William H. Seward
American lawyer and politician (1801-1872)
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William H. Seward was an American lawyer and politician who lived from 1801 to 1872 and played significant roles in U.S. government during the Civil War era. He is historically important because of his influence on major American policies and politics during one of the nation's most critical periods.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 16 May 1801
- Died
- 10 Oct 1872
- Works
- 208
Top works
- Speech of William H. Seward on the proposed protest of the United States against the armed intervention of Russia in the Hungarian revolution, in the Senate of the United States, March 9, 1852
- A letter to William H. Seward, on the new banking law
- Speeches delivered at Albany and at Buffalo in Oct. 1855
- Reconciliation
- In the Supreme Court of the United States, John Van Zandt, ad sectum Wharton Jones
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Article
William Henry Seward (/ˈsuːərd/; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869 and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was prominent in the Republican Party in its formative years and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the Civil War. He also negotiated the treaty for the United States to purchase the Alaska Territory.
Seward was born in 1801 in the village of Florida, in Orange County, New York, where his father was a farmer and owned slaves. He was educated as a lawyer and moved to the Central New York town of Auburn. Seward was elected to the New York State Senate in 1830 as an Anti-Mason. Four years later, he became the gubernatorial nominee of the Whig Party. Though he lost that race, Seward was elected governor in 1838 and won a second two-year term in 1840. During this period, he signed several laws that advanced the rights of and opportunities for black residents, as well as guaranteeing jury trials for fugitive slaves in the state. The legislation protected abolitionists, and he used his position to intervene in cases of freed black people who were enslaved in the South.
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1801 births1872 deaths19th-century American Episcopalians19th-century United States senatorsAmerican militia generalsAndrew Johnson administration cabinet membersAnti-Masonic Party politicians from New York (state)Candidates in the 1856 United States presidential electionCandidates in the 1860 United States presidential electionGovernors of New York (state)History of the foreign relations of the United States