What happened to the Freedmen’s Bank?

The Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company, commonly referred to as The Freedmen’s Bank, was incorporated on March 3, 1865.  It was created by the United States Congress along with the Freedmen’s Bureau to aid the freedmen in their transition from slavery to freedom.  – Blackpast.org

sa-6 freedmens bureau, freedmans bank

This was a period in time when the ex – slaves were to become a actual nationality with a system to establish themselves economically as a people, but this effort was thwarted and thus we were never nationalized.

Abraham lincoln was assassinated on April 5,1865 after signing the Freedmen’s Saving and Trust Bill into law JUST A MONTH EARLIER on March 3, 1865! The following President VETOED THIS BILL TWICE! The congress pushed the bill through and the Freedmen’s Bank was established not without much opposition as you can see from this propaganda.

Freedman's_bureau

~ So when you hear, “Black people are lazy” you now know that it was started as a tactic to discourage Caucasians from supporting the efforts of the Ex-slave from becoming a established people ~ 

econimic empowerment

By 1874, massive fraud (which I believe was sabotage) among upper management and among the board of directors had taken its toll on the bank.  Moreover, economic instability brought upon by the Panic of 1873 coupled with the bank’s rapid expansion proved disastrous.  Hoping to revive the bank, Frederick Douglass, who was elected president in 1874, donated tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to shore up the declining institution.
Although Douglass pleaded for Congress to intervene, on June 29, 1874, the bank was officially closed. At the date of closing $2,993,790.68 was due to 61,144 depositors.  Mistakenly believing that the deposits were insured by the federal government, the bank’s collapse left many African Americans cynical about the banking industry.

Sources:

Walter L. Fleming, The Freedmen’s Saving Bank: A Chapter in the Economic History of the Negro Race (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1927); Claude F. Oubre, Forty Acres and a Mule: The Freedmen’s Bureau and Black Land Ownership (Baton Rouge: The Louisiana State University Press, 1978), pp. 43, 68, 159-60;

– See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/freedmen-s-savings-and-trust-company-1865.

rep·a·ra·tion
ˌrepəˈrāSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.
    “the courts required a convicted offender to make financial reparation to his victim”
    synonyms: amends, restitution, redress, compensation, recompense, repayment,atonement

    “the victims are seeking reparation”

When you hear me or others asking for reparations it is usually laughed at or written off as ridiculous yet as I read over the definition and recall other oppressed, victimized, and mistreated peoples they fought for and were granted REPARATIONS.

The Freedman’s Bank went under and so did the hope of Black People in becoming financially responsible and respected.

bank

There was a bill for “40 acres and a mule” by General William T. Sherman special order no. 15, however after President Lincoln’s assassination the succeeding President stopped the bill from becoming law. 

bobby seal

It would seem that their are powers set up against the upward movement of Black People, yet I am optimistic in our future and hopeful for our tomorrow. I believe with vision and purposeful action there will be a Revolution in our lifetime.

in our lifetime

 

The Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company, commonly referred to as The Freedmen’s Bank, was incorporated on March 3, 1865.  It was created by the United States Congress along with the Freedmen’s Bureau to aid the freedmen in their transition from slavery to freedom.  – Blackpast.org This was a period in time when the ex –…

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