Why did some southerners reject William Tecumseh Sherman's plan to give land?

Some Southerners rejected William Tecumseh Sherman's plan to give land to freed slaves, known as "40 acres and a mule," because they viewed it as an infringement on their property rights and a threat to their social and economic order. Many white landowners feared losing their land and labor force, which would undermine the traditional plantation system. Additionally, the idea of empowering formerly enslaved people with land was met with resistance rooted in deeply ingrained racial prejudices and a desire to maintain white supremacy in the post-Civil War South.