Lincoln is a good leader. Isn't he spotless?

Lincoln's stain: trying to drive black people out of America

"Where to come from, where to go, and send blacks back to their hometown in Africa" is the mainstream idea of Americans trying to solve the black problem.

Abraham lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing blacks from cruel slavery. But little known is that Lincoln has been committed to moving his black people out of the United States. Some people say that this is an indelible stain on Lincoln's brilliant life.

Send black people back to Africa.

With the continuous round-trip of slave ship, blacks were continuously trafficked to the New World. In this "free, democratic and equal" land of the United States, "Uncle Tom" with dark skin worked hard in tobacco farms, cotton farms and sugar cane fields of white slave owners all day, and was bought from time to time.

Americans also considered liberating slaves before Lincoln, what's more, the southern slave owners were bound to oppose it, but most white Americans were psychologically unacceptable. Lincoln once said, "Free slaves and make them equal to us politically and socially? My own feelings won't allow it. Even if I allow it, I know most white people don't allow it. " In fact, as early as President Thomas Jefferson's time, the plan of gradually liberating slaves was put forward, but it had to be stranded because of financial problems. President Jefferson firmly believed that "the public can't approve of this proposal yet", and he didn't want to make unnecessary sacrifices, so he left the problem to the latecomers.

"Where to come from, where to go, and send blacks back to their hometown in Africa" is the mainstream idea of Americans trying to solve the black problem. 18 16, the American colonial society was founded and began to send free blacks away on a large scale. Liberia is an important successful practice of American colonial society. 1847 In July, Liberia was established by African-American immigrants with the assistance of American colonial society. Lincoln also agreed to send black people back to Africa. In 1854, he said: "Even if all the forces in the world are given to me, I don't know what to do with the existing system. My first impulse was to liberate all slaves and send them to Liberia, their own land. "

186 1 In March, Lincoln took office and officially put the plan of moving blacks into practice. In that year's annual presidential speech, he proposed to Congress to resettle free blacks and got a response. Congress allocated $654.38 million, which was later increased to $600,000.

Let free blacks go to Central America.

It is not so easy to send black people back to Africa. After all, Africa is too far away and too expensive. Despite the support of Congress, white taxpayers refused to pay for blacks. This is why the intermittent colonial activities in the United States are difficult to become a climate. According to Lincoln's estimate, the whole migration will take 37 years to complete, and the huge cost will take several generations to bear. So Lincoln turned his attention to nearby Central America.

1862 On August 4th, Lincoln met with a committee of free blacks, which was the first time that an African-American group was summoned by the president. But this great honor brought them unfortunate news. The president wants black people to leave the United States and start businesses in Central America, "for your race and for our race", because there are ports, coal mines, convenient transportation and the climate is suitable for black people's physical conditions.

1862, the federal army was still at a disadvantage in the civil war. In order to reverse the war, Lincoln put forward a plan to combine the paid release of slaves with the emigration of liberated blacks in his annual presidential speech 1 86265438+February1. In order to compromise with the south, Lincoln proposed to gradually release slaves with compensation; In order to alleviate the worries of the north, he put forward a plan to send liberated blacks to colonize overseas. Black immigrants can increase the demand for white labor, and the wages of white workers will also increase.

In order to cooperate with Lincoln's plan and find suitable colonies, Congress began a series of diplomatic mediation activities and sent requests for establishing colonies to Guyana, Honduras, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and other countries. But only a small island in Haiti can really implement this plan. The government signed an agreement with a man named Baynard Kirk, who agreed to move 5000 black people to the island at a price of 50 dollars each. But this plan failed after many twists and turns, and the government had to take back the black people on the island at 1864.

If the plan fails, it will not change the original intention.

"The president seems to be troubled by the illusion that the rebellion can be quelled as long as Congress passes his paid liberation plan." Senator Browning once wrote in his diary. However, the situation is not what Lincoln hoped, and the slave owners in the south simply did not accept Lincoln's compromise plan of releasing slaves with compensation. Therefore, as a supporting measure, Lincoln's wishful immigration plan could not be implemented.

Because the South refused to accept the truce plan of paid release of slaves, in order to reverse the war situation, Lincoln published "The Emancipation Proclamation" on September 22, 1862, announcing that from June 65438 +0863 65438+1 October1day, all slaves who resisted the states should be regarded as free men and can be regarded as free men. The declaration gave black people hope that they would win American citizenship and all the rights granted by the federal constitution, and its impact was immediate. Black slaves from southern States fled to the north to join the federal army and fight for liberation. In fact, these black people who have a sense of belonging to the United States and call themselves "colored Americans" were extremely opposed to leaving, but now the publication of the Declaration has made them forget about overseas colonization.

Just a few months before his assassination, Lincoln talked with General Benjamin Butler about how to deal with black people. Lincoln was deeply sorry when he learned that it was not feasible.

Lincoln thought that the plan to move blacks was the best policy. Fortunately, the development of the war situation made his plan unsuccessful, thus preserving the reputation of this great "slave liberator".