William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 - October 10, 1872) was the Secretary of State of the United States from 1861 to 1869, and previously served as New York Governor and US Senator. A definite opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in his years of development, and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the American Civil War.
Seward was born in southeastern New York, where his father was a farmer and had a slave. He was trained as a lawyer and moved to the central city of Auburn New York. Seward was elected to the New York State Senate in 1830 as Anti-Mason. Four years later, he became a candidate for the Whig Party governor. Although he was unsuccessful in the race, Seward was elected governor in 1838 and won a second two year period in 1840. During this period, he signed several laws promoting the rights and opportunities for blacks, as well as ensuring the slave-fugitive test try a jury in the state. This law protects abolitionists, and he uses his position to intervene in the cases of liberated blacks who are enslaved in the South.
After years of practicing law in Auburn, he was eventually elected by state legislature to the US Senate in 1849. Seward's strong stance and provocative words against slavery made him hate in the South. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1855, and soon joined the newly born Republican Party, becoming one of the main characters. When the presidential election of 1860 approached, he was regarded as a prime candidate for the Republican nomination. Several factors, including attitudes toward his vocal opposition to slavery, his support for immigrants and Catholics, and his relationship with political editor and boss Thurlow Weed, worked against him and Abraham Lincoln secured the presidential nomination. Despite being ruined by his loss, he campaigned for Lincoln, who was elected and appointed him Foreign Minister.
Seward did his best to stop the southern states from secession; once it fails, he devotes himself wholeheartedly to the goals of the Union. His assertiveness towards foreign intervention in the Civil War helped prevent the British and French from entering the conflict and may gain independence from the Confederate State. He is one of the targets of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln, and was badly hurt by conspirator Lewis Powell. Seward remained faithful to his post through the presidency of Andrew Johnson, where he negotiated the purchase of Alaska in 1867 and supported Johnson during his impeachment. His contemporary Carl Schurz describes Seward as "one of the spirits that will sometimes precede public opinion rather than follow his footprint."
Video William H. Seward
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Seward was born on May 16, 1801, in a small community of Florida, New York, in Orange County. He is the fourth son of Samuel Sweezy Seward and his wife, Mary (Jennings) Seward. Samuel Seward is a landowner and slave-rich owner of the New York State; slavery was not completely abolished in the state until 1827. Florida is located about 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City, west of the Hudson River, and is a rural small village probably a dozen homes. Seward Muda went to school there, and also in the area near Goshen village. She is an intelligent student who enjoys her studies. In the following years, one of the former slaves of the family will tell you that instead of running away from school to go home, Seward will run away from home to go to school.
At the age of 15, Henry - he was known by his middle name as a boy - was sent to Union College in Schenectady, New York. Recognized in second grade, Seward is an outstanding student and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Seward's fellow friends include Richard M. Blatchford, who became a lifelong legal and political associate. Samuel Seward made his son short of money, and in December 1818 - during the latter half of Henry at Union - both argued over money. The younger Seward returned to Schenectady, but soon left school with his co-worker, Alvah Wilson. The two took a ship from New York to Georgia, where Wilson was offered a job as rector, or headmaster, a new academy in rural Putnam County. On the way, Wilson took a job at another school, leaving Seward to continue on to Eatonton in Putnam County. The trustee interviewed Seward, 17, and found that his qualifications were acceptable.
Seward enjoys his time in Georgia, where he was accepted as an adult for the first time in his life. He was treated kindly, but also witnessed the mistreatment of the slaves. Seward was persuaded to return to New York by his family, and did so in June 1819. Since it was too late for him to graduate with his class, he studied law at the law firm at Goshen before returning to Union College, securing his title with the highest award in June 1820.
Maps William H. Seward
Lawyers and state senators
Initial career and political engagement
After graduation, Seward spent much of the following two years studying law in Goshen and New York City with lawyers John Duer, John Anthon, and Ogden Hoffman. He passed the bar exam at the end of 1822. He could practice at Goshen, but he did not like the city and looked for practice in growing Western New York. Seward decided Auburn in Cayuga County, which is about 150 miles (240 km) west of Albany and 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Goshen. She joins the practice of retired judge Elijah Miller, whose daughter Frances Adeline Miller is a classmate of her sister Cornelia at Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary. Seward married Frances Miller on October 20, 1824.
In 1824, Seward traveled with his wife to Niagara Falls when one of the wheels in his car broke down as they passed Rochester. Among those who came to help them were local newspaper publisher Thurlow Weed. Seward and Weed will become closer in the years to come when they find they share the belief that government policy should encourage infrastructure improvements, such as roads and canals. Weeds, regarded by some as one of the earliest political tops, will become Seward's main allies. Despite the benefits to Seward's career of Weed's support, the perception that Seward controlled too much by Weed became a factor in the decisive recurrence for Republican nomination for president in 1860.
Almost since he settled in Auburn, Seward was involved in politics. At that time, the political system changed as new parties evolved. In New York State, there are generally two factions, which have various names, but are characterized by the fact that Martin Van Buren leads one element, and the other opposes it. Van Buren, more than a quarter century, held a series of senior offices, mostly in the federal government. His allies were dubbed Albany County, because they ruled for Van Buren when he left.
Seward initially supported the District, but in 1824 had broken from it, concluded it was corrupt. He became part of the Anti-Masonic Party, which became widespread in 1826 after the disappearance and death of William Morgan, a Mason in Upstate New York; he was most likely killed by fellow Masons for publishing a book that revealed the secret rites of the order. Since the main candidate in opposition to President John Quincy Adams was General Andrew Jackson, a Mason who mocked the opponents of the order, Anti-Masonry became closely associated with opposition to Jackson, and his policies after he was elected president in 1828.
