40 acri e un mulo
40 acri e un mulo è un termine usato per indicare il risarcimento che doveva essere assegnato agli schiavi afro-americani liberati dopo la Guerra Civile Statunitense: 40 acri (16 ha) di terra coltivabile, e un mulo con il quale trascinare l'aratro per coltivarla.
The award—a land grant of a quarter of a quarter section (one square mile) deeded to heads of households presumably formerly owned by land-holding whites—was the product of Special Field Orders, No. 15, issued January 16, 1865 by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, which applied to black families who lived near the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Sherman's orders specifically allocated "the islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida." Non venivano menzionati muli nell'ordine di Sherman, anche se l'esercito potrebbe averli distribuiti comunque. Federal and state homestead grants of the time ranged from 1/4 section up to a full section.
Dopo l'assassinio del presidente Abramo Lincoln, il suo successore, Andrew Johnson, revocò gli Ordini di Sherman. It is sometimes mistakenly claimed that Johnson also vetoed the enactment of the policy as a federal statute (introduced as U.S. Senate Bill 60). In fact, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill which he vetoed made no mention of grants of land or mules. (Another version of the Freedmen's bill, also without the land grants, was later passed after Johnson's second veto was overridden.)
Entro il giugno del 1865, circa 10.000 schiavi liberati erano stati insediati su 400.000 acri (1.600 km²) in Georgia e Carolina del Sud. Poco dopo il presidente Johnson ribaltò l'ordine e restituì le terre ai precedenti proprietari bianchi. A causa di ciò, la frase ha finito con il rappresentare il fallimento della Ricostruzione e della società in genere, nell'assistere gli afro-americani.
Appearance in popular culture
- Promoters of income tax scams have claimed that African Americans are entitled to a tax credit for slave reparations, sometimes claiming that African Americans can deduct the cost of 40 acres and a mule from their taxable income. The IRS considers these to be frivolous tax arguments and has prosecuted persons who attempt to avoid income tax in such a manner. [[1]
- E. L. Doctorow fictionalizes an account of Sherman's order in his 2005 book The March.
- A brief scene in the film Gone with the Wind pictures freed slaves listening to a carpetbagger promising them 40 acres and a mule.
- Spike Lee, a prominent African American film director, named his production company 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks.
- The West Wing episode "Six Meetings Before Lunch" makes specific reference to Special Field Orders, No. 15 and the phrase "40 acres and a mule."
- Layzie Bone Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Young Noble from the album Thug Stories, the song "Put Me in a Cell" references "waiting on my forty acres and a blunt to blaze from the slavery you gave me a racist way"
- In the song entitled, "Dear Mr. President" from the album '2pac + Tha Outlawz', Tupac Shakur asks "Where's our 40 acres and a mule fool?" to President Clinton
- Was also referenced in the 2004 Kanye West hit song "All Falls Down": "We tryin' to buy back our 40 acres"
- Parliament Funkadelic mentions 40 acres and a mule in their song about Washington D.C., "Chocolate City."
- Gov't Mule, in the song "Mule", Warren Haynes sings in the chorus "Where's my mule? Where's my forty acres?"
- Most recently referenced by Jay-Z in the song "Say Hello": "Ya'll ain't gave me 40 Acres and a mule/So I got my Glock 40 now I'm cool"
Lyrics from "Who Stole the Soul?" on Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet mention both items: "Got a question for Jack ask him 40 acres and a mule Jack."
Primary sources
- Library of Congress: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875: "An act to enlarge the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau," 39th Congress, 1st Session, S.60
- Significant Dates on Black Land Loss - from Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund