Freedman's Savings Bank

[2][5]: 138  Historians believe that the bank's failure not only destroyed the savings of many African Americans, but also their trust in financial institutions.To help alleviate their socio-economic conditions, the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, passing an act of incorporation and a charter for the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1865 (13 Stat.[3][8] Senator Blanche Bruce of the Select Committee on the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, himself a former slave, wrote As its name imports, the institution was designed to perform for a particular class of our people the simple but important functions of a savings bank; its declared purpose being "to receive on deposit such sums of money as may from time to time be offered therefor, by or on behalf of persons heretofore held in slavery in the United States or their descendants, and investing the same in the stocks, bonds, treasury notes, or other securities of the United States.In the bank's first year, in 1865, two of the branches established were created through the transfer of existing local military savings institutions.[5]: 69 From the Freedman's Savings Bank's creation, there were several deficiencies in its governance and management that contributed to its ultimate collapse.[5]: 8 There is also evidence that the bank's management misled depositors about a supposed government guarantee, interest payments, and the use of the deposit funds.[5] In violation of its charter, the Freedman's Bank invested in the bonds of the Union Pacific and Central Railroads, made as early as 1869.On May 2, 1870, the bank was authorized by Congress to make loans backed by real estate, up to half the deposit funds.Even as the failure of the bank was imminent and depositor withdrawals were refused, a secret loan of $33,366 was made to Juan Boyle by the actuary George L. Stickney on June 30, 1874.[2]When the Panic of 1873 struck, several railroad projects failed, which undermined the finances of the Freedman's Savings Bank.[5]: 184  Of this change in leadership, Walter Lynwood Fleming remarked: "Some, looking for a scapegoat, were anxious that colored officials be in charge when the bank failed as they were sure it would; others thought that a Negro administration would restore the confidence of the depositors and enable the institution to survive until better times.The commissioners, even in the face of many special requests from depositors for small immediate payments, instructed cashiers to withhold all money, even for cases of extreme necessity.
The Freedman's Savings Bank on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
"The Story of the Freedman’s Bank" video by the United States Department of the Treasury
Pennsylvania AvenueU.S. CongressAfrican AmericansFreedman's Bank BuildingfreedmensharecroppingRepublicanU. S. CongressFreedmen's BureauincorporationAbraham LincolnBlanche BruceGeneral Rufus SaxtonGeneral Benjamin ButlerGeneral Nathaniel BanksJay Cooke and CompanyHenry D. CookeJay CookePanic of 1873Frederick DouglassWalter Lynwood Flemingthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsBroadway Federal BankCarverCity National BankGreenwoodIndustrial BankMechanics and Farmers BankOneUnited BankSolvent Savings Bank and TrustReconstruction eraAndrew JohnsonUlysses S. GrantRutherford B. HayesRadical RepublicansModerate RepublicansConservative RepublicansAfrican-American senatorsReconstruction AmendmentsUnited States Congressional Joint Committee on ReconstructionUnited States House Select Committee on ReconstructionTaney CourtChase CourtWaite CourtEdwin StantonJustice DepartmentSouthern United StatesConfederate States of AmericaFree people of colorFreedmanCarpetbaggersKu Klux KlanScalawagRedeemersWhite LeagueRed ShirtsDemocratic PartyBourbon DemocratHoratio SeymourSamuel J. TildenRepublican PartyStalwartsCharles SumnerThaddeus StevensLyman TrumbullBenjamin WadeJohn BinghamJames Mitchell AshleyWomen during the Reconstruction eraNational Union ConventionRadical Democracy PartyLiberal Republican PartyStraight-Out Democratic PartyVictoria WoodhullGreenback ConventionProhibition ConventionElectoral CommissionCompromise of 18771864–651866–671868–691870–711872–731874–751876–77AlabamaCaliforniaConnecticutKentuckyMassachusettsMinnesotaNew HampshirePennsylvaniaVirginiaVermontWisconsinWest VirginiaIllinoisIndianaLouisianaMarylandMichiganMissouriFloridaNew JerseySouth CarolinaDelawareNorth CarolinaOregonMississippiRhode IslandKansasNevadaColoradoConnecticut