40 Acres and a Mule

When African Americans joined the Union Army to fight in the Civil War the government promised them 40 acres of land and one mule. Back in those days being given a mule was a little like being given a pickup truck. After the Civil War ended and the formation of the Juneteenth celebration black American and African American soldiers tried to claim the land and livestock promised to them by the government and were denied. What followed was a reconstruction that saw a system put in place to make sure that African Americans would own very little in the south.

After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the government's attitude toward the promises made when Lincoln was alive would sour until many of the more meaningful promises were rescinded.  Fast forward a little over 150 years, and a descendant of a Georgian slave and Civil War soldier by the name of Elijah Brown would have his great-grandson take up his cause. Elijah's great-grandson, Abraham Brown, filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the broken promise made to his great grandfather and 1800 other black civil war soldiers for their service in the Union Army during the Civil War.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 and took until this year, 2019, to be settled. In a Supreme Court vote of 5-4, the Browns were awarded a big win when the Supreme Court ruled that the United States must honor the promise made to union soldiers for their service. Abraham Brown, on behalf of his great grandfather Elijah Brown, was awarded 40 acres and a mule.

The headline on this story really caught my attention, Supreme Court grants Black Man 40 acres and a mule! To be honest I had always thought that 40 acres and a mule were what reparations were all about. So were we always talking about reparations for those who served in the civil war military? Looks like I have some more reading to do. Meantime I will try to keep up with this story, it would be nice to find out what the younger (61-year-old) Abraham Brown plans to do with his 40 acres of land.

I would prefer 40 acres and a Chevy Silverado Pickup Truck because these days the fuel might actually be cheaper, for the truck. I don't think any of us should overlook the history just made by Mr. Abraham Brown and the U.S. Supreme Court. I would encourage the rest of us to look more closely at our family's Ancestors-Dot-Com information to determine whether or not your family name is one of the other 1800 African American families this Civil War promise was made to, there just might be 40 acres and a mule in your future.