In 1866 President Andrew Johnson sent Generals
John Steedman and Joseph Fullerton on a tour of
the South to gather information in an effort to
discredit the Freedmen’s Bureau. Southern
blacks, however, expressed strong support for the
continued presence of the Freemen’s Bureau, believing that it offered them
necessary aid and, especially, protection. In one
case, when General Steedman offered a crowd of 800
blacks a hypothetical choice between the Freedmen’s
Bureau and the federal army, the audience
overwhelmingly chose the Bureau.
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