Lincoln's Unfinished Contract: The Executive Order Initiative

EXECUTIVE ORDER [PROPOSED]
Completing Lincoln's Unfinished Contract: Establishing a White House Initiative on Black American Lineage Prosperity and a Presidential Commission on Descendants of American Slavery

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Between 1863 and 1870, the United States Government made four specific, documented, and legally cognizable commitments to the men, women, and children emerging from bondage. Special Field Orders No. 15 distributed 400,000 acres — then revoked, families evicted mid-harvest. The Freedmen's Bureau Act established 627 field offices and schools for over one million freed people — systematically defunded and closed 1872. The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company held $57 million deposited by 61,144 Black account holders — plundered and collapsed 1874. The Reconstruction Amendments enshrined abolition, citizenship, equal protection, and suffrage — rendered functionally null by the Compromise of 1877.

These are not historical grievances. They are open federal accounts. The purpose of this Order is to begin closing them — through the establishment of durable federal infrastructure to coordinate, measure, and deliver specific remedy to the documented descendants of American slavery.

It is the policy of the United States to acknowledge that the federal government made, documented, and broke specific economic commitments to formerly enslaved people between 1863 and 1870; that the consequences are measurable, persistent, and traceable to federal action and inaction; and that the federal government retains both the moral obligation and the constitutional authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to remedy conditions proximately caused by its own failure of enforcement.

Remedial action shall be targeted, verifiable, and proportionate. Lineage verification shall use existing federal records — the National Archives Freedmen's Bureau records (1.8 million indexed individuals) and Freedman's Bank records — consistent with the methodology employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for tribal enrollment.

There is hereby established the White House Initiative on Black American Lineage Prosperity (Initiative), housed in the Executive Office of the President. Three primary missions:

There is hereby established the President's Commission on Descendants of American Slavery — up to 25 members including Cabinet officials (HUD, USDA, Treasury, Education, SBA), HBCU presidents, legal scholars, community organizations, Black agricultural enterprises, and Black-owned financial institutions.

The Commission shall hold no fewer than 4 public meetings per year in DOAS communities including Liberty City (Miami), Bronzeville (Chicago), the Mississippi Delta, the Gullah Geechee Corridor, and the Black Belt counties of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. A Report to the President within 18 months, with legislative and appropriations recommendations, and biennial updates thereafter.

There is hereby established within the Initiative an Office of DOAS Affairs. Within 24 months, it shall establish a Lineage Verification System (LVS) using the National Archives Freedmen's Bureau records (1.8M indexed individuals), Freedman's Bank records, and U.S. Colored Troops records.

The LVS shall operate on a documentary standard analogous to BIA tribal enrollment, shall be administered at no cost to applicants, and shall include a federally funded genealogical assistance program partnering with HBCUs and qualified genealogical societies. All LVS records subject to the Privacy Act of 1974.

Initial Implementation Report within 12 months covering the 12-indicator baseline and agency plans. Biennial Progress Reports to the President, publicly available within 30 days. Federal Black American Lineage Prosperity Index updated annually, published by February 1 of each year.

Nothing in this Order shall impair the authority granted by law to any executive department or agency. This Order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. This Order does not create any right or benefit enforceable at law or in equity against the United States.