The idea of providing 40 acres of land to each freed slave is often associated with General William Tecumseh Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15, issued in January 1865.
The policy of providing 40 acres of land to freed slaves was not fully carried out, and it was ultimately overturned by President Johnson after Lincoln's assassination. Only a small number of black families were able to obtain land through this initiative. It is unclear whether Tim Scott's family was among those who received land through this program.
Actually, the whole 40 acres and a mule thing was proposed, but not passed or implemented legislatively.