Black History: Special Delivery!!
Garrison Frazier, born around 1798, lived much of his early life enslaved before securing his freedom in 1857 by purchasing it for $1,000—a sum equivalent to $36,000 to $38,000 today. Frazier became a respected minister at First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, and a prominent leader in his community. His leadership and experience positioned him to play a crucial role in one of the most significant moments of Reconstruction: the promise of “40 acres and a mule.“
On January 12, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton convened a meeting with 20 Black community leaders—mostly pastors and ministers—in Savannah. Sherman and Stanton sought feedback on how to best support newly freed African Americans as they worked to build their independence after being enslaved. His peers chose Frazier to act as their spokesperson.
In his remarks, Frazier emphasized the critical importance of land ownership for economic stability. When asked by Sherman and Stanton, Frazier and the group of ministers advocated that African Americans could not live integrated with their former enslavers and expect to be treated fairly. He explained that prejudice and oppression would persist in any integrated arrangement, where formerly enslaved people would remain under white control. Frazier, therefore, advocated for freedmen to live independently on land they could own and cultivate, free from outside control.
Frazier’s testimony deeply influenced Sherman, leading to the issuance of Special Field Order No. 15, which promised to distribute 40-acre plots of land to formerly enslaved families along the Southern coastline. This land was confiscated from white plantation owners who had supported the Confederacy. To further support these efforts, Union officials also began providing mules—left behind by retreating Confederate forces—to help families work the land. This combination of “40 acres and a mule“ became a symbol of economic opportunity and independence.
However, the promise of land ownership was short-lived. After President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, his successor, Andrew Johnson, quickly reversed many Reconstruction policies. Special Field Order No. 15 was rescinded, and land that had been allocated to formerly enslaved families was returned to former Confederate landowners. The broken promise of “40 acres and a mule“ had devastating, long-term consequences for African Americans. Without land ownership, freed people were forced into exploitative systems like sharecropping and tenant farming, which kept many in cycles of poverty and debt. Denied land, they were also deprived of opportunities to build generational wealth, contributing to a racial wealth gap that persists today.
The lack of land ownership weakened Black communities politically, leaving them vulnerable to oppressive laws like the Black Codes and Jim Crow. This betrayal reinforced distrust in the U.S. government, as it symbolized the nation’s unwillingness to support the independence of formerly enslaved people after slavery.
Another installment of melanated mail has been delivered. Ponder, reflect, and pass it on.
Sources:
Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. Harper & Row, 1988.
Savannah Tribune Archives (available via digital newspaper collections)
Special Field Orders No. 15, January 1865 (National Archives or Library of Congress)
