Freedman's Savings Bank

At the end of the American Civil War, the poor economic conditions of the formerly enslaved freedmen were aggravated by the economic devastation of the Southern states. The newly freed Blacks had few economic resources or capital and even less exposure to private enterprise. Many soon turned to sharecropping and forced labor in the South. To help alleviate their socio-economic conditions, the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, passing an act of incorporation and a charter for the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 510).

Senator Blanche Bruce of the Select Committee on the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, himself a former slave, wrote

As its name imports, the institution was designed to perform for a particular class of our people the simple but important functions of a savings bank; its declared purpose being "to receive on deposit such sums of money as may from time to time be offered therefor, by or on behalf of persons heretofore held in slavery in the United States or their descendants, and investing the same in the stocks, bonds, treasury notes, or other securities of the United States."

The founder of the Freedman's Savings Bank, John W. Alvord, was inspired by the success of existing military savings banks. These military banks were created during the Civil War to collect the wages of Black soldiers. General Rufus Saxton established the first one in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1864. Other examples include a bank in Norfolk, Virginia, established by General Benjamin Butler in late 1864, and a bank in Louisiana created by General Nathaniel Banks.

Many former slaves were liberated by the Union Army and were paid to join the army. Troops earned a little cash from their enrollment and participation, and the Freedman's Bank became the first banking entity to include them. Most accounts held between $5 and $50.

From 1865 to 1868, the expansion of the Freedman's Bank was largely driven by the money collected from Black soldiers. In the bank's first year, in 1865, two of the branches established were created through the transfer of existing local military savings institutions. Many other branch locations were chosen specifically based on the local Black soldier population. Bank officials made efforts to build the bank legitimacy and deposits raising part of the Black soldiers’ wages. For example, many cashiers at branches also worked as military disbursing officers.

Fraud and other financial misconduct

From the Freedman's Savings Bank's creation, there were several deficiencies in its governance and management that contributed to its ultimate collapse.

The bank trustees had little incentive to govern effectively. All fifty original trustees were White and were not required to give "any security for the faithful discharge of their trust." Many trustees had little to no involvement with the bank, some even denying they had agreed to join the board.

The bank's founding charter lacked any penal clauses to hold trustees personally liable for the bank's solvency. It prohibited lending until the amendment of 1870. While two-thirds of the bank's deposits were required to be invested in U.S. government securities, the use of the remaining funds was unrestricted; Osthaus wrote that this provision was "somewhat disquieting to those familiar with the history of savings banks, for they knew that available funds frequently became unavailable".

There is also evidence that the bank's management misled depositors about a supposed government guarantee, interest payments, and the use of the deposit funds. During its initial years, the bank marketed itself widely to attract deposits, distributing bank pamphlets at churches and Freedmen's Bureau schools, advertising in local newspapers, and holding public meetings at churches, beneficial societies, and the bank's branches. Its advertisements often depicted the bank as having the backing and guarantee of the federal government, but as a private corporation it had no guarantee. For example, an article in the Semi-Weekly Louisianan stated: "there is no possibility of loss, for the reason that the government of the United States is responsible for every dollar deposited." The bank promised its depositors 6% interest, but often paid a lower rate.

The bank's management closely linked its affairs to the investment bank Jay Cooke and Company, which invested heavily in railroads. As head of the finance committee of the bank, Henry D. Cooke, Jay Cooke’s brother, deposited a significant share of the cash of the Freedman’s Bank at the First National Bank in Washington, D.C., which was Jay Cooke’s office. This amount at its highest was $500,000, on which the Cooke brothers paid a 5 percent interest, even while the Freedman’s Bank was promising 6 percent to its own depositors. In violation of its charter, the Freedman's Bank invested in the bonds of the Union Pacific and Central Railroads, made as early as 1869.

A series of increasingly speculative investments caused the bank to accumulate bad debt, while the decision to build a new building in Washington, D.C., added to its outlays. On May 2, 1870, the bank was authorized by Congress to make loans backed by real estate, up to half the deposit funds. These loans were to be secured by mortgages that were double the value of the loan.