When 40 Acres and a Mule Won’t Do!

“WHEN 40 ACRES AND A MULE WON’T DO”
America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, but freedom has a price. In this book “When Forty Acres and a Mule Won’t Do” I want to look at the events that did and did not happen and what we as a people and 80% of all Americans need to know about money and finances. How can we bring debt down and build wealth up for our families even in the mist of uncertainty for the year 2020 and beyond?
I want to glance back at a time when the Civil War was winding down, so we can move forward. The Union leaders held a meeting with a group of black ministers in Savannah, Georgia. The purpose was to find out what the freed slaves wanted in order to bring financial stability to their families. After 4 days of discussions, General William T. Sherman came up with the Special Field Order 15. The order was to set aside land for the freed slaves along the coast from Charleston, S.C. to the St. Johns River in Florida. The mules were left over from the Army and were not in the agreement. General Sherman appointed Brig. General Rufus Saxton the duty of dividing up the land, giving up to 40 acres of land to each family. The spokesmen for the black leaders was Rev. Garrison Frazier. When asked what the freed slaves wanted, he replied, “We want to be free from the domination of white men, we want to be educated and have our own land.”
Dr. Stan Deaton, from the Georgia Historical Society, stated that after President Abraham Lincoln was assassination, the successor, President Andrew Johnson reversed Sherman’s Special Field Order 15, giving all of the land back to the former Confederate owners. This act of reversal on the Special Order 15 had a historical effect on the economic wealth and stability of the freed slaves and their families for generations to come. The freed slaves had few options of providing for their families, much less building generational wealth. Just thinking and wondering…..Where would African American families be today in the year 2020, if we had been given the 40 acres?
As I stated, we can glance back, but let’s focus forward. The 40 acres and a Mule never happened 155 years ago for the freed slave. Today this would be worth over $6.4 trillion dollars (Yes! Journal-Tracy Loeffelholz Dunnjeff Neumann May 14, 2015) With all of the advancements and benefits, we as Americans enjoy, has our focus to provide for our families to the best of our abilities been placed on the back burner? Have we lost focus on the difference between wants and needs? Has the ability to create real wealth been replace with the media’s portrayal of what wealth looks like? Wealth is not just looking the part. Are we as Americans driving cars way above our means? Are we buying designer clothes, purses and shoes that we cannot afford? Is our paycheck at the mercy of our children’s desire to have expensive technology, games and toys? Are we sitting and waiting on the latest version of a cell phone to hit the shelves? Do we save enough for long term needs like: college, having our own business and home? Are we prepared to retire when we want and travel when and where we desire? Have we built up generational wealth not only for our child, but our children’s children? Our ancestor thought about their family’s financial future by providing their children a legacy to flourish. We have access to education like no other generation. Granted our schools did not provide and teach us about finances in the real world of our everyday living, until around 2015. The educational system missed the boat on teaching “Financial Literacy”. It seems high schools and colleges are educating the student to become gainfully employed, but what about how to handle the money that is made? The financial steps in this book will teach you how to manage your money while building wealth. Maybe not 6.4 trillion dollars, but if followed, surely a nice nest egg. I myself have made many mistakes with money. I would buy a car and trade it in every 2-3 years and be upside down on the trade-in. When I got a new car financed, I was still paying on the old car along with the new car. I surely wasn’t thinking about the difference of WANTS and NEEDS, because I thought everything that I wanted was a NEED. “Stinking Thinking” for sure!
We can't afford to allow another generation to miss out on this valuable information. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Whoever has the knowledge, has the power. If you walk into a car dealership and do not have the knowledge of the vehicle you want to purchase, along with the options, types of financing, rebates, the average cost of what others have paid for the same vehicle, and your recent credit scores you don't have the power. They do! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, BUT APPLICATION IS SUCCESS! So why not shift the power to you and the people you love? As you gain knowledge in all financial matters, you will have the confidence to share and teach these strategies to your children and grandchildren.