Final answer:
The term "forty acres and a mule" refers to General Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, an unrealized plan to give confiscated land to former slaves as reparations. Despite intentions, the policy faced opposition from President Johnson and the land was returned to its original owners, marking the end of this attempted land redistribution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phrase that refers to a plan by the US government to redistribute confiscated lands from the Civil War and give them to the former slaves as compensation for their unpaid labor under slavery is commonly known as "forty acres and a mule." This proposal was based on Special Field Order No. 15, issued by General William T. Sherman, which allocated land along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts to freed slaves.
However, the implementation of land redistribution faced significant challenges. President Andrew Johnson opposed the forced confiscation of property, and in 1866, he ordered that the land be returned to its previous owners. Efforts by the Freedmen's Bureau to lease and provide titles to lands to the freed slaves were also overturned. Ultimately, the hope of land reform and the aspiration to provide former slaves with a foundation for economic independence were not realized, as the policy to redistribute land was reversed and former slaves were advised to work as wage laborers for their former owners.