alliknowishate;8725883 said:
Why cant blacks get their forty acres and a mule
We did for a short period. If you blink you missed it. Ulysses L. Houston led 1000 free blacks to Skidway Island, GA and settled the land in the summer of 1865. We were basically governing ourselves. Skidway Island, GA was just a start but we were also promised land in NC, SC, and FL along the coastline. By law, the land was completely owned by us and no whites whatsoever except for military personnel were to live there.
The Sherman Special Field Order No. 15 was actually negotiated and agreed upon by 20 black leaders of the community from Savannah, GA, Union general William T. Sherman, and secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton, on January 12, 1865. Lincoln signed the Order four days later. It was the first time in history that the government had came to us and asked us what we wanted. It was us who came up with "40 acres and a mule".
Unfortunately racism was (and is) still alive and well. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865 and was succeeded by Andrew Johnson, who was also a southern sympathizer. He overturned the Order in the fall of 1865 and returned the land to its "original" owners. The same exact owners who declared war against the United States.
