One of the first actions black families took for independence was to withdraw women's labor from fieldwork. The Bureau attempted to force freedwomen to work by insisting that their husbands sign contracts making

7469-488: The same Desperadoes. Blacks were reported to have killed the two white men in the altercation. The whites' Arkansas friends and local whites went on a rampage against blacks in the area, resulting in more than 150 blacks being killed. In March 1872, at the request of President Ulysses S. Grant and the Secretary of the Interior, Columbus Delano , General Howard was asked to temporarily leave his duties as Commissioner of

7566-594: The secretary of defense took the secretary of war's position in the Cabinet, and the line of succession to the presidency. The office of Secretary at War was modeled upon Great Britain's secretary at war , who was William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington , at the time of the American Revolution. The office of Secretary at War was meant to replace both the commander-in-chief and the Board of War , and like

7663-497: The state of Virginia. Other personnel included orderlies and guards. During the war, slaves had escaped to Union lines and forts in the Tidewater, where contraband camps were established. Many stayed in that area after the war, seeking protection near the federal forts. The Bureau fed 9,000 to 10,000 blacks a month over the winter, explaining: In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Freedmen's Bureau Preservation Act, which directed

7760-547: The summer of 1865. Drought conditions resulted in so much need that the state established its own Office of the Commissioner of the Destitute to provide additional relief. The two agencies coordinated their efforts starting in 1866. The Bureau established depots in eight major cities. Counties were allocated aid in kind each month based on the number of poor reported. The counties were required to provide transportation from

7857-441: The supply system of the army and practically wiped out the bureaus as quasi-independent agencies. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it direct authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence. The Commission on Training Camp Activities addressed moral standards of the troops. In the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned

7954-467: The violence of the oppressive environment. In addition to internal parish problems, this area was reportedly invaded by insurgents from Arkansas, described as Desperadoes by the Bureau agent in 1868. In September 1868, for example, whites arrested and convicted 21 blacks accused of planning an insurrection in Bossier Parish. Henry Jones, accused of being the leader of the purported insurrection,

8051-601: The war, freedmen mostly withdrew from the white-dominated congregations of the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches in order to be free of white supervision. Within a short time, they were organizing black Baptist state associations and organized a national association in the 1890s. Northern mission societies raised funds for land, buildings, teachers' salaries, and basic necessities such as books and furniture. For years they used networks throughout their churches to raise money for freedmen's education and worship. Most of

8148-427: The war. The Bureau had an informal regional communications system that allowed agents to send inquiries and provide answers. It sometimes provided transportation to reunite families. Freedmen and freedwomen turned to the Bureau for assistance in resolving issues of abandonment and divorce. The most widely recognized accomplishments of the Freedmen's Bureau were in education. Prior to the Civil War, no Southern state had

8245-589: The west known as the Annex and became very important during the Civil War with President Abraham Lincoln visiting the War Office's telegraph room for constant updates and reports and walking back and forth to the "Residence". The original 1820 structures for War and Navy on the west side of the now famous White House was replaced in 1888 by construction of a new building of French Empire design with mansard roofs,

8342-437: The whole family available as field labor in the cotton industry , and by declaring that unemployed freedwomen should be treated as vagrants just as black men were. The Bureau did allow some exceptions, such as married women with employed husbands, and some "worthy" women who had been widowed or abandoned and had large families of small children to care for. Women considered "unworthy" by the Bureau, were often penalized. Before

8439-401: The work ethic, temperance, loving one's enemies, and avoiding bitterness. J. W. Alvord, an inspector for the Bureau, wrote that the freedmen "have the natural thirst for knowledge," aspire to "power and influence … coupled with learning," and are excited by "the special study of books." Among the former slaves, both children and adults sought this new opportunity to learn. After the Bureau

8536-557: The year of its adoption. The term "War Office" used during the Revolution , and for many years afterward, was associated with the Headquarters of the Army . United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president 's Cabinet , beginning with George Washington 's administration . A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve

8633-584: Was a contentious issue. The Methodist denomination had split into regional associations in the 1840s prior to the war, as had the Baptists, when Southern Baptists were founded. In some cities, Northern Methodists seized control of Southern Methodist buildings. Numerous northern denominations, including the independent black denominations of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion , sent missionaries to

8730-490: Was abolished, some of its achievements collapsed under the weight of white violence against schools and teachers for blacks. Most Reconstruction-era legislatures had established public education but, after the 1870s, when white Democrats regained power of Southern governments, they reduced funds available to fund public education, particularly for blacks. Beginning in 1890 in Mississippi, Democratic-dominated legislatures in

8827-450: Was authorized to appoint two inspectors to oversee the troops. Congress created several additional offices over the course of the 1790s, including the major general , brigadier general , quartermaster general , chaplain , surgeon general , adjutant general , superintendent of military stores, paymaster general , judge advocate , inspector general , physician general, apothecary general, purveyor, and accountant. Forming and organizing

8924-448: Was borrowed by planters. The Bureau's humanitarian efforts had limited success. Medical treatment of the freedmen was severely deficient, as few Southern doctors, all of whom were white, would treat them. Much infrastructure had been destroyed by the war, and people had few means of improving sanitation. Blacks had little opportunity to become medical personnel. Travelers unknowingly carried epidemics of cholera and yellow fever along

9021-407: Was given to the state to provide relief to the end of January 1867. Aid was ended in the state. Records show that by the end of the program, four times as many White people received aid than did Black people. The Florida Bureau was assessed to be working effectively. Thomas Ward Osborne , the assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Florida, was an astute politician who collaborated with

9118-470: Was not involved in nor knew of anyone involved in such activities. The bureau exercised what whites believed were arbitrary powers: making arrests, imposing fines, and inflicting punishments. They were considered to be disregarding the local laws and especially the statute of limitations. Their activities resulted in resentment among whites toward the federal government in general. These powers invoked negative feelings in many southerners that sparked many to want

9215-506: Was shot and left to burn by whites, but he survived, badly hurt. Other freedmen were killed or driven from their land by Arkansas Desperadoes. Whites were anxious about their power as blacks were to receive the franchise, and tensions were rising over land use. In early October, blacks arrested two whites from Arkansas "accused of being part of a mob ... that killed several Negroes." The agent reported 14 blacks had been killed in this incident, then said that another eight to ten had been killed by

9312-447: Was the only agency with funds the Freedmen's Bureau could use and which had an existing presence in the South. Headed by Union Army General Oliver O. Howard , the Bureau started operations in 1865. From the beginning, its representatives found its tasks very difficult, in part because Southern legislatures passed Black Codes that restricted movement, conditions of labor, and other civil rights of African Americans , nearly replicating

9409-466: Was to help solve everyday problems of the newly freed slaves, such as obtaining food, medical care, communication with family members, and jobs. Between 1865 and 1869, it distributed 15 million rations of food to freed African Americans and 5 million rations to impoverished whites, and set up a system by which planters could borrow rations in order to feed freedmen they employed. Although the Bureau set aside $ 350,000 for this latter service, only $ 35,000 (10%)

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