Benjamin Butler's Colonization Testimony Reevaluated

One morning in the waning days of the Civil War, Major General Benjamin F. Butler called upon Abraham Lincoln at the White House. An obviously concerned Lincoln approached the general in private, acting 'very much disturbed' in thought.1 Questioning Butler, the president remarked, 'But what shall we do with the negroes after they are free?'2 With the hostilities of the previous four years drawing to a close, Lincoln's attention now turned to the condition and future of the emancipated slaves. 'I fear a race war,' he confided, while expressing concern that the enlisted black soldiers of the Union army would 'be but little better off with their masters than they were before' if no action was taken to prevent it.

The solution, he observed, was to be found in a program of colonization. Continued Lincoln, 'I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes.'3Instructed to study the feasibility of a colonization plan, Butler departed the Executive Mansion, promising to return with his findings. A few days later he again called on Lincoln.

The logistical scale of colonizing the freedmen of the South, he reported, would make a comprehensive colonization program impossible. Butler proposed an alternative in which the 'one hundred and fifty thousand negro troops' that were 'now enlisted' in the federal army could be transported to a long-proposed colony location on the Panama isthmus where they could find employment in digging an American canal between the two oceans. 'After we get ourselves established' on the isthmus, 'we will petition Congress under your recommendation to send down to us our wives and children,' thus apparently inducing a free migration of blacks to the new colony. 'There is meat in that, General Butler, there is meat in that,' responded Lincoln with instructions to the general to pursue preparations for the plan.4 Butler was apparently to lead a renewed administration policy for colonization—a topic that occupied substantial attention within the Lincoln administration prior to January 1, 1863, but had since been supplanted by other priorities as the war progressed and, according to a common interpretation, abandoned entirely. It was the last time the two would meet, as Lincoln's life ended with an assassin's bullet a few days later.So goes a well-known and controversial anecdote related late in life by General Butler.

Though the colonization issue appeared frequently in the early years of the Lincoln presidency, its placement by Butler a few short days before Lincoln's death, if accepted as true, may require a revision of longstanding interpretations of both Lincoln's racial views and post-war policy goals at his untimely death. Hinting at those implications, George Frederickson observes that acceptance of the Butler anecdote would suggest that 'Lincoln continued to his dying day to deny the possibility of racial harmony in the United States and persisted in regarding colonization as the only real alternative to perpetual race conflict.'5Frederickson's observation runs counter to a commonly implied or accepted interpretation of Lincoln's earlier colonization policies and racial views in general. While it is openly acknowledged that a younger Lincoln advocated colonization much as his 'beau ideal of a statesman' Henry Clay had done before him, his racial attitudes are often asserted or assumed to have matured toward the end of his life, reaching greater acceptance for the country's African American population.

Lincoln's papers and speeches display a drastic decline in the frequency of references made to colonization after January 1863, making the Butler anecdote all the more unusual and contentious.6Speculating on Lincoln's racial beliefs at the time of his death, David Herbert Donald notes that '[p]erhaps he still questioned whether blacks could ever achieve equality with whites in the same society, but the failure of his colonization schemes had taught him that African-Americans were, and would remain, a permanent part of the American social fabric.'7 'Colonization was dead and Lincoln did not mourn,' observes Gabor Boritt. 'He did not march backwards.'8Echoing those views, modern scholars (Frederickson being the main exception) raise doubts regarding the veracity of Butler's 1865 account. The general's reputation as an unreliable witness has prompted many to dismiss his claims. 'The anecdote is completely spurious,' asserts Mark E. Neely.9 William Lee Miller observes that 'scholars generally no longer ... [accept] the report of Benjamin Butler that Lincoln was still considering colonization in the last months of his life.'10 As early as 1951, Warren B.

Beck, in a letter to Paul Scheips, expressed doubt about the Butler story's credibility, apparently at the urging of Roy P. Basler. In summarizing Basler's view, Beck remarks that the of Lincoln his earlier views on colonization 1865 counter to the on the that that while have questioned Butler's there is no to doubt his in of Lincoln's with the colonization A in the of Lincoln scholars those in prompted of his scholars generally doubt Butler's the only to it are by and of the dismiss it upon his and have accepted with little in the years its As by that Butler his with Butler's two of the that Lincoln abandoned it as is no to believe that Lincoln ever colonization after he the on January 1, the Butler anecdote in his the Abraham Lincoln and in greater for an in Civil years The of both is a of Butler's upon that was not in at the time he the the anecdote in the of it as to that Butler still the his in early The anecdote is as more than a that is at being on a that and not the Civil and raise about the Butler it is the of that the for Butler's 1865 with Lincoln.

