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Little Known Stories of Blacks and the Civil War
Lincoln Proposed Help for Freed Blacks Wishing to Leave the U.S.
By Dr. Frank Smith
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Did you know that when President Lincoln
issued the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery, it included a
proposal to pay loyal slave owners for their slaves and a proposal to
provide federal help for newly freed Blacks wishing to leave the U.S.?
The Lincoln proposal to Congress stated as follows: "Every state,
wherein slavery now exists, which shall abolish the same therein, at any
time, or times, before the first day of January, in the year of our Lord
one thousand and nine hundred (1900) shall receive compensation from the
United States----for each slave shown to exist as stated in Article I."
In Article II of the 13th amendment, he stated that slave owners "who
shall not have been disloyal, shall be compensated for their slaves.
And, Article III stated, "Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
provide for the colonizing of free colored persons, with their consent,
at any place or places, without the United States".
So there you have it, President Lincoln trying for two years to put down
the rebellion, win the Civil War and keep America united under one flag
without touching the issue of slavery at all. At the end of two years,
he now realizes that he needs the help of the freed enslaved persons to
set in shambles the economy of the South and provide additional soldiers
in order to complete his noble objective of saving the Union. Lincoln
first issues the Emancipation Proclamation as a fit and just military
necessity to accomplish both objectives of ending slavery and saving the
nation.
Lincoln knows however that slavery is all wrapped up in the
Constitution and validated in a court decision called the Dred Scott
case which stated that the founding fathers never intended that Blacks -
neither slave nor free - be citizens of the U.S. So Lincoln started to
work the Congress to get the 13th amendment passed and - with his
message to congress - lay the groundwork for compensating loyal slave
holders. He offered no compensation for the enslaved who had been forced
to work for free for more than two hundred years building the economic
groundwork for the rich and prosperous economy that we know today.
Congress rejected the compensation idea saying it would bankrupt the
country and that gradual emancipation would prolong slavery for another
37 years till the year 1900. A few Blacks took a look see at the
proposed colonization idea, rejected it and claimed their stake in the
United States of America. In 1870, Congress would then go on to pass the
14th Amendment making Blacks born in America citizens and requiring
states to accord them "equal protection under the law". The 15th
amendment armed Black men with the right to vote that was quickly taken
away by state laws and the wrath of the KKK.
It would take almost a hundred years of litigation, marches, deaths and
frustration to erase the legal aspects of White supremacy. It would take
several civil rights acts and a 1965 voting rights act that abolished
the poll tax and literacy test and sent federal registrars into the
former confederate states enabling Blacks to once again register to
vote, run for sheriff, mayor, congress and serve on juries. It all began
with Black soldiers in the Civil War and in 2008, Black voters would
join with well-meaning Whites to elect Barack Obama the 44th President
of the United States.
At the urging of the Association for the Study of African American Life
and History (ASALH), President Barack Obama issued a National African
American History Month, proclaiming stating, "This year's theme 'African
Americans and the Civil War' invites us to reflect on 150 years since
the start of the Civil War and on the patriots of a young country who
fought for the promises of justice and equality laid out by our
forbearers". For the full text, go to
http://www.afroamcivilwar.org/
April 12, 2011 will mark the 150th Anniversary of the firing on Ft.
Sumter and the start of the American Civil War. The African American
Civil War Memorial Foundation will commemorate the beginning Civil War
with celebrities reading from Civil War period newspapers, speeches, and
other documents announcing the coming of the war and its profound effect
on the ending of slavery in America. We will also have celebrities read
from selected press responses to the election of President Lincoln and
the anti- slavery platform of the Republican party of 1860.
The African American Civil War Memorial lists the names of 209,145 Black
union soldiers who joined President Lincoln to save the Union and keep
it united under one flag. The monument, located at the corner of 10th
and U Streets NW Washington, D. C., was built by a private foundation
that operates a museum. On July 18, 2011 the museum will host a Grand
Opening for its newly renovated 5,000 sq. ft. space with new exhibits,
artifacts, and state of the art educational programs adjacent to the
monument.
Dr. Frank Smith Jr. is executive director of the African American
Civil War Museum and Monument.
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