3. What did the white men want them all to do?

Fort acres and maybe a mule

If you are referring to after the Civil War and there was the "Forty Acres and a Mule" that the freed slaves were told they could have ... the creepy white guys were telling them they would give them 40 acres and a Mule so they could farm their own land BUT the real reason is so they could pressure them into voting the way the creepy guys wanted them too.