Talk:Forty acres and a mule

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I have a question? Sherman did his math wrong because 400,000 acres divided by 40,000 newly freed black slaves would be 10 acres and a mule not 40. Can anyone tell me why it is 40 and not 10? thanks pheifdog

40 acres has to do with what was concidered profitable and stable at the time. Ten good acres could bring a farmer a good garden crop for himself but for profit, forty acres was a standard plot.

The real question isn weather he was right but did he the authority? what was Shermans orders? What power did those order give him and why does the white decendents continue fighting reprorations so hard?

                    Antony