Posted on 08/13/2003 6:57:47 AM PDT by bedolido
We have this:
Washington, February 18. 1864.
Governor Andrew
Yours of the 12th was received yesterday. If I were to judge from the letter, without any external knowledge, I should suppose that all the colored people South of Washington were struggling to get to Massachusetts; that Massachusetts was anxious to receive and retain the whole of them as permament citizens; and that the United States Government here was interposing and preventing this. But I suppose these are neither really the facts, nor meant to be asserted as true by you. Coming down to what I suppose to be the real facts, you are engaged in trying to raise colored troops for the U. S. and wish to take recruits from Virginia, through Washington, to Massachusetts for that object; and the loyal Governor of Virginia, also trying to raise troops for us, objects to you taking his material away; while we, having to care for all, and being responsible alike to all, have to do as much for him, as we would have to do for you, if he was, by our authority, taking men from Massachusetts to fill up Virginia regiments. No more than this has been intended by me; nor, as I think, by the Secretary of War. There may have been some abuses of this, as a rule, which, if known, should be prevented in future.
If, however, it be really true that Massachusetts wishes to afford a permanent home within her borders, for all, or even a large number of colored persons who will come to her, I shall be only too glad to know it. It would give relief in a very difficult point; and I would not for a moment hinder from going, any person who is free by the terms of the proclamation or any of the acts of Congress.
A. Lincoln
President Lincoln dropped the idea of colonization. He "sloughed it off", as his private secretary wrote in 1864.
Lincoln appears to have made no comments on colonization at all in the last two years of his life.
Walt
You can't possibly prove that.
There is no proof that Butler even met with President Lincoln on the day in question.
Walt
Walt
There is no reason it can be accepted as historical data. It cannot be corroborated; it is a supposed conversation between two parties. The other party never spoke of it (and died 4 days later). It cannot possibly be given historical credence. You don't have to be a scholar to say that. Common sense will tell you.
There is no proof that Butler and Lincoln even met on the day in question.
Walt
There is no reason to discount Butler on the matter on then the dregs of historical racial paranoia. The man had an exemplary career and achieved some of the most remarkable results of any general in the entire war. The real source of his character assassination, which you continue to promulgate, was his use of Americans of African heritage, and his opposition to the KKK. Nothing more.
As for corroboration, I call you attention again to the accounts of Lincoln's conversations at Hampton Roads with both Stanton and Stephens present, and their separate but parallel accounts of Lincolns intent with the Proclamation.
I would call your attention again to Stevens, who actually wrote and steered the real legislation that freed Americans of African heritage, though, just as Lincoln intended, it was ultimately SCOTUS who reversed this legislation. Of his views and the debates over this legislation there is abundant documentation, and when you deny Butler, you essentially deny the whole pattern of the history of those years. Surely, you need to rethink your views on the era.
However, the achiements of Butler, Sumner and Stevens had their irrefutable impact, and laid down the direction towards the real future of the nation.
Show it to me. Or do you believe that they did, and 'neo-confederate' revolutionaries have somehow erased it from the historical record? There is not a single record of someone back then disputing Butler. Not a letter, not a statement, not an article, nor even a comment in a book, that disputes Bulter's record of their conversation. Not to my knowledge anyway. If you know of one, show it to me.
There is no proof that Butler even met with President Lincoln on the day in question.
According to the 'Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln', Ol' Abe directed Butler to meet with him about that time, but you know that.
Another of your completely twisted falsehoods. As you darn well know, the radicals repealed the funding for his beloved colonization program, so he couldn't do any more colonization projects. THAT is the reason his secretary made the comment he did. THERE WAS NO MORE MONEY for Abe to spend on the idea at that time.