Governor DeWitt Clinton had nominated Seward in place of the Cayuga Substitute in late 1827 or early 1828, but since Seward did not want to support Jackson, he was not confirmed by the state Senate. During the 1828 campaign, Seward made a speech to support President Adams's re-election. Seward was nominated for the Federal House of Representatives by Anti-Mason, but resigned, deeming the struggle futile. In 1829, Seward was offered a local nomination for the New York State Assembly, but again felt no prospect of winning. In 1830, with Weed's help, he was awarded an Anti-Masonic nomination for a state senator for the local district. Seward has appeared in court throughout the district, and has spoken in support of government support for infrastructure improvements, a popular position there. Weed has moved his operations to Albany, where his newspaper, Albany Evening Journal, advocates Seward, who is selected by around 2,000 votes.
State senator and governor candidate
Seward was sworn in as state senator in January 1831. He left Frances and their children in Auburn, and wrote to him his experience. This includes the meeting of former vice-president Aaron Burr, who has returned to law practice in New York after a self-imposed exile in Europe after a duel with Alexander Hamilton and a treason trial. The Regency (or Democratic Party, as a national party headed by Jackson and supported by Van Buren came to prominence) controlled the Senate. Seward and his party allied with disputing Democrats and others to pass several laws, including the steps of penal reform, where Seward would be known.
During his tenure as state senator, Seward traveled extensively, going to visit other anti-Jackson leaders, including former president Adams. He also accompanied his father Samuel Seward on his way to Europe, where they met with politicians that day. Seward hopes that Anti-Mason will nominate Supreme Court Justice John McLean for president against Jackson's reelection bid in 1832, but the nomination fell to former Attorney General William Wirt. Kentucky senator Henry Clay, opposite Jackson, is a Mason, and therefore can not be accepted as a standard party bearer. In the aftermath of Jackson's easy victory, many of those who opposed him believed the united front needed to defeat the Democratic Party, and the Whig Party gradually emerged. The Whig believes in legislative action to develop the country, and opposes Jackson's unilateral action as president, whom they consider imperial. Many Anti-Masons, including Seward and Weed, are ready to join the new party.
In preparation for the 1834 election, Whig New York meets in Utica to determine the candidate for governor. Democratic governor William Marcy is highly favored to be re-elected, and several prominent Whigs are eager to run a campaign that is likely to be lost. Seward's wife and father wanted him to retire from politics to increase his income from legal practice, and Weed urged him to seek re-election to the state Senate. However, the reluctance of others to run causes Seward to emerge as a prime candidate. Weed got Seward's victory at the Utica convention. The election switched to a national issue, the most important of President Jackson's policies. It was then popular, and in a strong year for Democrats, Seward was defeated by about 11,000 votes - Weed wrote that Whig was overwhelmed by an illegally issued ballot.
Defeated to the governor and with his tenure in the Senate state after his expiration, Seward returned to Auburn and practiced law in early 1835. That year, Seward and his wife traveled the length, going south as far as Virginia. Though they were welcomed in a friendly manner by the southerners, Seward saw scenes of slavery that affirmed them as his opponents. The following year, Seward accepted a position as an agent for the new owner of the Dutch Land Company, which owns vast land in Western New York, where many settlers buy real estate in installments. New owners are viewed as less forgiving landlords than the old ones, and when there is unrest they hire Seward, which is popular in Western New York, in the hope of adjusting to this problem. He succeeds, and when Panic of 1837 starts, convince the owner to avoid foreclosures whenever possible. He also, in 1838, arranged the purchase of company ownership by a consortium that included himself.
Van Buren was elected president in 1836; even with his duties, Seward has found time to campaign against him. The economic crisis came soon after the inauguration, and threatened the Regency's control of New York politics. Seward did not run for governor in 1836, but with an unpopular Democrat, saw the road to victory in 1838 (the period was two years). Other leading whigs are also looking for nominations. Weed convinced the delegates to the convention that Seward had run in front of another Whig candidate in 1834; Seward was nominated at the fourth vote. Seward's enemy is again Marcy, and the economy is a major issue. The Whig argues that Democrats are responsible for the recession. Because it was considered inappropriate for candidates for the main office to campaign directly, Seward left most of it for Weed. Seward was elected by a margin of about 10,000 votes from 400,000 players. Victory was the most significant for the Whig Party at the time, and placed the County permanently out of power in New York State.
New York Governor
William Seward was sworn in as Governor of New York on January 1, 1839, and inaugurated in front of a thrilling Whig crowd. In that era, an annual message by the governor of New York was published and discussed to the extent that a president. Seward biographer Walter Stahr wrote that his lecture was "full of his youth, energy, ambition, and optimism." Seward noted the immense resources of America that had not been exploited, and stated that immigration should be encouraged to take advantage of them. He insisted that citizenship and religious freedom be given to those who came to the shores of New York. At that time, public schools in New York City were run by Protestants, and used Protestant texts, including the King James Bible. Seward believes the current system is a barrier to literacy for immigrant children, and proposes legislation to change it. Education, he says, "abolishes the difference, long as time, rich and poor, masters and slaves." This removes ignorance and puts the ax to the root of evil. " Seward's attitude was popular with immigrants, but disliked by the natives; their opposition will ultimately help defeat his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860.
