Video: Forty Acres and a Mule | The African Americans Duration: 4:07

Forty Acres and a Mule

Video: Forty Acres and a Mule | The African Americans Duration: 4:07

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PBS provides a video from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross series, which explains the origins of the phrase “Forty Acres and a Mule,” which was part of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 that was issued on January 16, 1865, to allot land and leftover Army mules to formerly enslaved African American families. The video discusses the involvement of Black ministers in the conceptualization of the idea, the challenges faced by African Americans who attempted to rebuild their lives after slavery, and the consequences of Andrew Johnson's succession of the presidency. 

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