The Freedmen’s Bank collapsed when white trustees lent deposits speculatively

Evidence

Reneging on the land was just one way the federal government betrayed these upstart Americans. The Freedmen’s Bureau, always meant to be temporary, was dismantled in 1872. More than sixty thousand Black people had deposited more than $3 million into the savings bank, but its all-white trustees used that money to begin issuing speculative loans to white investors and corporations. When the bank failed in 1874, Black depositors lost much of their savings. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 899

Categorization

• SHARE: Send to anyone interested in Black economic history — the Freedmen’s Bank fraud is a compact, punchy case of white trustees mismanaging Black deposits.