Although the Assembly has a Whig majority at the start of Seward's first term as governor, the party has only 13 board members from 32 in the state Senate. The Democrat Party refused to cooperate with Governor Seward except on the most urgent matters, and at first he found himself unable to develop most of his agenda. Thus, the legislative election of 1839 was crucial to Seward's legislative hope, and to advance the Whigs many nominations to the state offices whose posts require confirmation of the Senate. Seward and President Van Buren gave speeches throughout New York state that summer. Henry Clay, one of Whig's nominee nominees for the presidency, spent part of the summer in Upstate New York, and the two men met by chance on a ferry. Seward refused to formally visit Clay at his home in Saratoga Springs for the sake of neutrality, starting a difficult relationship between the two men. After the election of 1839, Whig had 19 seats, allowing the party full control of the state government.
After the election, there was a riot near Albany among the tenant farmers on land owned by the patrol of Dutch descent from the van Rensselaer family. This tenure enables landlord privileges such as registering unpaid tenant labor, and any violations may result in termination of tenure without compensation for repairs. When the sheriff's deputy in Albany County was prevented from serving the search, Seward was asked to call the militia. After cabinet meetings throughout the night, he did so, though quietly assured the tenants that he would interfere with the legislature. This eased the settlers, although Seward proved unable to make the legislature pass the reform law. The question of tenant rights was not settled until Seward left the office.
In September 1839, a ship that sailed from Norfolk, Virginia to New York City was found to have escaped slaves. The slaves were returned to their owners in accordance with the Constitutional Fuglion Piracy Clause, but Virginia also demanded three black sailors, who were said to have hidden fugitives aboard, surrendered to custody. This Seward will not do it, and the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that hinders commerce with New York. With Seward's encouragement, the New York legislature passed a law in 1840 that protected the rights of African-Americans against catchers of Southern slaves. One person is guaranteed a fugitive jury right judge in New York to determine whether they are slaves, and the other promises state aid to recover free blacks abducted into slaves.
Seward and Van Buren were both re-elected in 1840. Seward did not attend the Whig National Convention of December 1839 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but Weed did on his behalf. They were determined to support General Winfield Scott to become president, but when Weed concluded that Scott could not win, he threw New York's support to the eventual winner, General William Henry Harrison. This action makes Senator Clay's supporters angry. These complaints will not be quickly forgotten - one of the Kentuckian supporters wrote in 1847 that he intended to see "Seward & Co.'s punishment for rigging Mr. Clay's country in 1840".
Seward was nominated back for a second term by the Whig Convention against Democrat William Brock, a former state legislator. Seward does not campaign directly, but runs affairs with Weed behind the scenes and makes his views known to the voters through Fourth of July speeches and long letters, refusing invitations to speak, printed in newspapers. In one, Seward elaborated on the importance of wooden cabins - the structures that resurrect ordinary people and the theme Whig used in Harrison's campaign - where Seward always found a much warmer welcome than in the marble palace at the well. -to do (raise Van Buren). Both Harrison and Seward were elected. Although Seward will serve almost thirty more years in public life, his name will never pass before the voters.
In his second term, Seward was involved with Alexander McLeod's court, which had boasted involvement in the 1837 Caroline Affair, where Canada came across the Niagara River and drowned Caroline, a ship steam used to supply William Lyon Mackenzie fighters during the Upper Canada Uprising. McLeod was arrested, but British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston demanded his release. McLeod, who is part of the Canadian colonial militia, can not be held accountable for actions taken under orders. Although the administration of Van Buren has agreed with Seward that McLeod should be tried under state law, his successor does not, and insists that the allegations against McLeod be dropped. A series of letters were exchanged between Governor Seward and Harrison State Minister Daniel Webster, as well as between new governor and president John Tyler, who succeeded Harrison's death after a month in office. McLeod was tried and released at the end of 1841. Stahr pointed out that Seward had found a way for McLeod to stand trial in state courts, and his diplomatic experience made him both State Minister.
Seward continued its support of African-Americans, signing laws in 1841 to repeal the "nine-month law" which enabled slave owners to take their slaves to the state for a period of nine months before they were considered free. After this, slaves who were brought to the country were immediately considered freed. Seward also signed legislation to establish public education for all children, submit it to local jurisdictions on how it will be provided (some have separate schools).
Leave the office
As governor, Seward endured much personal debt not only because he had to live beyond his salary to maintain the expected lifestyle of the office, but also because he could not pay his obligations from purchasing the company's land. By the time he left the office, he owed $ 200,000. Upon his return to Auburn, he absorbed himself in favorable legal practice. He left no politics, and received former president Adams at the Seward family home in 1843.
According to his biographer John M. Taylor, Seward chose a good time to be absent from electoral politics, because the Whig Party is in turmoil. President Tyler, a former Democrat, and Senator Clay each claimed the Whig Party leadership and, because the two men differed on issues such as whether to re-establish the US Bank, the support of the party was divided. The abolitionist movement attracts those who do not want to be part of a party led by southerners who support slavery. In 1844, Seward was asked to run for president by members of the Liberty Party; he refused and reluctantly supported the Whig nominee, Clay. The Kentuckian was defeated by Democrat James K. Polk. The great Polk administration is the Mexican-American War; Seward does not support this, feels that the price in the blood is not worth the increase in territory, especially when the South people promote this acquisition to expand the territory for slavery.
