This promise was revoked due to the outrage of the white landowners, ultimately leaving 40,000 former slaves without a home. 15 and took back the four hundred thousand acres of land that had already been deemed to the former slaves, leaving them with nothing but the rags on their backs”. In the novel, Martin goes on to refute the promise made by the government: “Less than a year later…the succeeding president, Andrew Johnson, revoked Special Field Order No. The reality of the promise would change the course of history for former slaves however, no such future existed for these former slaves due to this government betrayal. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman then issued the promise which would allot Forty Acres of land to each slave and a mule on loan. This land would allow them to live by their own standards and not get pulled back into their masters’ old ways. But without land, the old masters can hire us to starve us as they please”. The end result was their desire for land: “Give us our own land and we can take care of ourselves. Equally important within the time period, were the actions the government took by asking former slaves what they needed to recover after slavery was abolished. When the reconstruction period was taking place between 18, former slaves received the rights of citizenship and protection through the 14th amendment, but their rights were often ignored. Darrell states the name is considered to be an inside joke due to the false promise made by the United States government: “The United States government promised that all former slaves would receive forty acres and a mule so that they could start a farm and become self-sufficient”. Immediately upon arriving on the premises, Martin is informed by Damon Darrell of the ironic name of the premises: Forty Acres.

Smith uses Martin, the protagonist in his novel, to reveal the truth behind what is taught of the Forty Acres promise to young children through school and compares it to the reality.

Throughout Smith’s novel, Forty Acres, he touches upon the promise of Forty Acres versus the falsehood reality as seen throughout history. Throughout the novel, Smith compares the promise versus the reality of 40 acres, the consequence on the past and future generations of African Americans and the plot to reinstate slavery to express the after-effects of government betrayal. Dwayne Alexander Smith uses Martin Grey and an elite group of African American men in Forty Acres to reveal the long lasting effects of government betrayal.

Forty Acres by Dwayne Alexander Smith