 | Andy Snyder
Founder |
Have you heard of Special Field Order No. 15? Perhaps you've heard of it under its more infamous moniker... "40 acres and a mule." Many Americans are familiar with it. Sadly, many more are not. It was an order given by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in early 1865. It called for the redistribution of more than 400,000 acres of land confiscated by the Union Army. The land, according to the plan created by Sherman and approved by President Abraham Lincoln, would be titled to newly freed slave families in 40-acre segments. The history books - especially the softer ones - imply that Sherman and the government that backed him had a soft spot for the freed slaves. In a world of Disney movies and Hallmark specials, it's easy to believe Washington was looking to provide for its people. [Join Marc Lichtenfeld's Easy Income Challenge... and discover a simple way to generate at least one income check every month! Click here to join.] The richer, truth-filled history tells us the order was nothing but a power move - a move to get a few powerful folks what they wanted and needed. LiesA deeper dive into history tells us the folks in Washington wanted that Southern land quite badly. They knew that whoever controlled the land controlled the wealth. The landowners had the power... the food... and the commerce system. Taking land from rich Southerners would break their control, destroy their morale and solidify the North's victory in a tough war. Sherman pushed for giving the land away because of military expediency. Marching down the nation's coast, the general freed town after town. He soon had a caravan of thousands of former slaves with no safe place to go following his troops. Sherman couldn't afford to feed them all. And he couldn't protect them with his troops. He had other battles to wage... and more land to conquer. Never one to care all that much about the folks he was freeing, Sherman fought harder to secure the land transfer as those he'd liberated weighed down his army and narrowed his chances of victory. Getting support for his field order wasn't all that difficult. An office was quickly set up to give legal titles to as many as 40,000 people. This meant Sherman and his boys no longer had to take care of them. The newly freed could go to their own land and fend for themselves. And this is where the truly detail-oriented historian begins to worry... Change of FateThe keen know that it wasn't long after Field Order No. 15 was decreed that the war ended - just four months, from January to April. And they know that it was less than a week after peace was declared that Lincoln took a bullet at the theater. This whole deal happened just a few months before Andrew Johnson took control of the nation. And Johnson, as you may know, was so drunk at his vice-presidential inauguration that Lincoln had to assure the country that "Andy ain't a drunkard." The end of the war and the changing of the guard put the 40,000 folks in line for free land in quite a tough spot. The military expediency that created the order had vanished. The president who supported the idea was dead. And the cries from rich Southerners looking to regain power were too much to overcome for somebody who counts votes for a living. The new president eventually slashed the order and returned the land to its "rightful" owners. The pawns were pushed off the table to make way for the king and queen. Fast-forward to today... and we see not much has changed. It's sad. Look around. There are Andrew Johnsons and General Shermans all around us. Some promise great things out of political, military or, hmm, monetary expediency. They'll give to you today... knowing they won't have to deal with the problems their gifts create tomorrow. What's worse... plenty more are eager to take away all that's been given the next time votes are counted. And while the atrocities of the nation's first century have tremendous social magnitude, the dollars associated with the government's latest ploys have enormous financial magnitude. History RepeatsOur nation just printed more than $5 trillion in the name of saving the economy. Was it all a false promise... a promise made to the many for a cause that will help only the few? It sure looks like it. What just happened was one of the worst monetary mistakes in history. It'll be known as the "Great Powell Folly." We're positive that historians will look back a decade or two from now, explore the many cracks and fissures, and see it all for what it was: not a plan to save the nation but an easy way out for leaders who got caught in a jam. We were all promised 40 acres... but we ended up with a dead and bloating mule. To some Americans, it may sound oddly familiar. It's another disappointment from a system that has let down so many. Reliance on the government is at an all-time high... and it's only getting worse. It's dangerous. Scary dangerous. There are rich lessons in our history - if only we'd dare open our eyes and find the guts to talk about them. When it comes to leading folks away from a life of true liberty, the government (any government) is an equal-opportunity enabler. If you want freedom, don't expect anybody to give it to you. What someone gives you, they can always take away. Get it yourself. Be well, Andy P.S. In this time of unprecedented overreach from Big Gov't, we are looking forward to spending a few days musing about liberty (along with the best ways to get and protect it) at Joel Salatin's world-famous Polyface Farm. And YOU'RE invited! For details on this one-of-a-kind event - including dates, a list of speakers and more - click here. But act quickly. Spots are filling up fast. Want more content like this? | | | |
Andy Snyder | FounderAndy Snyder is the founder of Manward Press, the nation's premier source of unfiltered, unorthodox views on money and what it means for a free society. An American author, investor and serial entrepreneur, Andy cut his teeth at an esteemed financial firm with nearly $100 billion in assets under management. He's been a keynote speaker and panelist at events all over the world, from four-star ballrooms to Capitol hearing rooms. | | |
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