William H. Seward

William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801–October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

Services to the United States

He was elected United States Senator from New York from 1849 through 1861. In 1849 he won as a Whig and emerged as the leader of its anti-slavery wing. An opponent of the Fugitive Slave Act, he defended runaway slaves in court. In 1850 Seward voted against the Missouri Compromise and claimed in a speech that if slavery were not abolished, America would become embroiled in a civil war. He continued to argue this point of view over the next ten years.

Related Topics:
United States Senator - 1849 - 1861 - Whig - Fugitive Slave Act - Missouri Compromise

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With the decline in the fortunes of the Whig Party, Seward joined the Republican Party in 1855 and was reelected senator from New York. By this time Seward had moderated his views and became less associated with the group known as the Radical Republicans. Seward lost the presidential nomination to John C. Frémont in 1856. He was expected to get the nomination in 1860 but many of the delegates feared that his radical past would prevent him from winning the election. However, radicals such as Horace Greeley also opposed him because they were angry at his shift to the right. When Abraham Lincoln won the nomination Seward loyally supported him and made a long speaking tour of the West in the autumn of 1860.

Related Topics:
Republican Party - Radical Republicans - John C. Frémont - Horace Greeley

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Abraham Lincoln appointed him Secretary of State in 1861 and he served until 1869. During the War, Seward established a secret police force, which arrested thousands of citizens for disloyalty, i.e. disagreeing with Lincoln's war policies. Arrested citizens were not told the reason for their arrest, no investigation of their alleged wrongdoing was carried out, and no trials were held. Seward boasted to the British Ambassador, Lord Lyons, that he could have any man arrested in any state at a whim. Seward survived an assassination attempt on April 14, 1865 (the same night Abraham Lincoln was shot) from Lewis Powell (alias: Lewis Payne), an associate of John Wilkes Booth, who broke into Seward's bedroom and stabbed him repeatedly.

Related Topics:
1861 - 1869 - Secret police - April 14 - 1865 - Lewis Powell - John Wilkes Booth

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As Secretary of State, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia for $7,200,000 on March 30, 1867. He had claimed that the United States must move westward. This translated into approximately 2 cents per acre ($4.94 per km²) for 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km²) of territory, more than twice the size of Texas. The purchase of this frontier land ("Seward's Icebox") was mocked as "Seward's Folly" and Andrew Johnson's "polar bear garden". Currently, Alaska celebrates the purchase on Seward's Day, the last Monday of March.

Related Topics:
Purchase - Alaska - Russia - March 30 - 1867 - Acre - Texas - Seward's Folly - Seward's Day - March

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