It will be that, while is in a in Butler's that it at with the of his 1865 to it is more the of the general's than in the papers of General Butler doubt that he with Lincoln in the White on the morning of a in the of the general's and only days before the to upon of the Butler its can no longer be on the in his at Butler's be what the general many years its as to Lincoln by Butler, to that may to the of Butler's or of it. The of the of and new that a did it is to Butler's anecdote and to Lincoln's views on colonization the last two years of his to the Butler has his or on the general's more commonly as Butler's is commonly assumed to all that is about the Butler to have with Lincoln in is a that Butler years prior to a of on Lincoln by The a of the colonization with but that upon the by As it an and in on the colonization made by the of between Butler and Lincoln in 1865 the time by Butler in his to that the was the had at to the by Lincoln in early The colonization which of two by two according to Butler, is implied to have Lincoln's to by the of Lincoln, Butler at the of his 'I to down to Butler Lincoln in only two days later for the thus and a has apparently the attention of those have the of William same to it as can at two on the of that him the on him, with at It is acknowledged that Butler those the of a the placement of as the is the of by Butler's in the and the the and thus Butler's Butler's is taken as the with Lincoln between the and the being the of Lincoln's for Lincoln his Lincoln on that he would be to about One the days later he the same to in to at One two the time and day of Lincoln's for as at on Butler was in still to for his that The Butler's at the time of his on he there at his and will a or on while Butler was in but Lincoln's Lincoln's at it is assumed that a between Butler and Lincoln was not the not have Butler it did or at time the to the earlier of Butler's of Butler's of the for the as as a time Butler the prior to but after the of General Lee and Lincoln's to he much after the of and he had been to upon the of what would be the of in the States as by the of the and black Lincoln's to on and on again the both are to only two of and between the and Butler the he to have with Lincoln, or Butler did Lincoln upon of that the and many of the view, Butler's with a to believe that the is the of Butler's his to will to that he both and a with Lincoln after the return and as implied in the account. The still the that Butler in his but hardly Butler's to after in to a by the regarding an of in the general's Butler his to for the of his in the days later General Butler that his was not for the Butler had departed for the and would there on the of would in the only to return a few days later in the of the that upon the general's he to have the two after his about his and to of that at his previous which were under by his Butler was that the president at was a in the that had the of the Lincoln at the president A of and had been in the of with the to Lincoln's and the of Butler's of a with Lincoln upon the he with his in One Lincoln's return to the by and may not get in that Lincoln is to but do not The will not before him there longer as his is it was that Butler would in the days in the to to have been for the of with Lincoln. may be the letter he on an in as the is to return to by ... that may to apparently the in his about the and speeches in of the after the of Butler and a of where he was The general on a policy that Lincoln's to at on the for him to have with General Butler.

