Final answer:
Special Field Order #15 issued by General Sherman set aside land along the Atlantic coast for former slaves and included 400,000 acres allotted in forty-acre plots with the possibility of using army mules to work the land. The order represented a temporary measure to solve the refugee problem, but its effects were reversed by President Andrew Johnson, reinstating the land to former Confederate owners.
Step-by-step explanation:
The terms of Special Field Order #15 were significant during the post-Civil War era, providing a framework for land redistribution to former slaves. General William T. Sherman issued the order shortly after his meeting with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and African American leaders in Savannah, Georgia, who voiced their need for land to gain economic independence.
The order designated land along the Atlantic coast from Charleston, South Carolina, to the St. Johns River in Florida, which included the Sea Islands and the mainland 30 miles in from the coast. Approximately 400,000 acres were set aside in forty-acre plots for the settlement by freed slaves. Additionally, Sherman indicated that some army mules would be distributed to the freedmen to assist with their labor on the new land.
This initiative was aimed at addressing the refugee problem and providing a means for self-sustainment to the newly freed African Americans. However, the expectations it created were short-lived as President Andrew Johnson later reversed the order, restoring the land to its previous Confederate owners.