NEWS FROM WASHINGTON: The Questions of Confiscation and Emancipation; Scheme for the Colonization of the Blacks (1/10/1862)

posed of Blair; Buffinton, of Massachusetts; Olin, of New-York; Wright, of Pennsylvania; Richardson, of Illinois; McKee; Dunn, of Indiana; Wm. Allen, of Ohio; Marston, of New-Hampshire, and Jackson. The two latter have not attended the meetings of the Committee. It is understood that the Committee agree as to the principles of this bill, but not fully on details. The leading features of the bill are these:

Second -- The charge of each rebel State's portion pro rata on the lots and lands of citizens of said States, according to the valuation thereof under the last census.

Third -- The Proclamation of the President on the 22d of February next, to all citizens of the rebel States, to pay the taxes charged on their lands.

Fourth -- The lands of all who fail to pay, after sixty days, shall be liable to be seized, and the title thereof vest in the United States.

Fifth -- The President to appoint three Commissioners for each rebel State, to take charge of lands whose title is thus vested in Government, and lease or sell the same as the President may direct; but persons claiming to be loyal, who shall, in two years, furnish proof of loyalty, shall receive each from Government title to their lands.

Sixth -- These Commissioners to receive a salary of $3,000 each, and to have two clerks each, at a salary of $1,000. They shall enter upon duty whenever any County or district of the rebel States is reduced to Federal authority by the commanding General.

Seventh -- Personal property of citizens in rebel States to be taken after June next, in default of their payment of the National Income Tax.

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1861-1865: Seminar and Discussion Forum
The American Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.

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Link to previous New York Times thread

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This issue of the New York Times discusses in the left column of the first page the plan of the Military Committee of the House in an article entitled, "The Military Committee and the Slavery Question." That article contains much of what President Lincoln had proposed earlier about what to do with slaves freed by the war, but not all. The article also ends with the statement, "It is well ascertained that the President will approve no measure of emancipation not including colonization."

The article addressing the topic listed in the highlights of the front page entitled, "Scheme for the Colonization of the Blacks" was not included in your excerpted articles unless it was covered by the mention of colonization in the "The Military Committee and the Slavery Question" article.

I searched online in earlier newspapers to learn exactly what President Lincoln had proposed. I found an article in the "Weekly Pioneer and Democrat" of Saint Paul, Minnesota dated December 13, 1861 that discussed Lincoln's proposal. I excerpt below parts from the article of the Saint Paul newspaper [Link to article in the Weekly Pioneer and Democrat (left column)].

The Pioneer and Democrat
Saint Paul, Minnesota
December 13. 1861

(From an article titled “The President’s Message” [paragraph break below is mine for readability - bold red font and underline is mine for emphasis as I did not remember that Lincoln proposed the colonization of free Negroes during the war. I do remember, however, that he was a member of a colonization society years before the war that supported the shipment of free African Americans to Liberia.]):

The President states that under the act of the last session, providing for the confiscation of the slaves employed by the rebels in military works, a large number of slaves have been confiscated; he expects that as the war progresses, and as state legislatures shall enact similar laws, this number of slaves, thrown upon the hands of the government, will be so largely increased that some provision for them will be absolutely necessary. He suggests that the slaves thus confiscated by state authority, be taken by the United States and paid for; that these negroes, thus accepted by the United States, as well as those confiscated directly by the federal government, be declared free, and that both classes be sent out of the country, and colonized in some congenial clime. In connection with this proposition, his urgent recommendation for the immediate recognition of the independence of Hayti and Liberia, may have some significance as part of the scheme for the deportation of the liberated Africans.

The President, not content with recommending the emancipation of confiscated chattels should be followed by their removal from the country, boldly suggests, that the free negro population of the country, as far as may be practicable, should be included in any scheme of colonization that may be adopted. His suggestions and recommendations on this point look to a riddance of the negro population as necessarily a part of any and every plan for their confiscation. If no other colony be open for the reception of these negroes he suggests the purchase of some territory for that purpose.

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