Idioms

Forty acres and a mule

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40 acres and a mule

1. Something given by the government. The phrase refers to a promise made during the Civil War by Union general William T. Sherman that freed slaves would receive 40 acres of land and a mule. However, after the war that land was given back to its original owners. I'm doing just fine on my own—I don't need 40 acres and a mule from Uncle Sam. A: "If only the government would helps the poorest members of society." B: "Right? 40 acres and a mule would be welcome these days." I don't need food stamps. The government can keep its 40 acres and a mule, as far as I'm concerned.
2. A promise or assurance that proves to be false. I think he's just tempting us with that offer, and it'll turn out to be 40 acres and a mule. We're getting Christmas bonuses this year? Right, along with 40 acres and a mule. Don't believe the boss if he says you'll get your own parking spot—that's like 40 acres and a mule at this point.
See also: 40, acre, and, mule
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Forty acres and a mule

A a government handout; a broken promise. As Union general William T. Sherman marched through Georgia and other parts of the confederacy during the Civil War, he promised freed slaves the gift of forty acres of South Carolina and Georgia farmland and an army mule with which to work the soil. Following the war, however, President Johnson rescinded Sherman's order, and the appropriated land was restored to its owners. While most citizens adopted the phrase as a metaphor for either any form of government handout (or a trifling salary or bonus from their employer), African-Americans who remembered the expression's history used it as a rueful reminder of a offer that was reneged upon.
See also: acre, and, forty, mule
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price
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References in periodicals archive
As winter turned into spring, a rumor that all freed slaves had been promised "forty acres and a mule" spread like warm weather through the Southern states.
The government never actually promised anyone forty acres and a mule. Sherman's order was explicitly temporary, pending a final decision from Congress on the status of the land, and even then it applied only to a small fraction of freedmen.
Rumors of land: the unfulfilled dream of "forty acres and a mule."
Whether you have forty acres and a mule or a condo with a balcony, you can do more than you think to safeguard your health, your money, and the planet.
Homegrown & handmade
"Forty acres and a mule" were viewed as ample assets for self-sufficiency Small farming with draft animals continued until the introduction of the tractor in the early 20th century The mule was virtually the sole motive force in farming; and after working long daylight hours, mules contributed their durability and energy for hayrides, bareback riding, racing and coon hunting.
Mule totes major load of agricultural history: George Washington realized the need for an economical work animal
While Robeson was an interpreter of his "people's songs," Oscar authored them, and none more poignant and pointed as "Bid'em In," "Work Song," "Forty Acres and a Mule," and "Brown Baby."
A man of many gifts: for Oscar Brown Jr., music and words were a driving force: his art remains an enduring reminder of just how much he enriched American culture with his performances, wit, songs, plays, essays and activism
AMERICAN HISTORY: FORTY ACRES AND A MULE, PAGES 12-14
Forty acres and a mule: after the Civil War, 4 million former slaves had their freedom--but not much else. What could be done to help get them on their feet?
"I think after the movie, (these comedians) will be bombarded with offers," predicts Walter Latham, who promoted the tour and whose Latham Entertainment co-produced the film with MTV Films and Lee's Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks.
When they were `Kings'
The promise of Forty Acres and A Mule, which was supposed to transform the ex-slaves into a small entrepreneurial farmer class, such as settlement in land as was given to the Serfs in Russia and the landless peasants, after bourgeois revolutions in Europe, must be brought up to date.
The Case for Reparations
First, the promise of Reconstruction (forty acres and a mule promised to former slaves after the Civil War) was not kept.
Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy
Rhetoric, yes, and Williams must know the forty acres and a mule ain't coming.
Thanks a million: I went to the march, and all I got was this lousy press pass
I made its original inhabitants the beneficiaries of "the forty acres and a mule" promise, which awarded them free land in Virginia, and I made them descendants of white plantation owners, African Americans and Powhatan Indians.
The anatomy of a town: dreaming up characters and shaping a plot were relatively easy, but conjuring up a whole town? That took thought
details the movement to redress this indisputable crime against humanity, from the 1865 "forty acres and a mule" bill to the present-day lawsuits pending against corporations and governments who benefited from slavery.
Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations
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