EOTO: Forty Acres and a Mule

Forty Acres and a Mule refers to the promise of land being redistributed to freed black families in 1865. Some formerly enslaved families were also given Army mules which is where the name of this event originates from. General William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier during the Civil war who fought on the side of the union. The idea for forty acres and a mule was not his own, but was presented to him and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton by black leaders in Georgia. 

At the end of the war, General Sherman passed field order number fifteen stating that four hundred thousand acres would be taken from wealthier families and redistributed into sections of forty acres which would be given to past slave families to give them a place to start fresh. About forty thousand freedmen settled on this redistributed land over several months after the order was passed.

The land which was given to freedmen was taken from wealthy confederates. Many people believe this was done as a way to financially devastate them for the hardship they had put the slaves through. 
The main purpose of this event though, was not to take land from the wealthy, but it was to give freed slaves a place where they felt safe to start new lives. Many of these slaves could not remember a time when they were free and they felt threatened by the wealthy white men who made up the society they were being forced into. 

There was intense discrimination during this time because many white men still felt they were better than the slaves and they wanted to ensure they themselves stayed in a place of power. Due to this discrimination, the freed slaves sought somewhere in the South where they could have land to themselves and not have to face discrimination and hate at every turn. This thought was what prompted the leaders to find space for these people to live their lives as they saw fit in a place where they could seek refuge. 

While the idea behind this promise was secure, it did not plan out in the way that was expected. It promised a way toward economic independence and freedom. However, the legacy of forty acres and a mule is not one of freedom and equality, but instead of broken promises.

Despite all the land that had been redistributed by June of 1865, President Andrew Johnson ordered for it to be returned to the original owners shortly after. President Johnson benefited himself from white supremacy and he ordered the land to be taken back from the former slaves and given back to the white confederates. 

When the freedmen’s land was taken away, they were forced into indentured servitude where they had to sign labor contracts, many to their former owners, in order to be able to survive. The confederate landowners were then free to underpay the freedmen and keep them in a constant state of poverty. 

Forty Acres and a Mule was a promise made to freed black men which would give them newfound independence and security in a world full of discrimination. However, President Johnson quickly made this a broken promise and forced the black population into submission once again.