- Mar 11, 2015
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Abraham Lincoln has been given a lot of credit because he signed the emancipation proclamation. But in reality he was forced to do so because blacks refused to be resettled in a colony in the Central American jungle.
"In his book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, historian Eric Foner writes that by 1862, Lincoln, as well as politically moderate members of Congress, saw colonization as at least a piece of the policy puzzle. "Both the law providing for abolition in the District of Columbia and the Second Confiscation Act included provisions for the colonization of those willing to emigrate. During 1862, Congress appropriated a total of $600,000 to aid in the transportation overseas of African-Americans," Foner wrote. Policy entrepreneurs of varying trustworthiness offered colonization proposals in such far-flung locales as Brazil, Colombia, and the Caribbean island of St. Croix.
But most black Americans weren’t buying. Seeking their support, Lincoln met with a black delegation at the White House on Aug. 14, 1862, and made the case for colonization. It was widely considered a failure. Lincoln offended his visitors, and others who read the after-the-fact newspaper coverage, by saying such things as, "It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated" and that for blacks to refuse to colonize elsewhere would be "extremely selfish."
Did Abraham Lincoln plan to send ex-slaves to Central America after the Civil War?
Abraham Lincoln 'wanted to deport slaves' to new colonies
Here are some words from the republican Abe Lincoln:
“You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated.”
This is the Abraham Lincoln they didn’t tell you about in school.
As the free black leaders soon discovered, Lincoln’s invitation to discuss policy was a pretext for a one-sided sales pitch.
“I do not propose to discuss this, but to present it as a fact with which we have to deal,” Lincoln continued. “I cannot alter it if I would. It is a fact, about which we all think and feel alike, I and you.”
Lincoln continued to unload on the delegates, even blaming their people for the Civil War at his doorstep: “See our present condition—the country engaged in war!—our white men cutting one another’s throats, none knowing how far it will extend; and then consider what we know to be the truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the institution of Slavery and the colored race as a basis, the war could not have an existence.”
Slavery was a law made legal by whites and yet Lincoln blames blacks for the civil war.
This brought the president back to colonization, and his purpose for inviting the delegates to the White House in the first place—to get them to accept his trial balloon.
“I suppose one of the principal difficulties in the way of colonization is that the free colored man cannot see that his comfort would be advanced by it,” Lincoln reasoned. “You may believe you can live in Washington or elsewhere in the United States the remainder of your life [as easily], perhaps more so than you can in any foreign country, and hence you may come to the conclusion that you have nothing to do with the idea of going to a foreign country. This is (I speak in no unkind sense) an extremely selfish view of the case.”
Then he pivoted: “But you ought to do something to help those who are not so fortunate as yourselves.”
In Lincoln’s mind, if these free leaders stepped forward to lead the emigration of black people out of the United States, that would make it easier for white slaveholders to free the rest.
He explained: “If you could give a start to white people, you would open a wide door for many to be made free. If we deal with those who are not free at the beginning, and whose intellects are clouded by Slavery, we have very poor materials to start with. If intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would move in this matter, much might be accomplished. It is exceedingly important that we have men at the beginning capable of thinking as white men, and not those who have been systematically oppressed.”
Nothing like flattering some of the race by insulting the rest!
“There is much to encourage you,” Lincoln continued pitching. “For the sake of your race you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people.”
https://www.theroot.com/did-lincoln-want-to-ship-black-people-back-to-africa-1790858389
This is part of republican history they don't want to tell blacks as they try to herd dumb blacks into republican slave quarters.
"In his book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, historian Eric Foner writes that by 1862, Lincoln, as well as politically moderate members of Congress, saw colonization as at least a piece of the policy puzzle. "Both the law providing for abolition in the District of Columbia and the Second Confiscation Act included provisions for the colonization of those willing to emigrate. During 1862, Congress appropriated a total of $600,000 to aid in the transportation overseas of African-Americans," Foner wrote. Policy entrepreneurs of varying trustworthiness offered colonization proposals in such far-flung locales as Brazil, Colombia, and the Caribbean island of St. Croix.
But most black Americans weren’t buying. Seeking their support, Lincoln met with a black delegation at the White House on Aug. 14, 1862, and made the case for colonization. It was widely considered a failure. Lincoln offended his visitors, and others who read the after-the-fact newspaper coverage, by saying such things as, "It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated" and that for blacks to refuse to colonize elsewhere would be "extremely selfish."
Did Abraham Lincoln plan to send ex-slaves to Central America after the Civil War?
Abraham Lincoln 'wanted to deport slaves' to new colonies
Here are some words from the republican Abe Lincoln:
“You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated.”
This is the Abraham Lincoln they didn’t tell you about in school.
As the free black leaders soon discovered, Lincoln’s invitation to discuss policy was a pretext for a one-sided sales pitch.
“I do not propose to discuss this, but to present it as a fact with which we have to deal,” Lincoln continued. “I cannot alter it if I would. It is a fact, about which we all think and feel alike, I and you.”
Lincoln continued to unload on the delegates, even blaming their people for the Civil War at his doorstep: “See our present condition—the country engaged in war!—our white men cutting one another’s throats, none knowing how far it will extend; and then consider what we know to be the truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the institution of Slavery and the colored race as a basis, the war could not have an existence.”
Slavery was a law made legal by whites and yet Lincoln blames blacks for the civil war.
This brought the president back to colonization, and his purpose for inviting the delegates to the White House in the first place—to get them to accept his trial balloon.
“I suppose one of the principal difficulties in the way of colonization is that the free colored man cannot see that his comfort would be advanced by it,” Lincoln reasoned. “You may believe you can live in Washington or elsewhere in the United States the remainder of your life [as easily], perhaps more so than you can in any foreign country, and hence you may come to the conclusion that you have nothing to do with the idea of going to a foreign country. This is (I speak in no unkind sense) an extremely selfish view of the case.”
Then he pivoted: “But you ought to do something to help those who are not so fortunate as yourselves.”
In Lincoln’s mind, if these free leaders stepped forward to lead the emigration of black people out of the United States, that would make it easier for white slaveholders to free the rest.
He explained: “If you could give a start to white people, you would open a wide door for many to be made free. If we deal with those who are not free at the beginning, and whose intellects are clouded by Slavery, we have very poor materials to start with. If intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would move in this matter, much might be accomplished. It is exceedingly important that we have men at the beginning capable of thinking as white men, and not those who have been systematically oppressed.”
Nothing like flattering some of the race by insulting the rest!
“There is much to encourage you,” Lincoln continued pitching. “For the sake of your race you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people.”
https://www.theroot.com/did-lincoln-want-to-ship-black-people-back-to-africa-1790858389
This is part of republican history they don't want to tell blacks as they try to herd dumb blacks into republican slave quarters.