In 1846, Seward became the center of controversy at Auburn when he defended, in separate cases, two inmates accused of murder. Henry Wyatt, a white man, was accused of stabbing an inmate in jail; William Freeman, an African American, was accused of breaking into homes after being released and stabbing four people to death. In both cases, the defendant may be mentally ill and have been tortured while in prison. Seward, has long been a supporter of prison reform and better care for crazy people, trying to prevent everyone from being executed by using new defenses relative to madness. Seward obtained a suspended jury in Wyatt's first trial, though he was later convicted in retrial and executed despite Seward's attempts to gain pardon. Freeman was punished, though Seward gained an appeal. There was no second Freeman trial, because officials were convinced of his madness. Freeman died in prison in late 1846. In Freeman's case, pleading for mental illness and racial issues, Seward argued, "he is still your brother, and mine, in the form and color received and approved by his Father, and yours, and mine, and share the proudest inheritance of our race - the image of our Creator, hold him then to Man. "
Although they are local, the trials enhance Seward's image throughout North Korea. He received further publicity in connection with Ohioan Salmon P. Chase while dealing with a failed appeal in US Supreme Court John Van Zandt, an anti-slavery advocate demanded by a slave owner for helping African Americans flee on the Underground Railroad. Chase was impressed with Seward, writing that the former governor of New York "is one of the first public people in our country Who will do what he did to the poor poor, Freeman?"
The main Whig rivals in 1848 were Clay again, and two generals of war heroes with little political experience, Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor. Seward supports the candidate, General Taylor. The former governor was less enthusiastic about the vice presidential nominee, New York Comptroller Millard Fillmore, his rival from Buffalo. Nevertheless, he campaigned extensively for Whig against the Democratic presidential candidate, former Michigan senator Lewis Cass. The two major parties did not make slavery a problem in the campaign. The Free Land Party, mostly members of the Liberty Party and some of the North Democrats, nominated former president Van Buren. The Taylor/Fillmore tickets were elected, and the split in the New York Democratic Party allowed the Whigs to capture the legislature.
State legislative bodies elect the US Senator until the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment of 1913. In 1849 one seat in New York will be elected, and a Whig will likely be elected to replace John Adams Dix. Seward, with Weed's advice, decides to find a seat. When the legislature convened in January 1849, he was mentioned as a favorite. Some people oppose it for being too extreme on slavery, and hint that he will not support slavehold elected President Taylor, a Louisianan. Weed and Seward worked to allay these concerns, and when voting for the Senate seat took place, the former governor received five times the votes of other nearby candidates, obtaining an easy election at the first vote.
AS. Senator
First term
William Seward was sworn in as senator from New York on March 5, 1849, during a brief special session called to confirm President Taylor's cabinet nomination. Seward is considered to have an influence on Taylor: making use of his acquaintance with Taylor's brother. Seward met with the ex-general several times before the Inauguration Day (March 4), and was friendly with the Cabinet officers. Taylor hopes to gain California recognition to the Union, and Seward works to advance his agenda in the Senate.
The regular session of the Congress that began in December 1849 was dominated by the problem of slavery. Senator Clay advanced a series of resolutions, later known as the 1850 Compromise, giving victory to the North and South. Seward opposed elements of pro-slavery Compromise, and in a speech on the floor of the Senate on March 11, 1850, called for "a higher law of the Constitution". The speech was widely reprinted, and made Seward the leading anti-slave supporter in the Senate. President Taylor took a sympathetic attitude towards North Korea, but his death in July 1850 led to the inclusion of pro-compromise Filleton and ending Seward's influence on patronage. The compromise passed, and many of Seward's followers at the federal office in New York were replaced by designated Fillmore.
Although Clay hoped that Compromise would be the final solution to the problem of slavery that could unite the nation, he divided his Whig Party, especially when the 1852 National Convention supported him in the anger of the liberal northerners like Seward. The main candidates for the presidential nomination were President Fillmore, Senator Daniel Webster, and General Scott. Seward supports Scott, who he hopes as Harrison can unite enough voters behind military heroes to win the election. Scott gets the nomination, and Seward campaigns for him. With the Whigs who can not reconcile slavery, while the Democrats can unite behind the Compromise, the Whigs have won only four states, and former New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce was elected president. Other events, such as the publication of 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Northern outrage over the enforcement of the Slave Fugitive Act (an element of Compromise), widen the gap between North and South.
Seward's wife, Frances, is deeply committed to the abolitionist movement. In the 1850s, the Sewards set up their home in Auburn as a safe house for fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad. Seward's travel and political work often shows that it is Frances who plays a more active role in slavery activities in Auburn. In joy after the safe rescue and transportation of slave fugs William "Jerry" Henry in Syracuse on October 1, 1851, Frances wrote to her husband, "two fugitives have gone to Canada - one of our acquaintances John." The next time he writes, "A man by the name of William Johnson will appeal to you for help to buy the freedom of his daughter.You will see that I have given him something by his book I tell him I think you will give him more."
In January 1854, Illinois Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas introduced his Kansas-Nebraska Bill. This will allow the region to choose whether to join the Union as a free country or a slave, and effectively lift Missouri Compromise banning slavery in new states north of 36 Â ° 30? North latitude. Seward is determined to defeat what he calls "the famous Bill Nebraska", and works to ensure the final version of the bill will be unpleasant for a sufficient senator, North and South, to defeat him. Seward opposed the bill both on preliminary considerations in the Senate and when the bill returned after reconciliation with the House. The bill was passed into law, but the northerners felt they had found a standard in which they could rally. The people in the South defend the new law, arguing that they should have equal shares through slavery in the territory where the blood and money they have helped secure.
Second term
The political turmoil caused by the North-South split divides the major parties and leads to the formation of new parties. The American Party (better known as Tofu) contains many natives, and pursues the anti-immigrant agenda. The Know Nothings does not openly discuss party deliberations (thus, they do not know anything). They do not like Seward, and a number of unknowns Know Nothings seek Whig nominations for legislative seats. Some people affirm their stance by pledging to vote against Seward's re-election, but others do not. Although Whig won a majority in both state legislative assemblies, the extent of their support for Seward as a US senator is unclear. When the election was held by the legislature in February 1855, Seward won a slim majority in every home. The opposition is dispersed, and party organ Know Nothing denounces two dozen legislators as "traitors".
