The Theft That Built a Nation

The story of Black land loss—and how generations of stolen acres shaped America’s racial wealth gap.

At the close of the Civil War, Black freedmen spoke with Union military officials who famously promised “40 acres and a mule.” Following emancipation, Union General William T. Sherman signed Special Field Order 15, declaring that 400,000 acres of land in South Carolina would be divided among the formerly enslaved. But the order was rescinded by Presiden…