Everyone knows "Lincoln freed the slaves" then got shot and died but there is a bunch of stuff in the middle that people don't know or talk about, like how he tried multiple times deport newly emancipated Black people out of the US to the Caribbean and Central America...A Thread

In Lincoln's early days before he became president, he supported the American Colonization Society. The ACS's goal was to create an American colony in Africa for freed enslaved people. They created the country Liberia with the capital of Monrovia named after President Monroe.

Because of Lincoln's support of the ACS, he leaned on that heavily when trying to find a solution to the newly emancipated slaves in the U.S. he seemed to be conflicted as to whether Black people could fully be integrated into a white society.

During the civil war Lincoln saw the deportation and colonization of Black people as a practical solution. He urged congress to include the Confiscation Act of 1862 which supported Presidential authority to recolonize African Americans.

In 1862 Congress used $600,000 to fund and created the Bureau of Emigration. Lincoln picked James Mitchell, a leader in the ACS. In his second State of the Union address, Lincoln spoke in favor of government colonization and deportation of Black people.

In 1861 Lincoln ordered Secretary of State, William Henry Seward to meet with the Mexican officials to purchase the island of Cozumel to relocate freed African Americans. The deal was overuled by Mexican President Benito Juarez.

Lincoln's 2nd attempt at deportation came in 1862 in what is now the Chiriquí Province in Panama. The new colony would be named Linconia and every Black person was promised 40 acres and a job in the coal mines. The 1st group of 100 Black people were set to arrive on October 1st

The deal fell through before the 1st group of African Americans arrived. The Central American nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras felt threatened by the US presence in Central America. Lincoln continued to try and sway the nations but he eventually gave up on the colony

In December 1862, Lincoln attempted to establish a colony on the Ile à Vache, an island of Haiti. 453 freed slaves were sent to the island. Poor planning, an outbreak of smallpox, and financial mismanagement left the people under-supplied and starving.

Ultimately the colony failed. 292 colonists remained on Ile à Vache in 1865; 73 had moved to Aux Cayes on Haiti. On December 22, 1863, President Lincoln sent the Navy to Haiti to bring the remaining African Americans back to the US after less than one year on the island.

So after 3 failed attempts Lincoln signed an agreement on June 13, 1863, with British Honduras that authorized colonial agents to recruit ex-slaves and transport them to Belize from approved ports in Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston.

John Menard, the 1st Black person elected to the US House of Reps, supported colonization and was sent to investigate the site. British officials pulled out of the agreement in December, fearing it would disrupt their position of neutrality in the Civil War. No one was resettled.

On April 11th just 3 days before his assassination, Lincoln meet with General Benjamin Butler to talk about reviving colonization in Panama. He died shortly after and congress wasn't interested in the plan any more they had cut the budget the previous July. So there you have it!