The purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau, officially known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, was to assist newly freed African Americans and impoverished whites in the aftermath of the Civil War. The agency provided food, clothing, medical care, and education, as well as helped with employment and land ownership. It also worked to protect the civil rights of freed people and supported their transition to full citizenship. The Freedmen’s Bureau operated from 1865 to 1872.
