Freedmen’s Bureau, established by Congress in March 1865 to advance the rights and living conditions of freed slaves—although nearly 40 percent of food rations distributed by the bureau in the summer of 1865 went to white families. It was a thankless task, and it frustrated Beadle. He realized that the whites of Wilmington had not truly been defeated. He watched them return from the war unbowed, full of rage, and more committed than ever to white supremacy.
