Podcast uncovers truth behind ’40 Acres and a mule’ promise

In a new podcast series, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and PRX examines one of American history’s most significant “what if” moments – the unfulfilled promise of “40 acres and a mule” for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. 

“40 Acres and a Lie,” a three-part investigative series, uncovers the little-known story of how over 1,250 freed Black Americans briefly received land from the federal government, only to have it stripped away and returned to former enslavers. This broken promise set the stage for generational wealth disparities that persist today.

The series is based on a two-year investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, which unearthed thousands of records from the National Archives. These documents provide concrete evidence of land ownership by formerly enslaved people – a chapter of history that has long been obscured.

The Origins of “40 Acres”

In January 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15 as the Civil War drew close. This directive set aside roughly 400,000 acres of land along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for settlement by freed slaves. Each family was to receive up to 40 acres, and some were loaned mules to work the land.

For the newly emancipated, land ownership represented true independence and self-sufficiency after generations of forced labor. As Dr. Allison Dorsey of Swarthmore College explains in the podcast, when asked what they needed to be free, former slaves responded simply: “We want land and to be left alone.”

The Freedmen’s Bureau, a federal agency established to aid former slaves in the transition to freedom, began issuing “possessory titles” to parcels of land. By June 1865, 40,000 freed slaves had been allocated land. Some estimates suggest that this land could be worth $640 billion today, highlighting the enormous economic potential of the “40 acres” promise.

A Promise Revoked

The hope was short-lived. After President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, his successor, Andrew Johnson, quickly moved to rescind Sherman’s order. By the end of 1865, Johnson had pardoned most former Confederate landowners and ordered that their property be returned.

The Reveal investigation found that over 1,250 freed people who had received land titles saw their property taken back and given to former enslavers. As one diary entry from the time recounts, freed people were told their “old masters had been pardoned and their plantations were to be given back to them.”

The revocation of “40 acres” was devastating. Many freed people had already begun cultivating crops and building homes. Now, they faced the prospect of returning to work for their former enslavers, albeit as paid laborers rather than slaves.

Compensating Enslavers, Not the Enslaved

In a bitter irony, while freed Black Americans were denied the reparations they had been promised, former slave owners received compensation for their lost “property.” The podcast reveals that in April 1862, even before the Emancipation Proclamation, Washington D.C. passed the unprecedented Compensated Emancipation Act. This law appropriated up to $300 for each freed slave, to be paid directly to former slaveholders who submitted petitions.

The total amount set aside for these payments was $1 million – a significant sum. This stark contrast between compensating enslavers and denying reparations to the enslaved set a troubling precedent for how the nation would address the economic legacy of slavery.

Personal Stories of Determination

The podcast brings this history to life through the story of Jim Hutchinson, an enslaved man on Edisto Island, South Carolina, who received 40 acres under Sherman’s order. When the land was taken back, Hutchinson refused to give up. Over the next decade, he worked tirelessly to purchase land.

By 1876, Hutchinson and 20 other freedmen had acquired nearly 700 acres. Hutchinson’s share was about 230 acres—more than five times the original “40 acres” allotment. His great-great-granddaughter Patricia Bailey now lives on six acres of that land, which she calls “sacred” for its connection to her ancestors.

Bailey’s family wealth was built on her ancestor’s determination to get and keep land of his own. Yet their story is the exception rather than the rule. For most freed people, the revocation of “40 acres” meant a return to economic subjugation and the start of a wealth gap that persists to this day.

The Legacy of a Broken Promise 

The failure to provide land to freed slaves had profound and lasting consequences. As the accompanying infographic illustrates, slavery had already concentrated enormous wealth in the hands of white landowners. By 1860, U.S. cotton production dominated the global market, accounting for 77% of the world’s supply.

Emancipation could have been an opportunity to redistribute this wealth and provide economic freedom to former slaves. Instead, discriminatory policies continued to keep African Americans economically disadvantaged for generations. The infographic traces how practices like sharecropping, job discrimination, and exclusion from government programs systematically prevented Black families from building wealth.

The result is a staggering modern wealth gap. Today, for every $100 in wealth held by white families, Black families, on average, hold just $15. Economists estimate that slavery and subsequent discrimination account for up to 60% of the current wealth disparity between Black and white Americans.

Furthermore, the infographic shows that while 98% of white farmers owned their land by 1900, only 25% of Black farmers did. This disparity in land ownership has only worsened over time, with Black land ownership falling from 15 million acres in 1910 to less than 2 million acres today.

A Reckoning Long Overdue

“40 Acres and a Lie” forces listeners to grapple with difficult questions about historical injustice and its present-day ramifications. The podcast acknowledges the issue’s complexity and controversy and doesn’t shy away from discussing reparations.

The series also highlights how this history remains painfully relevant. In one poignant moment, Jim Hutchinson’s descendant, Greg Esteves, breaks down while discussing how people still try to downplay the impacts of slavery. The difficulty in even talking about this history underscores how much work remains to be done in addressing its legacy.

By uncovering concrete evidence of land ownership by freed people, Reveal’s investigation adds an important chapter to our understanding of Reconstruction. It demonstrates that reparations were not just an abstract concept but a real policy that was briefly implemented before being rescinded.