The Republican Party was founded in 1854, in reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. His anti-slavery attitudes appealed to Seward, but he needed the Whig structure in New York to be re-elected. In September 1855, the Whig Party and the New York Republic convened a simultaneous convention that quickly merged into one. Seward was the most prominent figure to join the new party, and was spoken of as a presidential candidate in 1856. However, Weed did not feel that the new party was strong enough at the national level to secure the presidency, and advised Seward to wait until 1860. When Seward's name is mentioned at the Republican National Convention of 1856, a standing ovation broke out. In the 1856 presidential election, Democratic candidate, former Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan, defeated Republican, former California senator John C. Frà © Å © mont, and Unknown candidate, former president Fillmore.
The 1856 campaign was played against a background of "Bleeding Kansas", a striving effort from pro-and anti-slave forces to control the government in the Kansas Territory and determine whether it would be accepted as a slave or an independent state. The violence spilled into the Senate's own room after the Massachusetts Senator Sen. Sumner's Republican conveyed an arson speech against slavery, making personal comments on South Carolina Senator Andrew P. Butler. Sumner had read the speech draft for Seward, who advised him to ignore personal references. Two days after the speech, Butler's niece, Preston Brooks congressman entered the room and beat Sumner with a stick, wounding him badly. Although some southerners fear the propaganda value of an incident in the North, Brooks is most regarded as a hero. Many angry northerners, though some, including Seward, felt that Sumner's words to Butler had provoked the attack. Some Southern newspapers felt that Sumner's precedent might be useful for Seward; Petersburg Intelligencer , a Virginia magazine, suggested that "it would be good to give Seward a double dose at least every day".
In a message to Congress in December 1857, President Buchanan advocated Kansas's acceptance as a slave state under the Lecompton Constitution, passed under questionable circumstances. It divides the Democrats: the government wants Kansas to admit; Senator Douglas demanded a fair vote of ratification. The Senate debated the issue until early 1858, although some Republicans spoke initially, content to watch the Democrats tear their party apart because of slavery. This problem was complicated by a previous Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that neither Congress nor the local government can prohibit slavery in the region.
In his speech on March 3 in the Senate, Seward "pleases Republicans and Democrats who are really horrified, especially the South". Discussing Dred Scott, Seward accused Buchanan and Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney conspired to get the results, and threatened to reform the court to remove the South power. Taney then informed a friend that if Seward was elected in 1860, he would refuse to take the oath of office. Buchanan reportedly denied senator access to the White House. Seward predicts slavery destined:
The interest of the white race demands the highest emancipation for all men. Whether the improvement will be left to effect, with the necessary and prudent precautions of sudden and catastrophic change, or haste by violence, is all that remains for you to decide.
The South person saw this as a threat, by the man was considered a Republican candidate in 1860, to force changes in the South whether like it or not. The state of Kansas failed for a while, but Seward's words were repeatedly quoted by Southern senators as the secession crisis grew. Nevertheless, Seward remains on excellent personal terms with individual southerners like Mississippi's Jefferson Davis. The dinner party, where people from both sides divide the mixed and mixed parts, is a legend of Washington.
With eyes for a presidential bid in 1860, Seward tried to emerge as a trustworthy statesman by North and South. Seward does not believe the federal government can mandate emancipation but it will develop by the actions of slave countries when the nation of urbanization and slavery becomes uneconomical, as happened in New York. The Southern people still believe that he threatened the end of forced slavery. While campaigning for Republicans in the 1858 part-time election, Seward gave a speech in Rochester that proved divisive and can be quoted, alleging that the US has two "antagonistic systems [that] constantly come into closer contact, and collision results... It is an irresistible conflict between contradictory and enduring forces, and that means that the United States must and will, sooner or later, become fully a slave-holding country, or a fully labor-free state. "White south people see the" intolerable conflict "speech as a declaration of war, and Seward's spirit ultimately damages his chances of getting presidential nomination.
Selection 1860
Candidate for nomination
In 1859, Seward was advised by his political supporters that he would be better off avoiding additional controversial statements, and leaving the country for an eight-month tour of Europe and the Middle East. Seward spent two months in London, meeting Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, and presented at Court to Queen Victoria. Seward returned to Washington in January 1860 to find controversy: that some southerners blamed him for his rhetoric, which they believed had inspired John Brown to try to start a slave uprising. Brown was arrested and executed; however, Mississippi representatives Reuben Davis and Otho Singleton each stated that if Seward or other Radical Republic were elected, he would meet with the resistance of the united South. To deny the allegations, and to establish his views in the hope of accepting nominations, Seward made a keynote speech in the Senate on 29 February 1860, the most praised, although the white south person was offended, and some abolitionists also objected because the Senator, in his speech, said that Brown was punished with fair. The Republican National Committee ordered 250,000 copies in pamphlets, and eventually twice printed.
Weed sometimes states the certainty that Seward will be nominated; at other times he expressed the gloom of contemplation on conventional combat. He has several reasons for doubt, because the words of Weed's agents across the country are mixed up. Many people in the Midwest did not want the issue of enslavement to dominate the campaign, and with Seward as a nominee, it was bound to happen. The Know-Out Party No one still lives in the Northeast, and is hostile to Seward for his pro-immigrant attitude, creating doubts about whether Seward can win Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where there are many natives, in the general election. These countries are very important for Republican candidates confronted with Southern Solid. The Republican conservative fraction that turned against Seward.
Convention
There was no preliminary election in 1860, there was no way to ascertain how many delegates a candidate might receive. However, admission to the Republican National Convention in May 1860 in Chicago, Seward is considered a tremendous favorite. Others discussed for his nomination include Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase, former Missouri congressman Edward Bates, and former Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln.
