Share cropping in the south

Forty Acres and a Mule

During the final months of the Civil War, tens of thousands of freed enslaved people left their plantations to follow the victorious Union Army troops of General William T.

Sherman across Georgia and the Carolinas.

In January 1865, in an effort to address the issues caused by this growing number of refugees, Sherman issued Special Field Order Number 15, a temporary plan granting each freed family 40 acres of land on the islands and coastal region of Georgia.

The Union Army also donated some of its mules, unneeded for battle purposes, to the former enslaved people.

Did you know? In 1870, only around 30,000 African Americans in the South owned land (usually small plots), compared with 4 million others who did not.

When the war ended three months later, many freed Blacks saw the “40 acres and a mule” policy as proof that they would finally be able to work their own land after years of servitude.

Owning land was the key to economic independence and autonom