Christopher B. Bean is Assistant Professor of History and Native American Studies at East Central University, Oklahoma.

"Rooted in bureau, census, and military records, Bean's research is nothing short of exhaustive...this is a solid study-accessibly written and deftly argued." -- -Dr. Brlan Matthew Jordan Civil War News "Christopher Bean's Too Great a Burden to Bear makes a significant contribution to Reconstruction studies. Deftly combining storytelling with systematic quantitative analyses of the evidence, Bean offers new information, not just on the agents themselves, but also on the largest issues in Reconstruction historiography." -- -J. William Harris

• Introduction 1. "A Stranger Amongst Strangers": Who Were the Subassistant Commissioners? 2. "The Post of Greatest Peril": The E. M. Gregory Era, September 1865-April 1866 3. Conservative Phoenix: The J. B. Kiddoo Era, May 1866-Summer 1866 4. Bureau Expansion, Bureau Courts, and the Black Code: The J. B. Kiddoo Era, Summer 1866-November 1866 5. The Bureau's Highwater Mark: The J. B. Kiddoo Era, November 1866-January 1867 6. "They Must Vote with the Party That Shed Their Blood ... In Giving Them Liberty": Bureau Agents, Politics, and the Bureau's New Order: The Charles Griffin Era, January 1867-Summer 1867 7. Violence, Frustration, and Yellow Fever: The Charles Griffin Era, Summer-Fall 1867 8. General Orders No. 40 and the Freedmen's Bureau's End: The J. J. Reynolds Era, September 1867-December 1868 Conclusion: The Subassistant Commissioners in Texas Appendix A Appendix B Notes Bibliography Index