Originally posted by JB73
well if they were slaves in the US they want 40 acres and a mule for every african american with inflation that's $1.4 trillion
Just a little aside...
On January 16 1865, Forty Acres and a Mule was inacted.
In the midst of his 'March to the Sea' during the Civil War, General William T. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton met with 20 Black community leaders of Savannah, Georgia.
Based partly to their input, Gen. Sherman issued Special Field Order #15 on January 16, 1865, setting aside the Sea Islands and a 330-mileinland tract of land along the southern coast of Charleston for the exclusive settlement of Blacks. Each family would receive 40 acres of land and an army mule to work the land, thus "Forty Acres and A Mule."
So the Sherman / Stanton 40+ mule rule was a local rule for the sea islands and a specific tract od Carolina coast. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard attempted to enforce this rule on all confiscated or abandond confederate land.
The rule was a military rule without congressional backing and was countermanded by President Andrew Johnson as soon as he had knowledege.