40 Acres and a Mule

Read this somewhere else and I wanted to share it.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 Acres and A Mule, Coast of South Carolina to Florida On January 12, 1865, in the midst of his March to the Sea during the Civial War, General Williams T. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton met with with 20 Black community leaders of Savannah, Georgia. Based in part to their input, Gen. Sherman issued Special Field Order #15 on January 16, 1865, setting aside the Sea Islands and a 30-mile inland tract of land along southern coast of Charleston to Florida for the exclusive settlement of freedmen who had worked as slaves. Each family would receive 40 acres of land and an army mule to work the land, thus "forty acres and mule." On a national level, this and other land, confiscated and abandoned, became the jurisdiction of the Freedman's Bureau, which was headed by Gen. Oliver Howard (Howard University). "Congress had passed a provision guaranteeing that every male citizen (freedman and refugee) would be assigned forty acres of land. They could possess the land for three years, and then purchase it." In his words he wanted to "...give the freedmen protection, land and schools as far and as fast as he can." However, during the summer and fall of 1865, President Johnson issued special pardons, returning the property to the wealthy planters as part of his plan for Reconstruction. Howard issued Circular 13, giving 40 acres as quickly as possible. Upon his knowledge, Johnson ordered Howard to issue Circular 15, returning the land to the ex- Confederates. "The government stole back the lands these former slaves had worked and gave them to the very men who had sought to destroy the Union."

Wow that is interesting. I had done research on the original plan for reparations but had never come across this info before. What I found was that Thaddeus Stevens proposed a plan that would help give freedmen (freed slaves) a start from nothing. But it is interesting to know that Gen. Howard (Shout out THE MECCA) had something to do with the whole ordeal.