Seward stayed in Auburn during the convention; Weed is present on his behalf and works to support Seward support. He is abundant with money: business owners are very excited, expecting Seward to be the next president. Weed's reputation is not entirely positive; he is believed to be corrupt by some, and his association helps and hurt Seward.
Enemies such as publishers and former Seward ally Horace Greeley cast doubt on Seward's elektabilitas in the states of the battlefields of Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Lincoln has worked hard to earn a moderate reputation in the party and hopes to be seen as a second choice of consensus, which may be successful in critical states, where Republicans must win three to secure the election. The people of Lincoln, led by his friend David Davis, are active on his behalf. Since Lincoln was not seen as a prime candidate, his supporters were able to influence the decision to convene in his home country, and surrounded the New York, pro-Seward delegation, with Lincoln loyalists. They finally managed to gain support from delegates from other battlefield countries, increasing the delegation's perception of Lincoln's electability. Although Lincoln and Seward share many views, Lincoln, out of office since 1849, has no vigorous opposition like that of Seward in the South and between Know Nothings. Lincoln's view on nativism, which he opposed, was not public.
At the first vote, Seward had 173½ votes for Lincoln 102, with 233 needed to nominate. Pennsylvania shifted the ballot to Lincoln in the second vote, and led Seward cut to 184 ½ to 181. In the third, Lincoln had 231 ½ for Seward 180 after a hiatus, but Ohio changed four votes from Chase to Lincoln, giving the Illinoian a nomination and starting a small stroke; the nomination was finally made unanimously. When the word reached Seward by the telegraph, based on witness accounts, he calmly said that Lincoln had some of the attributes necessary to become president, and of course would be elected.
Campaign for Lincoln
Despite his public indifference, Seward was devastated by the loss of conventions, like many of his supporters. The New Yorker is the most famous and most popular Republic, and its defeat shocks many in the North, who feel that Lincoln has been nominated through dishonesty. Although Seward sent a letter stating Weed was not to blame, Seward's political manager took the defeat out loud. Seward initially tended to retire from public life, but received many letters from supporters: not trusting Lincoln, they urged Seward to remain engaged in politics. On his way to Washington to return to the Senate's job, he stopped at Albany to negotiate with Weed, who went to Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois to meet the candidate, and was deeply impressed with Lincoln's political understanding. At Capitol, Seward receives sympathy even from factional enemies like Jefferson Davis.
Lincoln faces three major opponents. The split in the Democratic Party has caused northerners to nominate Senator Douglas, while the south voted for Vice President John C. Breckinridge. The Constitutional Union Party, a new party comprised mostly of former Southern Whigs, who was elected former Tennessee senator John Bell. Since Lincoln will not be in a vote in the ten southern states, he has to win almost every northern state to take the presidency. Douglas is said to be strong in Illinois and Indiana, and if he takes it, the election may be cast to the House of Representatives. Seward was urged to tour the campaign in the Midwest to support Lincoln and do so for five weeks in September and October, attracting a large crowd. He traveled by train and ship as far north as Saint Paul, Minnesota, to the Missouri border state of St. Louis. Louis, and even to the Kansas Territories, although it has no voting votes to vote in elections. When the train passes through Springfield, Seward and Lincoln are introduced, with Lincoln appearing "embarrassed" and Seward "constrained". In his oratory, Seward speaks of the US as a "freedom tower", an union that may even include Canada, Latin America and Russia.
New York is the key to the election; losing Lincoln there would be a dead end at Electoral College. As soon as he returned from his Midwest tour, Seward started the others, talking to the large crowds throughout New York state. At Weed's urging, he went to New York City and gave a patriotic speech in front of a large crowd on November 3, just three days before the election. On Election Day, Lincoln took most of the Northern state, while Breckinridge took Deep South, Bell's three border states, and Douglas won Missouri - the only Seward state campaigning in Lincoln that did not win. Lincoln was elected.
Crisis splitting
Lincoln's election has been anticipated in the Southern states, and South Carolina and other Southern Far countries have begun calling conventions for the purposes of secession. In the North, there are disagreements over whether to offer concessions to the South to defend the Union, and if conciliation fails, will it let the South go in peace. Seward loves a compromise. He hopes to stay at home until the New Year, but with a deep crisis, Washington will soon arrive for a new session of Congress in early December.
The usual tradition is for the leading figures of the winning party to be offered the position of the Secretary of State, the most senior Cabinet post. Seward was the man and around December 12, the elected vice-president, Senator Maine Hannibal Hamlin, offered Seward a position on behalf of Lincoln. At Weed's suggestion, Seward was slow to officially accept, doing so on December 28, 1860, even long before the Inauguration Day, March 4, 1861. Lincoln remained in Illinois until mid-February, and he and Seward communicated by mail.
When the Southern states were preparing to secede in late 1860, Seward met with important figures from both sides. Seward introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent federal interference with slavery. This was done at Lincoln's personal request; the elected president hopes that the amendment, and changes to the Fugitive Massacre Act to enable those caught in the jury trial, will satisfy both sides. Members of Congress introduced many such proposals, and Seward was appointed to a committee of 13 senators to consider them. Lincoln was willing to ensure the security of slavery in the countries that currently own it, but he rejected any proposals that would allow slavery to be expanded. It is increasingly clear that the profound South is committed to secession; the Republic's hope is to provide a compromise to keep the country's border slave in the Union. Seward voted against Crittenden's compromise on December 28, but quietly went on the search for a compromise that would guard the border states of the Union.
