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Summary: Abraham Lincoln explored forced deportation of all blacks, then softened his stance to voluntary resettlement of newly freed slaves. Plans never led to large-scale removal allowing for generations of collateral damage as whites continue to suffer from black crime and violence.
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In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln grappled with questions about the future of blacks in America as Union forces advanced and slavery came under inevitable collapse. About 4-million black slaves would soon join the 400,000 freemen. One solution was a blanket order to expel all "people of color," their term for blacks. Things changed. Congressional actions and Lincoln's responses in mid-July 1862 reflected a progression of wartime measures that included deportation, compensated emancipation, and voluntary resettlement.
Repatriation
The following excerpt comes from a July 1862 report by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Emancipation and Colonization. The document argued that black and white Americans could not coexist in the same society and urged the federal government to support the resettlement of freed African Americans in other countries.
37th Congess.
No. 148. REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EMANCIPATION AND COLONIZATION, In the House of Representatives, July 16, 1862: (excerpt)
“It is useless, now, to enter upon any philosophical inquiry whether nature has or has not made the negro inferior to the Caucasian. The belief is indelibly fixed upon the public mind that such inequality does exist. There are irreconcilable differences between the two races which separate them, as with a wall of fire. The home for the African must not be within the limits of the present territory of the Union. The Anglo- American looks upon every acre of our present domain as intended for him, and not for the negro. A home, therefore, must be sought for the African beyond our own limits and in those warmer regions to which his constitution is better adapted than to our own climate, and which doubtless the Almighty intended the colored races should inhabit and cultivate."
Although vicariously attributed to Lincoln, the above text was written by the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Emancipation and Colonization. The committee wrote it on July 16, 1862, Albert S. White, a Representative from Indiana. Lincoln was likely concordant with the statement, considering both he and White were Republicans.
Still, Lincoln explored deporting freed blacks outside the country as a solution to the country's black problem.
Lincoln's Bout with Race Realism
Long before the Civil War, Lincoln had voiced ideas about gradual emancipation paired with resettlement. In an 1854 speech in Peoria, Illinois, he suggested that freeing enslaved people and supporting their relocation to Africa, such as Liberia, might offer a way forward—though he recognized the enormous practical barriers. "My first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia,---to their own native land," he said.
Once in the White House, with the nation plunged into civil war, Lincoln revisited these concepts. Early in his presidency, his administration quietly looked into possible settlement sites. One early effort involved lands in what is now Panama, where a businessman proposed a colony centered on coal mining that could benefit both settlers and the Union Navy. Lincoln also floated gradual approaches with border states like Delaware, hoping to create a model for compensated freedom followed by voluntary moves abroad. Those ideas faced strong pushback from many abolitionists who favored integration. [source]
By spring 1862, Congress passed the District of Columbia emancipation law, which freed enslaved people in the capital and included funding to help those who wished to emigrate to places like Haiti or Liberia. Lincoln welcomed the measure, seeing colonization as a practical companion to freedom. He said, "I cannot make it better known than it already is that I strongly favor colonization." [source]
That summer, he met at the White House with a small group of prominent black leaders—the first such formal delegation. He frankly discussed his belief that deep racial differences made long-term coexistence difficult and encouraged them to help build support for voluntary emigration as a path to lasting peace. He said:"There is an unwillingness on the part of our people, harsh as it may be, for you free colored people to remain with us." [source] Similar language appeared in his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which affirmed continued efforts to support colonization with consent. [source]
Various locations were studied. Plans for Central America stumbled over poor resources and territorial disputes. An attempt to establish a settlement on an island near Haiti sent several hundred people there, but harsh conditions, disease, and high mortality led to its abandonment within a year, with survivors returning to the U.S.
By 1863, attention had shifted. Some discussions even considered parts of Texas as a domestic option for large-scale relocation. Yet as the war progressed, colonization efforts faded. Practical problems, limited interest among black Americans, and the urgent demands of victory and Reconstruction took priority.
