In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

204 mark e. neely jr. Abraham lincoln and black Colonization Benjamin Butler’s Spurious Testimony mark E. Neely Jr. “ican hardlybelieve that the South and Northcan live in peace, unlesswecan get rid of the negroes.”According to benjamin F. butler, PresidentAbraham lincoln expressed this fear to him in a conversation in Washington sometime after the Hampton roads Peace Conference of February 3, 1865.1 butler’s reminiscence, which appeared in Butler’s Book in 1892, is the only evidence that lincoln gave any serious thought to colonization after July 1, 1864.2 “if . . . substantially correct, as it appears to be,” George Fredrickson has said of butler’s story, it proves that “lincoln continued to his dying day to deny the possibility of racial harmony and equality in the united States and persisted in regarding colonization as the only real alternative to perpetual race conflict.”3 butler’s recollection has taken on increased importance and credibility in recent scholarship.4 yet, 204 E 1. benjamin F. butler, Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of . . . : Butler’s Book (boston, 1892), 903, (hereafter cited as Butler’s Book). 2. John Hay noted on July 1, 1864, that “the President has sloughed off that idea of colonization .” Tyler Dennett (ed.), lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries and letters of John Hay (New york, 1939), 203. 3. George m. Fredrickson, “A man but Not a brother: Abraham lincoln and racial Equality,” The Journal of Southern History, Xli (Feb. 1975), 57. 4. Fredrickson said that historians “are naturally reluctant to take ben butler’s word for anything, but some recent scholars have found good reason to accept his account of this conversation .” ibid., 56–57. He noted particularly the works of Herman belz and ludwell H. Johnson. Civil War History, vol. XXv No. 1 © 1979 by The kent State university Press abraham lincoln and black colonization 205 The former found butler’s story “in accord with views lincoln expressed elsewhere concerning reconstruction,” especially, with his “fear of violence and of continued fighting.” belz concluded that “if partial colonization could promote these ends [securing peace and order], he was willing at least to investigate its possibilities.” Reconstructing the Union:Theory and Policy during the Civil War (ithaca, 1969), 282–283. ludwell Johnson used butler’s story in “lincoln and Equal rights: The Authenticity of the Wadsworth letter,” The Journal of Southern History, XXXii (Feb. 1966), 68. Even skeptics fail to dismiss the story altogether. G. S. boritt admitted that “it is possible, although not probable, that there is some truth in benjamin butler’s later recollections that even in 1865, for a brief moment, the President entertained the idea, only to be told that it was impossible .”“Thevoyage to theColonyof linconia:The Sixteenth President, blackColonization, and the Defense mechanism of Avoidance,” The Historian, XXXvii (Aug. 1975), 623. Don E. Fehrenbacher called butler’s testimony “dubious” in “only His Stepchildren: lincoln and the Negro,” Civil War History, XX (Dec. 1974), 308. benjamin Quarles’s lincoln and the Negro (New york, 1962) did not mention the story, but Hans Trefousse’s Ben Butler: The South Called Him BEAST! (New york, 1957) repeated the story without qualification on page 179. Some earlier writers ignored the butler story: N. A. N. Cleven, “Some Plans for Colonizing liberated NegroSlaves in HispanicAmerica,”Journal of Negro History, Xi (Jan. 1926), 35–49;Warren A. beck, “lincoln and Negro Colonization.” Abraham lincoln Quarterly, vi (Sept. 1950), 162–183; and Frederic bancroft, “The ile A vache Experiment in Colonization” in Jacob E. Cooke, Frederic Bancroft: Historian (Norman, 1957), 228–258. others mentioned it without analysis: Charles H. Wesley, “lincoln’s Plan for Colonizing Emancipated Negroes,” Journal of Negro History, iv (Jan. 1919), 20 and Paul J. Scheips, “lincoln and the Chiriqui Colonization Project,” Journal of Negro History,XXXvii (oct. 1952), 448–449. Scheips noted Carl Sandburg’s skepticism and royP. basler’s opinion that the story was not accepted by “established scholarly opinion.” 5. None of the scholars mentioned in the previous note analyzed the butler story to any significant degree, and the argument has not advanced one whit in sixty years. indeed, in 1952 Scheips judged that the interview took place in February, and fourteen years later ludwell Johnson said it occurred in April, a month in which it could not possibly have occurred. 6. Butler’s Book, 902–903. though manyhistorianscite it as suggesting one thing oranotherabout lincoln’s racial ideas, none has studied the story itself to determine its reliability.5 The anecdote...

Share