"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America… That there is hereby established in t
he War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed… the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district or county within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President….
And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.
And be it further enacted, That the commissioner… shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale… and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman… there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land…."
1)
After reading this passage, which statement is MOST accurate?
A) This was written the year after the Revolutionary War.
B) This law was designed to improve the lives of former slaves.
C) The President directly oversaw the carrying-out of this law.
D) Recipients could only make claims a year after the law was passed.
2)
According to this passage, those MOST impacted by this law
A) were former Confederate officials.
B) could receive clothes, shelter, and land.
C) had to wait one year before receiving benefits.
D) had to abandon the land on which they currently lived.