While it is not whether and Butler approached Lincoln on or the he a at the White on the morning of Lincoln's a to General Executive will be to at Butler's with Lincoln to have not before the but on after Lincoln's return that location and as in the of Butler's all the between the president and Butler in private, as no of its other than the general's Though it at the only of its is to be upon Lincoln's other that that its was much longer than the Butler's The two about Butler's of his in Butler a for the of his at the at the of General George In late and early Butler to the president for by of the In all he the to for George and to Lincoln upon the he a to General to at a as to the or for and by of what George are of their The may have at the as a that was the of other of the Butler's two and has The in Butler's of his it is that the of petition papers would require a the and the of Butler to a are that Lincoln a greater on the general's at late in his life than is to have been what Butler in his as last ever had with Abraham The of to Butler's of which he upon the president in the Though only the their the that the colonization not have Butler it did or at time the is In of and the of Butler's with Lincoln, it no longer to in Butler's as a for his account. of the anecdote the issue of the to its Lincoln colonization policy January has been in the as Lincoln had much colonization off as by the time that the colonization on a in failure the he to blacks for life in a free Scheips, and have the Butler as that Lincoln colonization to the end of his the more common view, as Butler's with and generally the that Lincoln his earlier of the Lincoln's colonization views to the of While there is a decline in references to colonization in Lincoln's papers after early 1863, Lincoln the policy in of his The of a of by Lincoln is thus the of an upon other policies he did about and an in the of is in greater for 1, 'I the has off that of by his 'I have it a the of and have about him to the same to have the of the the to his to be The little more on the few on the of his unusual to the colonization on the Panama isthmus to Though an policy of Lincoln's in late the in early the American a the of the before the and concern its upon the with The of with colonization which were on it is to an on Lincoln's policy notes that be for both and colonization in general. the he observes that is not a of in Lincoln's in the to of colonization the same as the the it to a more interpretation than the of colonization often it. In of Lincoln's with the and with it the of his are by a later of Lincoln, in and a by no abandoned his policy of and for the two were in his and in had with of the of to Lincoln's for his and remarks were many years his as of the the in and the by upon its as of a in by for was the Lincoln's on and a of colonization as a for that Lincoln colonization is unusual his continued of colonization after the of his with the other is An of Lincoln before his in an letter to him ... and the 'He for colonization for on colonization to in the of his by Lincoln has the An apparently in two of within the of the of the is to in the of the and of and the of the which for the or of of African shall be in with the of the and the and of which shall be to and the or colonization of of African under the of the by their free may to to the of the United and other general as may be by the on the of would a in colonization the between Lincoln and a of at the White to a colonization persisted in his of colonization 1865 the administration its of the a between and the of the his in Lincoln with and to the colonization his as and by with of the only the to have had Lincoln's on colonization more than papers and the to Lincoln's for an in at black migration to the late 1865 that he approached Lincoln years prior to a colonization in which under the of the and American would be to and American freedmen to to the the two had a about in which Lincoln if our and will do better by than we have and may The the a to and American in the of freedmen to their the and the Lincoln administration in and with of the papers both the and was by and to was to the As by his would in with the of the to freedmen and with their to under the of the The for to and their for a of about the free black population. The would to on the as colonization at the time to future migration to the to have As report to Lincoln the to no to in for the would be for by a the which had its with the but and General the with and other in early and a to the of and of the of and are in with the policy of the United to free of as to to their all and the or of to no to or their in the of for but to and their all the in of a with Lincoln on at the of their Lincoln his by 'I the the in a on 1863, that its ... have the of the his of freedmen and An the appeared in the on to its in and that his was to and the with the to Lincoln's of the with his continued for colonization.

In an with the to have colonization with Lincoln in Lincoln if he that colonization was still the policy of the Lincoln 'I have much on and at a as have in and in after years found The continued by would have been much better to the than to have as those in the other to the of free blacks the on the continued at the end of the he in the earlier as of and is to it all to have in early with little to no by the time Congress the in the to it again in late to that the day to that the Lincoln for the program to it as to us of the policy of our departed and that the of Lincoln 'be by its of in the months Lincoln's a was a renewed colonization policy before Congress at the making Lincoln's a for The to have the and both before and after the little that he ever he had Lincoln's The scale of the in to the of late is of colonization by his toward the of the plan, Lincoln to after the As he in the return of the on the for war may we more and may our of be as Lincoln no to what in his and It a policy of which Lincoln was as his administration is that of to between and of the P. in late 1863, the and the of attention to colonization after that of the two colonization their to the a which he as an and in as a and an of his Lincoln's after the the president of war on at the of the years and continued by the of an Congress its colonization and his in late Lincoln General to the and him with an on Lincoln's of a the of his colonization references the in his letter to Lincoln on 'I much to the of petition now in the of the expressing his to Lincoln, and him for to will not be much to the of an on and on the Lincoln a to is by the general's letter of for his to to your your still to the as your or in the of the of Congress to the or of the was his as general at his to a before but have the same to that had to him the little Lincoln. Lincoln's to not to have do if ever to the by and his of the Though an of future of Lincoln's little about his colonization beliefs in late The of new upon Lincoln's colonization than the to the in at The is still Butler's by a its by Lincoln a to the colonization in his later with the scholars have taken to Lincoln's colonization views upon his on other in to his he at with Lincoln's on the related of and race In his last Lincoln a in 'I would that were now on the and on those our as the black to on his to for of the United States with Butler. Lincoln accepted freedmen as soldiers on January 1, 1863, he a future for the no could a to for his and him it was no longer his the end of his administration Lincoln had the an in Lincoln's racial attitudes toward the end of his life, to greater than would be for an issue that on Lincoln's In Lincoln's views on freedmen were in their at the time of his death, of to Lincoln's on the to the and of the in a that would be in its to our federal the it was the policy of the and and that only by the of the before the of on the of a in common his Lincoln the as a for that with Butler's colonization plan, which advocated soldiers to its colony.

