Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Abbreviations ix
4. Acknowledgments xi
5. Introduction: ‘‘a long time in want of a bureau’’ 1
6. 1. ‘‘that the freed-women . . . may rise to the dignity and glory of true womanhood’’: The Men, Purpose, and Gendered Freedom of the Freedmen’s Bureau 14
7. 2. ‘‘a weight of circumstances like millstones about their necks to drag and keep them down’’: Freedwomen, Federal Relief, and the Freedmen’s Bureau 35
8. 3. ‘‘The women are the controlling spirits’’: Freedwomen, Free Labor, and the Freedmen’s Bureau 64
9. 4. ‘‘to put forth almost superhuman efforts to regain their children’’: Freedwomen, Parental Rights, and the Freedmen’s Bureau 96
10. 5. ‘‘strict justice for every man, woman, and child’’: Gender, Justice, and the Freedmen’s Bureau 141
11. Conclusion: ‘‘the unpardonable sin’’ 167
12. Notes 173
13. Bibliography 239
14. Index 269
15. Reconstructing America Series 277