Seward gave a keynote address on 12 January 1861. At that time, he was known as Lincoln's choice as Secretary of State, and with Lincoln remaining silent, it was widely expected that he would propose a new government plan to save the Union. Thus, he spoke to the overcrowded Senate, where even Jefferson Davis attended despite the separation of Mississippi, and to pack galleries. He urges the preservation of the Society, and endorses amendments as he has introduced, or constitutional conventions, once the appetite has cooled. He hinted that the New Mexico Territory might be a slave state, and urged the construction of two transcontinental railways, one to the north, one to the south. He suggested that the law prohibits interstate invasions like John Brown did. Although Seward's speech received widespread applause, he received mixed reactions in the border states he tried to appeal. Radical Republicans do not want to make concessions to the South, and are angry with the speech. Pennsylvania congressman Thaddeus Stevens, a radical, warned that if Lincoln like Seward ignored Republican platform and tried to buy peace through concessions, he would retire, being too old to bear the years of Republican warfare that would result.
Lincoln praised Seward's speech, which he read in Springfield, but refused to approve any compromise that could lead to further expansion of slavery. After Lincoln left Springfield on February 11, he gave a speech, stating in Indianapolis that it would not force the country if the federal government insisted on retaining or reclaiming the property it owns. This happened when the United States Army still held Fort Sumter; the words of the president-elect disappointing the moderate south. Virginia Congressman Sherrard Clemens writes, "Master Lincoln, with his speech in the North, has done great damage If he will not be mentored by Mr. Seward but puts himself in the hands of Mr. Chase and ultra [ie, Radical] Republican, none which could save the cause of the Union in the South. "
Lincoln arrived in Washington, unannounced and disguised, on the morning of February 23, 1861. Seward had been suggested by General Winfield Scott that there was a plan to kill Lincoln in Baltimore as he passed through town. Senator Seward sent his son Frederick to warn Lincoln in Philadelphia, and the elected president decided to travel alone but to a fully armed bodyguard. Lincoln traveled without incident, and came to regret his decision because he was widely ridiculed for it. Later that morning, Seward accompanied Lincoln to the White House, where he introduced Illinoisan to President Buchanan.
Seward and Lincoln differed in two issues in the days before the inauguration: the composition of Lincoln's cabinet, and his inaugural speech. Given the draft address, Seward softens to make it less confrontational towards the South; Lincoln received many changes, although he gave them, according to biographer Seward Glyndon G. Van Deusen, "the simplicity and poor poetic quality of the Seward concept". The differences about the Cabinet revolve around the inclusion of Salmon Chase, a radical. Lincoln wants all party elements, as well as external representations; Seward opposes Chase, as well as former Democrats such as Gideon Welles and Montgomery Blair. Seward did not get his way, and gave Lincoln a letter that rejected the post of Secretary of State. Lincoln felt, when he told his personal secretary, John Nicolay, that he could not "let Seward take the first trick". There was no answer or confession made by Lincoln until after the inauguration ceremony ended on March 4, when he asked Seward to stay. Seward commissioned and was nominated and confirmed by the Senate, with minimal debate, on 5 March 1861.
Secretary of State
Lincoln Administration
War broke
Lincoln faced the question of what to do about Fort Sumter in the port of Charleston, held by the Army against the will of the Southern Carolinians, who had blockaded it. The commander of the castle, Major Robert Anderson, had sent word that he would run out of supplies. Seward, backed by most Cabinets, recommended to Lincoln that the attempt to charge Sumter's fees would be provocative for the border states, which Lincoln hoped not to be exiled. Seward hinted to the commissioners who came to Washington on behalf of the Confederacy that Sumter would surrender. Lincoln was reluctant to give up Sumter, feeling it would only push the South in his rebellion.
With Sumter's unresolved issue, Seward sent Lincoln a memorandum on April 1, proposing actions, including the possibility of declaring war on France and Spain if certain conditions are not met, and fortifying fortresses along the Gulf of Mexico. However, strong policy is needed and the president must either establish it himself or allow cabinet members, with Seward explaining that he is willing to do so. Lincoln composed an answer indicating that whatever policy was adopted, "I must do it," though he never sent it, but met Seward instead, and what happened between them was unknown. Seward biographer stated that the note was sent to Lincoln who has not proven himself in the office.
Lincoln decided to do an expedition to alleviate Sumter and Florida Fort Pickens. Meanwhile, Seward convinced Judge John Archibald Campbell, an intermediary with a Confederate commissioner who came to Washington in an attempt to gain recognition, that no hostile action would be taken. Lincoln sent a notice to the governor of the South Carolina expedition, and on April 12, Charleston's batteries began shelling at Sumter, beginning a Civil War.
Diplomacy
When the war began Seward turned his attention to ensuring that foreign powers did not interfere in the conflict. When in April 1861, the Confederation announced that they would allow privateers, Seward sent word to American representatives abroad that the United States would be a party to the Paris Declaration of Respect for Maritime Law of 1856, banning such ships, but Britain requires, if the US being a party, ratification shall not require action to be taken against the Confederate vessel.
The Palmerston government is considered to recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation. Seward was willing to wage a war against Britain if that happened, and drew up a strong letter to the American Minister in London, Charles Francis Adams, to read to the Foreign Minister, Lord Russell. Seward handed it to Lincoln, who, realizing that the Union was not in a position to fight well in the South and England, was very pressing, and made it only as a memorandum for Adams guides.
In May 1861, Britain and France declared the South as a party to war with international law, and their vessels were entitled to the same rights as US-flagged ships to stay 24 hours at a neutral port. Nevertheless, Seward is glad that the two countries will not meet with the Confederate commissioners or recognize the South as a nation. Britain did not oppose the Union blockade of Confederate ports, and Seward wrote that if Britain continued to avoid interference in the war, he would not be too sensitive to what words they used to describe their policies.
