US government did nothing for ex-slaves.

[raccoon]

Or next to nothing.

I've heard there were schools in the Southern states for the ex-slaves, started by some Northern folks who went there to teach. Whether these were government-sponsored or not, I don't know.

The federal government set them free, and all they had, most likely, was the clothes on their backs. The government could have given them some land out West, if they didn't want to give them land in the states where they were.

Because the federal government didn't care. A few abolitionists and other people did, but of course the powerful didn't. Same stuff, different century.

Has anybody ever heard this talked about/written about?

[RoyGBiv]

1. Extensively ...

I believe it is too much to say the government did nothing because it ignores or at least downplays the strenuous efforts of many people history seems to want to forget who did quite a lot, suffered much, and did make some level of difference, at least for a while in the short term and by laying groundwork that provided inspiration and legal foundation when the struggle was renewed. I speak mainly of the so-called Radical Republicans in the wake of the Civil War, a faction of Republicans whose power was at its height in the midst of the war. People like William Seward, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Wade worked very hard in government to establish and fund the Freedman's Bureau, for example. One could also look to the Readjusters in Virginia, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans both white and black, among them a prominent former Confederate General no less, who pushed forward on publicly funded education and social services to assist the state's poor regardless of race. Prior to the 20th century, the Readjuster coalition was the most successful bi-racial political movement in American history and they did much good work.

Anyway, if you want some reading on the subject, I'll offer _Been in the Storm so Long: The Aftermath of Slavery_ by Leon Litwack as likely the standard source on the issue. It is largely a tale of the aftermath of slavery from the freemen's perspective and will shock you in some ways I would guess.

[raccoon]

2. Thanks for the info. I'll look into that book. nt