ON NOVEMBER 30, 1864 WE FIND EDWARD BATES REPLYING TO A QUESTION POSED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN ABOUT HOW TO KEEP JAMES MITCHELL ON THE PAYROLL TO AID IN THE MATTER OF EMIGRATION OR COLONIZATION OF BLACKS.
From Edward Bates to Abraham Lincoln, November 30, 1864
Washington, Nov 30 1864.
Honored Sir,
I beg your pardon for having overlooked, in the pressure of business, in my latter days in the office, the duty to give formal answer to your question concerning your power still to retain the Revd Mr Mitchell as your assistant or aid in the matter of executing the several acts of Congress relating to the emigration or Colonizing of the freed blacks.
It is too late for me now to give a formal opinion upon the question, as this is my last day in office. I can only say that, having examined all the acts referred to, I am satisfied that, notwithstanding the act which repeals the appropriation contingently, you still have something to do, under those acts; and therefore, that you have the same right to continue Mr Mitchell that you had to appoint him originally. And I hope it will be done, for he seems to be a good man, of zeal & capacity.
Most respectfully Sir
Your obt servt
Edwd. Bates
In April 1865, Lincoln to General Butler, fully corroborated and matching other statements known to have been made by Lincoln, as quoted and authenticated by multiple reputable historians.
But what shall we do with the negroes after they are free? I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes. Certainly they cannot if we don’t get rid of the negroes whom we have armed and disciplined and who have fought with us. . . . I believe that it would be better to export them all to some fertile country with a good climate, which they could have to themselves.
Benjamin F. Butler, Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin F. Butler: A Review of His Legal, Political, and Military Career (or, Butler’s Book) (Boston: A. M. Thayer & Co. Book Publishers, 1892), p. 903.
Wouldn't be something if this nutcase Lincoln actually started the war just so he could get rid of the blacks. Seems to fit, he wanted them deported before the war as the record shows. Obviously he could not get his way until he defeated the South. And now you showed he continued to that objective after the war until his final days. No wonder they had to make a myth out of the man.
Does this not sound like Bates had blown off a Lincoln previous request and is now responding to pressure?