Blair's Influence On Colonization

It is because of the Blair family’s importance to Lincoln and the state of Maryland that they are able to influence Lincoln on colonization. It was already widely known that “the most avid republican promoters of colonization were the Blair family..." Francis Blair, helped launch the Republican party in 1854 after being a Democrat and apart of the free soil party. Montgomery Blair, son of Francis, is not only a lawyer from the slave state of Maryland, but is also positioned as postmaster general in Lincoln’s cabinet. Being one of the founders of the Republican party, and a member of the cabinet, it is reasonable to believe that not only was the Blair family respected, they had a huge influence and direct contact with Lincoln. The Blairs used their position in the government to share their idea of colonization, and be taken …show more content…
They believed that “United States should be reserved for "the Anglo-saxon race," calling Blacks "worse than useless." Not only did this play a role, they also saw colonization as an opportunity to gain influence in Central America. Frank Blair focused “on the growing American interest in controlling a passage to the Pacific across the isthmus of Central America.” If they could have more influence in Central America and get rid of the Blacks, they would live in a perfect White America. The Blairs knew they wanted to get rid of the Blacks and colonizing them in Central America sounded more appropriate than abolishing their slavery on American soil considering how hard the Republican party wanted to distance themselves from the abolitionist. As historians Eric Foner writes "colonization would refute the charge to abolition meant racially equality." In the eyes of the Blairs, colonization was the perfect solution to the issue that has been bothering the