Lincoln’s thinking continued changing until the end of his life. In conversations near the close of the war, he still wrestled with questions of how a reunited nation could achieve lasting racial harmony. Ultimately, those large-scale resettlement visions did not take hold. Instead, the country moved forward—through Reconstruction, decades of Jim Crow, and the unfortunate "gains" of the Civil Rights Movement—toward a more inclusive society that pretends to draw strength from its diversity, but remains as divided as made evident through self segregation (think WNBA).
This chapter of history reveals Lincoln as a vasilating leader navigating an unprecedented crisis, weighing emancipation against deep-seated fears about the future of race relations in America.
Unencumbered by Marxist ideology, 19th century white Americans could clearly see the stark differences between the white and black races. It was understood, for example, that nature and "the Almighty" created whites to be more suitable to colder climates and blacks for "warmer regions."
Initially, the solution to the black problem was to expel all of them. That stance would soon soften.
An oddity is that the Union only freed slaves in regions controlled by the Confederacy, but not controlled by the Union. In a sense, the North retained slavery while the Confederacy did not, at least from the Union's perspective.
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., focused on undermining the Confederacy while addressing the status of enslaved people reaching Union lines. On July 16-17, 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act. This legislation freed slaves owned by those in rebellion when they came under Union control and included provisions for their potential future. Lincoln signed related measures around that period, including appropriations supporting colonization efforts.
Context of Colonization Ideas
Colonization—relocating freed people to places like Liberia, Haiti, or Central America—had roots in pre-war movements supported by some abolitionists and politicians who knew blacks and white Americans could not coexist equally after slavery. Lincoln, like many contemporaries, viewed it as one possible solution to ease racial tensions and provide opportunities for freed individuals. These plans were eventually reframed as voluntary, with federal funding to cover transportation and settlement, not forced removal.
The July 1862 appropriation of $500,000 (a substantial sum, equivalent to roughly $14-15 million today when adjusted for inflation) built on an earlier $100,000 allocation tied to the District of Columbia's compensated emancipation law from April. That earlier act freed enslaved people in the capital and offered payments to loyal owners while setting aside funds for voluntary emigration. The new funding extended similar options to people freed under the Confiscation Act.
Key Legislation Text (Excerpt from Second Confiscation Act, approved July 17, 1862)
"Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to make provision for the transportation, colonization, and settlement, in some tropical country beyond the limits of the United States, of such persons of the African race, made free by the provisions of this act, as may be willing to emigrate, having first obtained the consent of the government of said country to their protection and settlement within the same, with all the rights and privileges of freemen."
This language changed to consent and targeted only those newly freed by the act, not the broader population of free black Americans or all "people of color." Lincoln signed the bill, and while he explored sites like Chiriquà (in present-day Panama), actual large-scale colonization never materialized due to logistical issues, opposition from black leaders, and shifting priorities toward enlistment and emancipation.
Failure to adopt measures to expel all blacks was a missed opportunity that rendered a future of uncanny crime, violence, and social unrest that I regularly document on this site in real time. The black problem will never be resolved without absolute separation of the races, something that, quite frankly, will never happen.
Broader Historical Picture
Congress also authorized black men to serve in Union forces through related militia legislation, opening paths to citizenship through military service. Lincoln's policies changed. By late July 1862, he had shared a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. Colonization funding served partly as political bridge-building to gain support for bolder anti-slavery movements as well as from border-state Unionists wary of sudden social upheaval.
In practice, few freed people chose to leave. There was no incentive for them. What's more, the victorious Union could use freed slaves as post-war leverage against the South during Reconstruction. Lincoln's administration ultimately prioritized winning the war and legal emancipation over mass resettlement. By 1864, Congress repealed much of the unused colonization funding as the policy lost momentum.
This episode highlights the mindset of the Civil War era. Leaders navigated emancipation without modern frameworks for integration, drawing on ideas that seem outdated today but reflected genuine debates in a divided country. Lincoln's approach combined perceived pragmatism with moral opposition to slavery, setting the stage for the 13th Amendment's nationwide abolition in 1865. The morality of subjecting generations of whites to black rascality was never considered by the victors.
Still, just four days before his assassination in 1865, Lincoln told General Benjamin Butler, "I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes." [source]
Sometimes I get things wrong. If you notice a significant error, please bring it to my attention in the comment section.
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