United Sons & Daughters of Freedmen · USADOF.ORG

Know and Understand
The Freedman History

A national 501(c)(3) advancing the constitutional rights of American Freedmen through the Reconstruction Amendments — status-based, not race-based.

Our Vision
"To ensure that the broken promises of Reconstruction are fulfilled for today's American Freedmen."
5+
States Active
12
Point Agenda
2
Proclamations Secured
1865
The Constitutional Mandate
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"To ensure that the broken promises of Reconstruction are fulfilled for today's American Freedmen."
The USADOF Vision Statement · United Sons & Daughters of Freedmen, Inc. · 501(c)(3)
About USADOF

Fulfilling the Broken
Promises of Reconstruction

"To ensure that the broken promises of Reconstruction are fulfilled for today's American Freedmen."

The United Sons & Daughters of Freedmen is a national 501(c)(3) organization advancing constitutional rights for American Freedmen — descendants of emancipated persons — through a status-based, not race-based, legal framework grounded in the Reconstruction Amendments. Our work centers the 13th Amendment's Section 2 enforcement clause, the badges-and-incidents doctrine, and landmark precedents including Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.

Pillar I
Constitutional Advocacy
Pillar II
Legislative Strategy
Pillar III
Civic Organizing · BTP
Pillar IV
Economic Justice
Pillar V
Educational Infrastructure · Freedmen University
Nyhiem Way, President of USADOF
1865 The Mandate
USADOF members holding the American Freedmen banner
National Organizing

Our Advocacy in Action

Across the country, USADOF members are organizing, educating, and building the infrastructure for American Freedmen recognition. From Boston to Georgia, our community shows up — with the American Freedmen banner, constitutional knowledge, and an unbreakable commitment to fulfilling the promise of Reconstruction.

Meet the board, our founders, and the wider USADOF family driving this movement forward.

The Economic Reality

The Wealth Gap Is
a Constitutional Issue

The disparity between Black and white family wealth is not a market outcome — it is the measurable result of constitutionally incomplete emancipation.

White Family Median Net Worth
$285,000
Median Net Worth
Median Transaction Accounts
$10,000
vs
Black Family Median Net Worth
$44,900
Median Net Worth
Median Transaction Accounts
$2,200
~6:1 Median Wealth Ratio · The Constitutional Debt Persists Source: Federal Reserve 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (Oct. 2023) · Transaction Accounts: Federal Reserve SCF 2022 · The ratio narrowed to ~6:1, but the absolute dollar gap grew to $240,000 — the largest on record. The constitutional debt is larger, not smaller.
The Freedmen Agenda

Our 12 Point Political Agenda

Grounded in the Reconstruction Amendments, each point addresses a specific constitutional obligation owed to American Freedmen by the federal government.

01
13th Amendment · 1865

Recognition of Freedmen Status Through Constitutional Framework

By way of the 13th Amendment, our enslaved American ancestors were freed from private bondage nationally, creating a defined class — American Freedmen — with specific constitutional protections under the badges-and-incidents doctrine.

02
Federal Mandate · Reconstruction

Reestablishment of the Freedmen's Bureau

We demand that the federal government reestablish the Freedmen's Bureau under its constitutional Section 2 enforcement authority to administer programmatic support, genealogical verification, and economic development for American Freedmen.

03
National Reckoning

Complete De-Confederatization of the United States

We demand the immediate and complete de-Confederatization of the United States — removal of all monuments, symbols, and institutional honors to those who made war against the Republic and against Freedmen.

04
Economic Justice

Reconstructive Freedmen Agenda & State Repatriation

We demand a fully funded Reconstructive Freedmen Agenda which includes a State repatriation program to facilitate land and resource access for American Freedmen families across the country.

05
Legislative Strategy

Office of Freedmen Affairs in Every State

Massachusetts H.4351 received a 10-0 favorable committee vote. H.1696 is also in progress. USADOF is replicating this model in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina as part of our 2025–2032 master strategy.

06–12
Full Agenda

Read the Complete 12 Point Freedmen Agenda

Points 6–12 address educational equity, genealogical verification frameworks, electoral discipline strategy, reparations implementation, economic enterprise development, and the five-pillar institutional plan through 2032.

Stand with American Freedmen.
Read the Full 12-Point Agenda