“A Constitutional View of the Late War between the States,” Alexander Stephens , 1870, Philadelphia: National Publishing Co.:
“When asked by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stepehens at the 1865 Hampton Roads ‘peace’ conference what would become of the freedmen without property or education, Lincoln sarcastically recited the words to a popular minstrel song, ‘root, hog or die.’”
More of this “great” man’s quotes:
http://www.37thtexas.org/html/Emancipator.html
Like most Lost Cause posts, this one takes a grain of truth, adds in a quote out of context, and presents it in a manner designed not to further the truth but solely to make Lincoln look bad.
Lincoln was not asked by Alexander Stephens what would become of the freed slaves. The question came from Robert M. T. Hunger of Virginia. And the question wasn't what would become of the freedmen, the question was what would happen to Southern society. His stated fear was that slaves, without their accustomed overseers and compulsion to work, would doom the Southern society to ruin. Hunter's fear was that no work would be done, nothing would be cultivated or harvested, and starvation for both blacks and whites would be the result.
Lincoln's response, "root hog, or die", was directed at the white part of that equation. Blacks already labored for their existence. But without their chattel it was the white population that would have to learn to work. The white population who would have to learn to grow their own food. The white population who would have to learn to root. Or die.
A complete description of the story and the context is here.