It is remarkable that the first
words Abraham Lincoln ever addressed as President to an assemblage of
negroes should have been the words which fell from his lips.
The ebony faces, their cream-colored teeth showing with smiles and their
wide rolling eyes roaming the room made a striking and dramatic contrast
to the rugged face and frame of the man who addressed them.
"Your race is suffering," he began with distinct, clean cut emphasis,
"in my judgment the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even
when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed
on an equality with the white race. On this broad continent not a
single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours. Go
where you are treated best and the ban is still upon you. I cannot alter
it if I would.
"It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated. One of the
principal difficulties in the way of colonization is that the free
colored man cannot see that his comfort would be advanced by it. For the
sake of your race you should sacrifice something of your present
comfort. In the American Revolution sacrifices were made by the men
engaged in it. They were cheered by the future.
"The Colony of Liberia is an old one, is in a sense a success and it is
open to you. I am arranging to open another in Central America.
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