If unfamiliar with the pedagogical approaches below, teachers should review the Opinion Continuum overview in advance of the activity.

Part 1: Read & Analyze

Inform students that Congress originally only authorized the Freedmen’s Bureau to operate for a period of one year from the end of the Civil War. Thus, in the spring of 1866, Congress had to determine whether to reauthorize the agency for it to continue functioning. At that point, the transition to free labor had just begun, and an economic downturn was making the shift all the more challenging. Tell students that there were various perspectives on the Freedman’s Bureau, and deciding whether to extend it was a contentious topic.

Assign students individually or in pairs to one of the documents relating to the Freedman’s Bureau. If you do not end up using all the documents, make sure that the documents assigned represent the full range of Conservative, Moderate, and Radical viewpoints. Be sure to prepare students to encounter paternalistic ideas. 

Students should read and analyze the documents, using the written document analysis tool.

Part 2: Opinion Continuum

Ask students whether the author of the source they read would have supported renewing the Freedmen’s Bureau. If more than one student reads the same source, give them time to discuss and come to agreement on the author’s perspective. 

In order to create a continuum, to reflect the range of opinions in this collection of primary sources, and to provide a kinesthetic and visual learning opportunity, students will move to reflect their opinions. Designate the space where students will line up, and identify the two ends of the continuum, as “Yes, definitely” and “Definitely not” on the question of whether the Freedmen’s Bureau should continue. Direct students to line up based on the perspective expressed in the source that they read. Students may stand anywhere between the two extremes, in accordance with the viewpoints expressed in the source. 

Once students have lined up, call on students at different points along the continuum to articulate the viewpoint and arguments contained in the document that they read. Be sure that students understand that they are not adopting that viewpoint as their own. They should begin their statement by identifying the author of the document. Students may change their location in the continuum, if they realize that their source’s point of view is more or less extreme than other points of view.

Part 3: Create a Research Agenda

Either in a discussion, or as a written activity, ask students to respond to the following questions: 

• What are the areas of disagreement between the different sources? What are the facts upon which they agree and disagree?
• After hearing a range of perspectives about the Freedman’s Bureau, what questions do you have about the Bureau and its work? Formulate 3–5 questions that could potentially be answered through research.
• What additional sources or kinds of information would be most helpful in addressing the questions raised?