Sure it is. Butler is known to have been in Washington to meet with Lincoln at the time of that conversation.
No it's not and you know perfectly well what my meaning is. Butler didn't say in 1865 that the gist of any conversation he with President Lincoln at that time included forced deportation of blacks, and certainly not of black soldiers. It would have caused quite a stir.
I can't for the life of me understand the motivation of anyone who would push such a ridiculous idea, given that no objective reading of these events could possibly support it.
Walt
How do you know he didn't, Walt? Do you have a tape recording of every conversation Butler ever had in 1865? The fact that he did not publish his recollections of it until later in no way means that it did not happen, nor does it mean that he failed to tell anybody of it.
It would have caused quite a stir.
No it wouldn't. Lincoln was publicly promoting colonization in his addresses to Congress only a couple years prior and that didn't cause the stir you describe, so little reason exists as to why this one would have.
I can't for the life of me understand the motivation of anyone who would push such a ridiculous idea
The only ridiculous idea being pushed around here is from you, Walt. That ridiculous idea is that Lincoln secretly abandoned his long held belief in colonization some time around 1863 despite the fact that ZERO records exist suggesting or documenting anything of the sort and despite the fact that Lincoln is known to have still been pushing colonization after 1863 by way of Mitchell.
The last documented official correspondence indicating that Lincoln was still into colonization was dated November 30, 1864 - the response from Bates to Lincoln's request of extending Mitchell's job as colonization commissioner. The last known letter on Mitchell's tenure was sent by one of Lincoln's senate allies and recieved by him a month later. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, tax day, only 3 and 1/2 months after that last letter on Mitchell and only 4 and 1/2 months after the last known official correspondence on Lincoln's colonization policy. So if Lincoln had a change of opinion, it could only have happened in those 4 and 1/2 months between November 30, 1864 and April 15, 1865. If it did indeed happen there is NO RECORD WHATSOEVER indicating this to be so. There are no speeches in which he dropped colonization. There are no letters in which Lincoln repudiates colonization. There are no known or recorded conversations in which he is even alleged to have confided his repudiation of colonization to another person. But what we DO know is that on November 30, 1864 AG Edward Bates responded to Lincoln's request that Mitchell, his colonization commissioner, be retained to further carry out colonization policies.
Seeing as absolutely no indication whatsoever exists to demonstrate that Lincoln ever abandoned the colonization policies he was persuing as of November 30, 1864, it is not at all unreasonable to conclude that he was still espousing them in April 1865 at the time of Butler's recounted conversation. It is however ridiculous to claim, despite the complete and utter ABSENCE of any evidence, that Lincoln repudiated his colonization beliefs in this or any other period and in spite of all existing evidence suggesting that he did not. Of course you will never admit that because, as with all other things involving Lincoln, you cannot bring yourself about to admitting the fallability of your false god.
How do you know he didn't, Walt? Do you have a tape recording of every conversation Butler ever had in 1865? The fact that he did not publish his recollections of it until later in no way means that it did not happen, nor does it mean that he failed to tell anybody of it.
It would have caused quite a stir.
No it wouldn't. Lincoln was publicly promoting colonization in his addresses to Congress only a couple years prior and that didn't cause the stir you describe, so little reason exists as to why this one would have.
I can't for the life of me understand the motivation of anyone who would push such a ridiculous idea
The only ridiculous idea being pushed around here is from you, Walt. That ridiculous idea is that Lincoln secretly abandoned his long held belief in colonization some time around 1863 despite the fact that ZERO records exist suggesting or documenting anything of the sort and despite the fact that Lincoln is known to have still been pushing colonization after 1863 by way of Mitchell.
The last documented official correspondence indicating that Lincoln was still into colonization was dated November 30, 1864 - the response from Bates to Lincoln's request of extending Mitchell's job as colonization commissioner. The last known letter on Mitchell's tenure was sent by one of Lincoln's senate allies and recieved by him a month later. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, tax day, only 3 and 1/2 months after that last letter on Mitchell and only 4 and 1/2 months after the last known official correspondence on Lincoln's colonization policy. So if Lincoln had a change of opinion, it could only have happened in those 4 and 1/2 months between November 30, 1864 and April 15, 1865. If it did indeed happen there is NO RECORD WHATSOEVER indicating this to be so. There are no speeches in which he dropped colonization. There are no letters in which Lincoln repudiates colonization. There are no known or recorded conversations in which he is even alleged to have confided his repudiation of colonization to another person. But what we DO know is that on November 30, 1864 AG Edward Bates responded to Lincoln's request that Mitchell, his colonization commissioner, be retained to further carry out colonization policies.
Seeing as absolutely no indication whatsoever exists to demonstrate that Lincoln ever abandoned the colonization policies he was persuing as of November 30, 1864, it is not at all unreasonable to conclude that he was still espousing them in April 1865 at the time of Butler's recounted conversation. It is however ridiculous to claim, despite the complete and utter ABSENCE of any evidence, that Lincoln repudiated his colonization beliefs in this or any other period and in spite of all existing evidence suggesting that he did not. Of course you will never admit that because, as with all other things involving Lincoln, you cannot bring yourself about to admitting the fallability of your false god.