The narrative of the city of Savannah, Georgia from its founding in 1733 to the end of the Civil War in 1865 was driven by two competing forces:





The first was the promotion of slavery, as it was practiced and preached by the elite of the city,





and the second was freedom through faith, as it was preached and practiced by the Black church leaders in the community.





 
And the second force finally triumphed over the first force





and climaxed in a meeting that took place in Savannah on January 12, 1865, and out of the meeting came the land redistribution plan known as “40 Acres and a Mule.”