Lincoln appears to have made no comments on colonization at all in the last two years of his life.
lol, He was experimenting with a project in Haiti throughout most of 1863, and when it ran into problems, he ordered the people returned that wished to do so in early 1864. Most notable is that he made no comments about giving up on the idea at that time, especially since the radicals were using that colony's failure to shut down his colonization efforts. His failure to do so only points to his still believing in the idea, but being unable to act on it any further due to his money being taken away. They took his colonization money away, and even made him account for every penny that had been spent, demanding reports from him and his Secretary of the Interior. BTW, have you ever read the first line of the proposal for that particular colonization project? It goes like this:
"I beg leave, Mr. President, to present my congratulations to Your Excellency for the promulgation of your late Emancipation Proclamation, and to offer my assistance in carrying out your philanthropic ideas of Colonization as connected therewith."
lol, He was experimenting with a project in Haiti throughout most of 1863...
Quote President Lincoln. There are no statements from him on colonization yay or nay at all after 1/1/63.
Walt
According to the 'Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln', Ol' Abe directed Butler to meet with him about that time, but you know that.
The quote often provided by the neo-rebs to support this contention directed Butler to meet with a congressional committee, not the president. There is no proof they ever met in this time frame.
Walt
President Lincoln dropped the idea of colonization. He "sloughed it off", as his private secretary wrote in 1864.
Hay made that characterization in the summer, IIRC, yet Lincoln was still fighting for Mitchell's job as his colonization commissioner in November of that same year. Mitchell also wrote of Lincoln's colonization beliefs later in life and gave no indication that he ever changed them.
Lincoln appears to have made no comments on colonization at all in the last two years of his life.
False. We know for certain that he asked Bates about it in November 1864 because Bates' letter directly references that. We also have reasonably strong evidence that he was still talking about it when he met with Butler around April 11th of the next year.
Actions speak louder than words. Throughout most of 1863 and early 1864 he had a test colony going in Haiti. Lincoln did cancel the first contract with Benard Kock, something revisionists love to point out, but they always fail to mention that it was immediately replaced by another contract with 2 of his partners, Forbes and Tuckerman. A few lines were added to the second contract to ensure the colony's performance prior to the Government having to pay $ 50.00 per head to the promoters and then it was executed, in April of 1863. The ship with the first group of black colonists left Fortress Monroe, New York onboard the ship 'Ocean Ranger' on April 13, 1863. Disease and poor management caused the colony to fail, and in February 1864, following an investigation into the colony's conditions by the Secretary of the Interior, Lincoln ordered a US Navy ship to go there and bring back any that wanted to return. By then the radicals were already well into the process of shutting down his colonization programs. Lincoln didn't give up on the idea, he was stopped cold in his tracks by the radicals. His colonization efforts were ongoing up until the very moment the radicals pulled the plug on him.
LOL, I think you should have read the comments 'Held_to_Ransom' posted you regarding that. And the ones by 'GOPcapitalist', and 'nolu chan', and '4conservativejustices', and... (the list goes on) (and on) (and on) (and on)...
That's a lie. The meeting is documented in the index of Vol. 8 of the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln ed. by Basler. Listed is an April 10, 1865 memo from John Hay scheduling a meeting between Butler and Lincoln for the next day. You have been informed of this memo repeatedly, Walt, and therefore have no excuse for fibbing about Butler's meeting.
Once again Walt that is a falsehood and you are a liar. The meeting between Butler and Lincoln was scheduled in writing by Lincoln's secretary John Hay.
From the index of Routine Correspondences for 1865 in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln Volume 8, edited by Roy Basler, page 588:
"Apr. 10. To Benjamin F. Butler, Hay for Lincoln, making appointment for ``tomorrow,''"
Butler's meeting is corroborated in the scheduling by Lincoln's own secretary. Live with it.
False. It is a memo from John Hay, Lincoln's personal secretary, scheduling an appointment between Lincoln and Butler.
"Apr. 10. To Benjamin F. Butler, Hay for Lincoln, making appointment for ``tomorrow,''" - Routine Correspondences for 1865, listed on p. 588 of the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 8, ed. Roy Basler
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