[Non-Sequitur]

But what reason is there why I should accept the version that you quote as "true" rather than Stephens' version.

Fair enough. Can you provide the relevent quote from the Stephens book in it's entirety? It would be intersting to compare the context of the two.

[Aurelius]

" "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.'"

"A Constitutional View of the Late War between the States,"Stephens , 1870, Philadelphia: National Publishing Co.:

The Great Emancipator

I have the book, so I will try to find the passage and provide any relevent larger context.