[Ads-l] "Forty Acres and a Mule" (Not in OED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Interesting topic, Fred. Here are some precursors that might be useful
when tracing the evolution of the expression.

Date: September 8, 1865
Newspaper: The Liberator
Newspaper Location:
Article: State Convention of Colored Men in Tennessee
Quote Page 2, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
You must not only have freedom, but homes of your own - thirty or
forty acres, with tools, mules, cottages and school houses, etc.
[End excerpt]

Date: August 15, 1861
Newspaper: Holmes County Republican
Newspaper Location: Millersburg, Ohio
Article: How Slave Insurrections are Suppressed
Quote Page 1, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
... every black man was to receive two mules, forty acres of land, the
necessary agricultural implements, and $500 in cash.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 8:19 AM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> forty acres and a mule (not in OED)
>
> 1867 Greenville (Ala.) Advocate 8 Aug. 2/5 (Newspapers.com)
>
> The Autauga wire workers have been keeping the negroes together by promising forty acres and a mule.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org