Forty acres and a mule?

Civil War Quote of the week

Civil War Quote of the Week:
“Previous to the formation of colored troops, I had a strong inclination to prepare myself for the ministry; but when the call came for ALL persons, I [felt] I could best serve my God by serving my country and my oppressed brothers. The sequel is short – I enlisted.” Union Sergeant William H. Carney, 54th Massachusetts (colored) Volunteers, Morris Island, SC Oct 13, 1863.

“Of all the whole glorious creation in the east or west
The glorious Yankee nation is the greatest and the best.
Come along, come along, don’t be alarmed.
Uncle Sam is rich enough to give you all a farm.”
Song by an anonymous private of the 54th Mass Volunteers.
A reference to Special Field Orders No. 15, which promised formerly enslaved black farmers “forty acres and a mule.”

“We can do this more effectually than the North, for we can now give the Negro not only his freedom, but that of his wife and child, and can secure it to him in his own home. ” Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, January 1864 with his radical proposal to free the slaves and enlist them. Southerners were outraged, but Jeff Davis finally approved a law allowing the enlistment of slaves in 1865.

Sources:( The Civil War, Shelby Foote, The American Negro in Rebellion, William Wells Brown)