President Abraham Lincoln signed the Freedman's Bureau Bill into law on the 3rd of March 1865. This act created an agency within the United States Army to help former slaves.
Andrew Johnson vetoed a follow-up bill on the 19th of February 1866 to block funding that would extend the bureau's authority. Congress failed to override his objection on the following day but later overrode another veto on the 16th of July 1866.
The 1866 act gave ex-slaves the right to inherit property and allowed them to purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real estate. People could also bear arms under constitutional protection granted by this law.
Ku Klux Klan violence weakened the bureau by 1870 across the South as members attacked both black citizens and sympathetic white Republicans. Teachers who worked with the agency became targets of terrorist organizations making operations unsafe for staff.
Congress voted on the 10th of June 1872 to shut down the Freedmen Bureau completely. The program ended by the close of that same month after lawmakers refused to approve any renewal legislation.