On September 3, 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau, established by Congress in 1865 to aid formerly enslaved African Americans in the South, was ordered to stop seizing abandoned land. This order marked a significant shift in policy as the Bureau had been distributing land to freed people, often from land previously abandoned by Confederate owners. The land distribution was a crucial aspect of the Reconstruction efforts, aimed at providing economic independence and stability to newly freed African Americans.

However, the policy of land redistribution faced strong opposition from Southern white landowners and political leaders. In the face of pressure, President Andrew Johnson had already begun to reverse many of the policies designed to help freed people, including land redistribution. The cessation of land seizures, therefore, led to many freed individuals losing the land they had begun to farm, further hindering their economic advancement.

This shift contributed to the broader challenges faced during Reconstruction, as the South grappled with the integration of formerly enslaved people into American society.