ed the Negroes in nearly all the Southern States. (DuBois, 77)These organizations brought with them finances to open schools, provide shelter and other services, distribute food, etc. The missionaries attempted to educate the adults with knowledge on how to obtain land by teaching them to interpret deeds, the importance of sending their children to school instead of working the fields, etc. The government also intervened during Reconstruction by providing the resources of the Freedmens Bureau. The Freedmens Bureau was designed by Congress to facilitate the transition of the former slaves to freedom. The Bureau took on many aspects as a relief association to aid refugees and freedman by furnishing supplies and medical services, establishing schools, supervising contracts between freedmen and their employers, and managing confiscated or abandoned lands. (Franklin, 37) The Bureau acted as a liaison between the former slaves and their employers in regards to them seeking labor. Any labor disputes between the former slaves and planters was brought to the Bureau for investigation and arbitration. The main successes of the Bureau lied in its strides in assisting the freedmen and their children receive education. Through this effort, along with the assistance of African American labor and finances from religious and philanthropic agencies, they founded many famous African American colleges such as Howard, Clark-Atlanta, and Hampton Institute. The main principle that the missionaries and organizations were attempting to instill in the former slaves was that without land and education they would not be able to protect their freedom in this hostile society. However, their were many contradictions within the Reconstruction Era that exploited the former slaves instead of uplifting them. For example, the Federal Government conceived The Grand Experiment which was done under the Treasury Department headed by Salmon P. Chase. In order to prov...
