President Abraham Lincoln exhibited an unwavering resolve throughout the American Civil War to support freed blacks. That resolve was evident on Thursday, December 17, 1863 when the president forwarded to Congress a plan by the Freedmen’s Aid Society to establish a federal bureau of emancipation to assist freed blacks.
While Congress elected not to act on Lincoln’s recommendation until it established the Freedmen’s Bureau in March 1865, the president continued to support efforts to improve the status of the black man in America.
On Sunday, December 20, 1863, Lincoln assured an official of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society of his resolve, noting “I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation…” This was a president who consistently believed that the black race was better without the institution of slavery.