Freedman's Bureau and Sharecropping/Tenant Farming

        The Freedman's Bureau was created in March of 1865. Their goal was to protect the rights of freed African Americans. It was started by Abraham Lincoln and was supposed to last one year after the Civil War. The Freedman's Bureau and people associated with it created schools and churches which are still standing today. They also supplied food, water, clothing, medicine, and more to the newly freed slaves. After the Civil War, most if not all Slaves were illiterate and uneducated. The only thing they knew how to do was what they were doing while they were slaves. Most worked on the fields while some worked in the house with their master. The Freedman's Bureau worked very well to help the former slaves transition to freedom.

        After the Civil War African Americans were not accustomed to the real world. This was due to their lack of education and social skills. Most blacks worked on farms while they were slaves so they were very good at farming. Now that they were free they could do the same thing they were previously doing and get paid for it. A lot of slaves earned some money by becoming sharecroppers. A sharecropper was someone who farmed somebody else's land. The only difference between this and slavery was that they were treated a little better and paid a little money. Most African Americans were still not treated like humans and they barely made a profit. Tenant Farming was similar to sharecropping but with more benefits. Tenant Farmers often owned equipment and sometimes farm animals. The landowners still provided the house and the land while the farmers paid them cash or a share of a crop.