40 Acres and a Lie Part 1

Patricia Bailey's home, nestled among the trees on Edisto Island, South Carolina, is a serene place where she recovered from multiple sclerosis. This house stands on land that was handed down from her great-great-grandfather, Jim Hutchinson, a formerly enslaved individual who transformed from a slave to a landowner. Bailey speaks of this land with deep reverence, recognizing it as the ancestral grounds of her family.

The Civil War's Special Field Orders, No. 15, commonly known as "40 acres and a mule," promised a better future to formerly enslaved individuals, including Hutchinson. However, the reality was far from the promise. Our investigative team at the Center for Public Integrity, in collaboration with Mother Jones, has spent over two years delving into the National Archives, uncovering details about more than 1,200 formerly enslaved people who received land under the orders, only to have it subsequently taken away.

Bailey's family wealth, contrary to the initial promise of 40 acres and a mule, is a testament to her ancestor's tenacity in securing and maintaining ownership of his land, despite losing what he believed he had achieved through the government's initiative. In this week's Reveal episode, produced in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity, we delve into a three-part series that revisits the history of this often-misunderstood government program.

We examine the reparations that were not delivered and the enduring wealth gap that persists. This episode is an update to the one that aired in June 2024.