Question

For two months, the Senate debated what executive department should run the Freedmen’s Bureau. What reasons were given in support of granting oversight to the Department of War? Select the two correct responses.
A. The War Department had more experience than any other agency.
B. The War Department could provide the financial resources needed to support freedmen.
C. Military power was needed to protect former slaves.
D. The War Department controlled confiscated land that would be given to freedmen.
E. President Johnson had appointed Confederate sympathizers as the heads of every other department.

Answer 1

The correct answers are A) The War Department had more experience than any other agency and C) Military power was needed to protect former slaves.

For two months, the Senate debated what Executive department should run the Freedmen’s Bureau. The reasons that were given in support of granting oversight to the Department of War were "The War Department had more experience than any other agency and Military power was needed to protect former slaves.

For sixty days, the bill was debated in the Senate. They were discussing the department that should operate the Freedmen’s Bureau. Some of the Senators supported the idea that the Department of Treasury was the one because Congress had given the Treasury department the control of confiscated land. But the majority of Senators considered that the Department of War had more experience than any other agency in the government and had the soldiers and weapons to protect the African Americans who had been slaves.