40 Acres and a Mule:

Issued in January 1865, this order redistributed land along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to formerly enslaved people, with the idea of granting each family 40 acres and a mule. 

• Economic Independence:

  Goal was to provide a foundation for economic self-sufficiency for newly freed individuals who lacked property, money, or education. 

• Initial Implementation:

  Some freedmen did receive land and began farming it, with some settling on Skidaway Island in Georgia. 

The Broken Promise:

• Reversal of the Order:

  Following Abraham Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson overturned Sherman's order and returned the land to its former Confederate owners. 

• Impact on Freedmen:

  This action left many African Americans with few options but to become sharecroppers, often working for their former enslavers. 

• Symbol of Unfulfilled Promises:

  The phrase "40 acres and a mule" has since become a symbol of the unfulfilled promises of Reconstruction and the enduring legacy of racial inequality. 

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