To engage in Reading With a Pen, students will read three documents related to the establishment and work of the Freedmen’s Bureau: 

• Excerpts from The First Freedman’s Bureau Act, 1865
• Excerpts from “Rules and Regulations for Assistant Commissioners,” 1865
• A Bureau Contract, 1866. 

Students can use the Reading with a Pen notetaker to keep track of information related to these two guiding questions:

1. Why did the Federal government establish the Bureau?
2. In what ways was the Bureau intended to help the freedpeople?

After reading, bring the class back together to share what they learned about the establishment and work of the Freedmen’s Bureau.