40 acres and a mule

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the film production company, see 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

40 acres and a mule is the colloquial term for compensation that was to be awarded to freed American slaves after the Civil War—40 acres (16 ha) of land to farm, and a mule with which to drag a plow so the land could be cultivated.

The award—a land grant of a quarter of a quarter section deeded to heads of households presumably formerly owned by land-holding whites—was the product of Special Field Orders, No. 15, issued January 16, 1865 by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, which applied to black families who lived near the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Sherman's orders specifically allocated "the islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida." There was no mention of mules in Sherman's order, although the Army may have distributed them anyway.

After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his successor, Andrew Johnson, revoked Sherman's Orders. It is sometimes mistakenly claimed that Johnson also vetoed the enactment of the policy as a federal statute (introduced as U.S. Senate Bill 60). In fact, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill which he vetoed made no mention of grants of land or mules. (Another version of the Freedmen's bill, also without the land grants, was later passed after Johnson's second veto was overridden.)

By June of 1865, around 40,000 freed slaves were settled on 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) in Georgia and South Carolina. Soon after, President Johnson reversed the order and returned the land to its original owners. Because of this, the phrase has come to represent the failure of Reconstruction and the general public to assist African Americans in the path from slavery to freedom.

1 Trivia
2 See also
3 External links
4 Primary sources

[edit] Trivia

E. L. Doctorow fictionalizes an account of Sherman's order in his 2005 book The March (novel)
A brief scene in the film Gone with the Wind pictures freed slaves listening to a carpetbagger promising them 40 acres and a mule.
Spike Lee, a prominent African American film director, named his production company 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks.
The West Wing episode "Six Meetings Before Lunch" makes repeated references to the phrase "40 Acres and a mule," even referencing Spike Lee's use of the term for his production company.
In Manderlay Willem Dafoe comments on the idea of 40 acres and a mule, and its ultimate failure.
Public Enemy refer to 40 acres and a mule in the song "Who Stole the Soul" in the course of remarks on the treatment of African Americans in US culture. This song appeared on their 1990 studio album Fear of a Black Planet.
George Clinton refers to 40 acres and a mule in the Parliament album Chocolate City in the line "We didn't get our 40 acres and a mule/but we did get you C.C."
Kanye West refers to 40 acres in his song 'All Falls Down' in the second verse "We're just trying to buy back our 40 acres"
Gov't Mule refer to 40 acres and a mule in their anthem Mule, "Where's my mule/where's my 40 acres" — as well as in the name of the band itself.
In his utopian rap "Nellyville", Nelly rejects the idea of 40 acres and a mule in favour of "40 acres and a pool."
Rapper Nas refers to the order in his song, "You Owe Me." The lyrics read, "Owe me back like you owe your tax, owe me back like 40 acres to blacks."
Hip Hop duo Show and AG named one of their songs "40 Acres and My Props", the song appears on their debut album "Runaway Slave".