AprilConnecticut NovemberAmerican Indian WarsSlavery in the United StatesA Vindication of the Rights of WomanWoman in the Nineteenth CenturySeneca Falls ConventionNational Women's Rights ConventionAmerican Civil WarConfiscation Act of 1861Confiscation Act of 1862District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation ActMilitia Act of 1862Emancipation ProclamationGeneral Order No. 143Ten percent planNational Bank ActWomen's Loyal National LeagueNew York City draft riots1863 State of the Union AddressWade–Davis Bill1864 elections1864 State of the Union Address13th AmendmentSecond inauguration of Abraham LincolnAddressBlack CodesSpecial Field Orders No. 15 Freedmen's Bureau billsConfederates surrender at AppomattoxAssassination of Abraham LincolnShaw UniversityNew Departure1865 State of the Union AddressFounding of the Ku Klux KlanCivil Rights Act of 1866Memphis massacre of 1866New Orleans Massacre of 1866Swing Around the CircleSouthern Homestead Act of 1866Fort Smith Conference and Cherokee Reconstruction Treaty of 1866National Labor UnionEx parte GarlandEx parte MilliganSlave Kidnapping Act of 18661866 electionsTenure of Office ActCommand of Army ActKnights of the White CameliaPulaski riotReconstruction ActsReconstruction military districtsHabeas Corpus Act of 1867Peonage Act of 1867First impeachment inquiry into Andrew Johnson1867 State of the Union Address14th AmendmentSecond impeachment inquiry into Andrew JohnsonImpeachment of Andrew JohnsonTimelineImpeachment trial of Andrew JohnsonImpeachment managers investigationArticles of impeachmentOpelousas massacreFourth Reconstruction ActGeorgia v. Stanton1868 elections1868 State of the Union AddressNational Woman Suffrage AssociationAmerican Woman Suffrage AssociationAlabama ClaimsProposed annexation of Santo DomingoBoard of Indian CommissionersPublic Credit Act of 1869Black Friday (1869)Ex parte McCardleFirst transcontinental railroad1869 State of the Union Address15th AmendmentEnforcement Act of 1870Naturalization Act of 1870Kirk–Holden warShoffner Act1870 elections1870 State of the Union AddressSecond Enforcement ActKu Klux Klan ActAlcorn State UniversityMeridian race riot of 1871Treaty of WashingtonCivil service commissionUnited States expedition to Korea1871 State of the Union AddressGeneral Mining Act of 1872Crédit Mobilier scandalModoc WarStar Route scandalSalary Grab ActAmnesty Act1872 elections1872 State of the Union AddressColfax massacreTimber Culture ActSlaughter-House CasesVirginius AffairCoinage Act of 1873Long DepressionComstock laws1873 State of the Union AddressBrooks–Baxter WarBattle of Liberty PlaceCoushatta massacreRed River WarElection Massacre of 1874Vicksburg massacreBlack Hills Gold RushSanborn incidentAnti-Moiety Acts1874 elections1874 State of the Union AddressUnited States v. CruikshankCivil Rights Act of 1875Mississippi PlanSpecie Payment Resumption ActWhiskey RingWheeler CompromisePratt & Boyd1875 State of the Union AddressHamburg massacreSouth Carolina civil disturbances of 1876Ellenton massacreGreat Sioux War of 1876Battle of the Little BighornUnited States v. ReeseTrader post scandalCentennial ExpositionSafe burglary conspiracy1876 elections1876 State of the Union AddressNez Perce WarDesert Land ActGreat Railroad Strike of 1877Posse Comitatus ActCivil Rights CasesUnited States v. HarrisPlessy v. FergusonWilliams v. MississippiWilmington insurrection of 1898Giles v. HarrisDisenfranchisementBibliography of the Reconstruction eraJames Shepherd PikeJames BryceThe American CommonwealthClaude G. BowersColumbia UniversityJohn BurgessDunning SchoolWilliam Archibald DunningCharles A. BeardHoward K. BealeW. E. B. Du BoisBlack Reconstruction in AmericaC. Vann WoodwardThe American CrisisJohn Hope FranklinLeon LitwackBeen in the Storm So LongEric FonerKenneth M. StamppSteven HahnA Nation Under Our FeetThe Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the ConstitutionWinslow HomerA Visit from the Old MistressThomas Dixon Jr.The Leopard's SpotsD. W. GriffithThe Birth of a NationUnited Daughters of the ConfederacyGone with the WindDavid W. BlightRace and ReunionWomen's suffrage in the United StatesLabor history of the United StatesGilded AgeJim Crow eraCivil rights movementAmerican frontierAfrican American founding fathers of the United StatesForty acres and a muleHabeas corpusHistory of the United States (1865–1917)ParamilitaryRace (human categorization)Reconstruction TreatiesSuffrageTechnological and industrial history of the United StatesWhite supremacyWhitecapping