In November 1861, the USSÃ, San Jacinto , led by Captain Union Charles Wilkes, intercepted the English letter ship RMS Trent and transferred two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell. They were held in Boston amid the excitement in the North and anger in England. British minister in Washington, Lord Lyons, demanded their release, because the US had no right to stop the British-flagged ship traveling between neutral ports. Britain drew up a war plan to attack New York and send reinforcements to Canada. Seward works to defuse the situation. He persuaded Lyons to postpone the sending of the ultimatum, and informed Lincoln that prisoners should be released. Lincoln did let them go, reluctantly, on a technical basis. Relations between the United States and Britain soon improved; in April 1862, Seward and Lyons signed a deal they negotiated which allowed each country to inspect other ships for smuggled slaves. In November 1862, with the American image in Britain increasing with the promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation, the British cabinet decided not to recognize the Confederacy as a nation.
The Confederation Agent in England had arranged for the construction of Confederate ships, notably CSS Alabama , which struck Union shipments after its construction in 1862. With two other vessels being built the following year, purportedly for French interests, Seward was pressed Palmerston not to let them leave the harbor, and, almost completely, they were captured by British officials in October 1863.
Involvement in wartime detention
From the beginning of the war until early 1862, when responsibility was forwarded to the War Department, Seward was responsible for determining who should be detained without charge or trial. About 800 men and some women, believed to be sympathizers or Southern spies, were detained, usually at the time of initiation of local officials. After Seward was notified, he often ordered that prisoners be transferred to federal authorities. Seward is reported to have boasted to Lord Lyons that "I can touch the bell in my right hand, and order the arrest of a citizen... and no power on earth, except the President's, can free them.Can the Queen of England so much?"
In September 1861, Maryland legislators planned to vote to leave the Union. Seward took action against them: his son Frederick, the Assistant Secretary of State of the United States, reported to his father that the Union people had gone unharmed and the unfaithful legislators were in jail. On evidence provided by Detective Allen Pinkerton, Seward in 1862 ordered the arrest of Rose Greenhow, a Washington socialite with Confederate sympathizers. Greenhow had sent a stream of reports to the south, and proceeded even after being placed under house arrest. From the Old Capitol Jail in Washington, "Rebel Rose" provided newspaper interviews until he was allowed to cross into the Confederate territory.
When Seward accused the accusation that former president Pierce was involved in a plan against the Union, he asked for Pierce's explanation. Pierce angrily denied it. The problem proved to be a lie, and the government was embarrassed. On February 14, 1862, Lincoln ordered that the responsibility for detention be transferred to the War Department, ending the Seward section in it.
Relationship with Lincoln
Seward has mixed feelings about the man who had blocked him from the presidency. One story is that when Seward was told that to refuse Carl Schurz, an office would disappoint him, Seward angrily stated, "Disillusionment! You are talking about me about disappointment! To me, who is entitled to the Republican nomination for the presidency, and who should stand on the side and see it given to a small Illinois lawyer! "Regardless of his initial objections about Lincoln's ability, he came to admire Lincoln when the president grew more confident in his work. Seward wrote to his wife in June 1861, "The skills and powers of the executive are a rare quality, the President is the best of us, but he needs constant and determined cooperation." According to Goodwin, "Seward will be his most loyal ally in the cabinet... Seward's forgery for not accepting his party nomination has never completely subsided, but he no longer feels he has to underestimate Lincoln to ease his pain." Lincoln, a long-term member of Congress, is inexperienced in Washington's ways, and relies on Seward's advice on social protocol and ethics.
The two men built a close personal and professional relationship. Lincoln falls into the habit of entrusting Seward with tasks not within the scope of the State Department, for example asking him to check the agreement with the Indian Delaware. Lincoln will come to Seward's house and the two lawyers will relax in front of the fire, chatting. Seward begins to show the president's funny stories. For example, Lincoln would tell Seward to remind the president, who he found was polishing his boots, "In Washington, we did not blacken our own boots", with Lincoln's answer, "Indeed, which boots are doing < i> you blacken, Mr. Secretary? "
The other cabinet members became annoyed with Seward, who seemed always present when they discussed their department's concerns with Lincoln, but they were never allowed to be there when the two men discussed foreign affairs. Seward announces when a cabinet meeting will be held; his colleagues eventually persuaded Lincoln to set a regular date and time for the sessions. Seward's position on the Emancipation Proclamation when Lincoln read it to his cabinet in July 1862 is uncertain; The War Secretary Edwin Stanton wrote at the time that Seward opposed him in principle, feeling the slaves should be liberated once the Union forces advanced. Two accounts later indicated that Seward felt the time had not yet issued it, and Lincoln waited until after the bloody deadlock in Antietam that ended Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion to the North to get it out. For a while, Seward carefully investigated how foreign powers might react to such proclamations, and studying them would make them less likely to interfere in conflict.
Seward was not close to Lincoln's wife, Mary, who by some accounts opposed his appointment as Foreign Minister. Mary Lincoln developed Seward's dislike that he ordered his coachman not to pass through Seward's residence. The Secretary of State enjoys the younger Lincoln children's company, Willie and Tad, presenting them with two cats from various pets.
Seward accompanied Lincoln to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in November 1863, where Lincoln would deliver a short speech, which would become famous as the Gettysburg Address. The night before the speech, Lincoln met Seward. There is no evidence to hold that Seward wrote any changes: he declared after the address, when asked if there was a hand in it, that only Lincoln could make the speech. Seward also proposed to Lincoln that he declared the national thanksgiving day, and set the proclamation for it. Although post harvest celebration celebrations have long been held, this first Thanksgiving Day is formalized as a national celebration.
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