Abraham Lincoln & the Colony on Ile-a-Vache

Research output: Working paperPreprint

Abstract

Just after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect (1 Jan 1863) Abraham Lincoln signed a contract with two New York capitalists to transport 500 newly-freed ex-slaves to Ile-a-Vache, Haiti, where they would, under company supervision, found and maintain a colony. From the start, little went right. Failure was due largely to mismanagement and chicanery on the part of the company. The emigrants lived (and died) miserably on Ile-a-Vache for nearly a year, until they were returned to the U. S. on a government transport ship in March, 1864. The debacle seems to have cured Lincoln of his fascination with colonization.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Caribbean
  • Haiti
  • Lincoln
  • colonization

Disciplines

  • History
  • Literature in English, North America
  • United States History

Cite this