THE FREEDMEN'S 
Chapter 1 
THE NEGRO AT THE CLOSE OF 
THE CIVIL WAR 
HE Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Com- 
pany, 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 earn- 
ings, would aid them in securing a stronger eco- 
nomic position in the social order. The organiza- 
tion 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 in- 
jury to them at the time and continued to be 
felt for a long period. The purpose of this ac- 
count is to outline the history of the organiza- 
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