How Black Americans Were Robbed of $66 Million & 14 Million Acres of Land

[History Thread]

March 3, 1865.

President Abraham Lincoln & Congress creates the Freedmen's Bureau, formally known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

The Bureau was created to cater to the needs of the millions of freed slaves after the Civil War.

Or so they thought.

The Freedmen's Bureau assisted and provided former slaves with:

- Food & Housing
- Medical Aid
- Established Schools
- Legal Assistance

They even tried to settle former slaves on land that was confiscated or abandoned during the war.

Among the founders, one of the key people in this bureau was none other than General Oliver Otis Howard.

Howard was appointed Commissioner of the Bureau in May of 1865.

In fact, the HBCU Howard University is named after the Union General.

One month prior to Howard's appointment, President Lincoln is assassinated by John W. Booth.

His successor, President Andrew Johnson would go on to veto the expansion of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1866.

On the grounds of giving preference of one group over another.

Go figure.

The Bureau, at its height, had 900 agents. Some of whom were corrupt and incompetent.

They created 1,000s of schools for Blacks, including several HBCUs like Howard, Fisk, and Hampton University.

One of the lesser known institutions being the Freedmen's Savings & Trust Company.

The Freedmen's Savings & Trust Company was headed by Congressman John W. Alvord and co-signed by President Lincoln.

It was created to help Ex-Slaves & Black American soldiers save and invest their money.

The Freedman's Bank Act was passed on the same day as the Bureau.

At its peak, the Freedman's Savings & Trust Company had 37 branches in 17 states across the country.

Including Baltimore, Atlanta, Charleston, Richmond, Philadelphia, and Houston to name a few.

70,000 Depositors with $3 million in deposits, roughly $57-66 Million inflated.

However, things would soon take a very sour turn for the depositors.

First off, the deposited funds were not insured by the Federal Government.

This means that in the event of theft or loss, the depositors had no way to recover their lost funds.

Unfortunately, it gets worse.

Whenever White Banks would lend funds to their account holders, they would use the money deposited into the "Black" Banks as funding.

This allowed White American homes, businesses, and institutions to be funded without much risk or downside.

This isn't the worst of it, however.

There was rampant levels of corruption, mismanagement, and outright fraud by the upper management of the Banks.

Bad investments wiped out 50% of their wealth.

Add the Banking Panic of 1873, and you have a recipe for financial disaster among the Black American community.

As a last ditch effort, Frederick Douglass was elected President of the Freedman's Banks. Investing $10,000 of his own dollars into the institution.

Douglass pleaded with Congress to keep the doors of the banks open, but to no avail.

On June 29 1874, the banks were closed.

What of the tens of millions of deposited dollars?

It was essentially gone. Largely stolen from the depositors outside of the few who were reimbursed.

Since it wasn't insured, payback was at the discretion of the banks.

Black families sued for their funds well into the 1930's.

This created a deep-seeded distrust of Banks by Blacks.

Parents warned their children about banking, and advised them to hold it at home or just spend it.

To this day 60% of Southern Black Americans are STILL unbanked, highlighting this as a generational lesson.

Black American Farmers and Landowners were finagled out of 14 Million Acres of land during this time as well.

Either through lack of Wills, the Great Migration from the South to the North, or outright (legal) theft, Black Americans were robbed by America.

So, THIS is why Black Americans aren't as financially literate as other communities today.

The Federal Government literally stole their money and land and never returned it.

If you're a Black American Investor or Landowner, consider yourself a rebel.

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