It is of that Butler's anecdote of the as his Butler it to the of the he no that Lincoln solution, much it his of for black of Butler his of Lincoln's for a colonization Butler policy to Lincoln's about racial between and the in the of the Lincoln or they would not have been the concern that black soldiers will the the with the that Butler's Lincoln in the of Butler's Lincoln openly that the freedmen will little better off with their masters than they were and they will be free Lincoln fear of by the of by their late as with to the the of racial and in the prior to his Butler's Lincoln a fear of by the an by the general for the of his as an of the the issue of racial is a of Lincoln's colonization prior to 1863, and of Lincoln's fear that the freedmen would be by their for Lincoln's to the of black freedmen the in his in a had no part of the policy of the at the time of his and he with as an and part of his a of of the ... a that the and black could not on of social and he they could not the same he the of of but to make and the whites would to the of the whites the as by by the and of of Lincoln's beliefs his and little to his that Lincoln ever abandoned for that the of to colonization would have Lincoln's to issue the 'He it would be for both the whites and blacks that the the as he expressed it in his with the is better for us both to be his and on of his have whether he would not have longer in the of had he been that colonization would not be accepted as an in the of other George in that Lincoln, upon his in it that the of the in his with the is by no if the had failure of the his to the would have been while the of Lincoln's that continued to to the colonization after the had been It is that Henry an of in that the president have made still more at colonization he his the with the time Lincoln is to have as by the to the that policy on his of Lincoln is if toward the policies he Lincoln's beliefs as than those of the in of the of the president to the completely Lincoln's of colonization his about racial to he war more than that in which we were now on by the of the in is a of and often Lincoln's in the may that the of and in the about Lincoln. The its in time the it and for the is that Lincoln's had been and by the and his to as he it. his with the to that colonization and of the free was by an part of his Lincoln, he to the in his his do not Lincoln's colonization as a to of Lincoln's beliefs is a president at with the colonization issue and it as a of an and Though by its and on colonization as a more witness than Butler. a in Lincoln's on the issue that would a the in the of after early little to the of Lincoln's beliefs on the that with Lincoln colonization an on William In an anecdote in of Lincoln, the issue to a the to the a at his while he was the on his life the of Lincoln's The remarked, was ever to us upon of we frequently at the same of only did we in the to which which on the that all of a have an in its The anecdote with to the in after American their and with on their Lincoln is an that to the of Lincoln's colonization policies have a for those to of what is about their views, whether those before or as late as to with the Lincoln to his that he the two as in on Lincoln's only that is at day for those were not to the the of the and social and the of a the in making an of Lincoln's Butler's a and more by a late on Lincoln's views, its as as its of the anecdote are in many as much of a to scholars as the it The 1865 Butler's of it many the being its of the doubts about the and with Butler's that Lincoln his of on the in is in all an The general's to about his and the an of the Butler's about the Panama in 1865 is that he it the of a canal and a the American his reputation on racial as Lincoln's to the and the proposed before his the White House. of Butler's him an and Lincoln's of colonization in earlier years he would have with in with Butler thus in the to which and the Butler's of Lincoln is but the and colonization he to Lincoln those by with the no that the president late in suggest that Lincoln the program 1863, his in colonization the to that Butler his on the earlier the the to Lincoln's about racial in the of a by two or few the in the with Butler a on the of black in to be by for their Lincoln the Butler is meat in that or is meat in the two in The only in not as would be if Butler had the his if Butler the about the and its the of a at to in of Butler's more may have a of While the canal the of had the attention of the president and the in early 1865 to a with Butler's of Lincoln's of as it to the about the slaves. while the of Butler's fear of and of continued was in with views Lincoln expressed main was to and to with the of the between North and South, and if colonization could he was at to its While the of colonization with concern for notes is that Lincoln approached colonization as a of continued by the of Butler's the general's the to the of racial and with Lincoln his to Butler's a would short of the Butler or Lincoln's of Butler to the it the and that Lincoln still colonization of the in Butler's of than those to Lincoln. The of black to a the canal and the policy are all expressed as of Butler, will suggest to Lincoln's only is meat in that, General is of the it would a more in which Lincoln and Butler's to a for Butler's colonization anecdote by the issue of its Though in the anecdote many and for of an of Lincoln's As the between Butler and Lincoln was only to its of only days later and the other of it after the a comprehensive and of its is ever to is is that a in 1865 between Butler and Lincoln The of as by Butler, acknowledged of and the of their the with the the two Butler greater attention than they have to of Lincoln's colonization views later in life, and to the that many scholars have to the that Lincoln abandoned The Butler anecdote an of its more may that Lincoln an in if as late as