THE FREEDMEN'S
Chapter 1
THE NEGRO AT THE CLOSE OF
THE CIVIL WAR
HE Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company,
 commonly called the Freedmen’s
Savings Bank or the Freedmen’s Bank,
was a result of the efforts of the northern friends
of the Negro to find a means of elevating the
newly emancipated race which would train its
members in habits of thrift and economy, and
which, by encouraging them to save their earnings,
 would aid them in securing a stronger economic
 position in the social order. The organization
 in 1865 of the Freedmen’s Bank system was
one of the few sensible attempts made at the
close of the Civil War to assist the ex-slaves, who
had been brought very suddenly face to face
with freedom and its responsibilities. It was a
promising plan for the elevation of an almost
helpless people, and its failure caused serious injury
 to them at the time and continued to be
felt for a long period. The purpose of this account
 is to outline the history of the organiza-1