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William Henry Seward (/ ˈ s uː ər d /; [1] 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.
As part of the agreements that ultimately preserved peace with Britain, the administration entered into (and the United States Senate unanimously ratified) the Lyons–Seward Treaty in 1862. [3] The treaty's primary purpose was to suppress the slave trade in British and American ports and waters. [2]
Senator John J. Crittenden proposed a compromise consisting of six constitutional amendments and four Congressional resolutions, [9] which were ultimately tabled on December 31. On January 14, 1861, the House committee submitted a plan calling for an amendment to protect slavery, enforce fugitive slave laws, and repeal state personal liberty ...
In early 1850, Clay proposed a package of eight bills that would settle most of the pressing issues before Congress. Clay's proposal was opposed by President Zachary Taylor, anti-slavery Whigs like William Seward, and pro-slavery Democrats like John C. Calhoun, and congressional debate over the territories continued. The debates over the bill ...
U.S. Senator William H. Seward says there is an "irrepressible conflict" between slavery and freedom. [212] Although solid evidence of their guilt is presented, the crew of the illegal slave ship The Wanderer is acquitted of engaging in the African slave trade by a Savannah, Georgia jury.
After winning election, Seward demonstrated considerable support for African Americans, signing legislation during his two terms to guarantee jury trials to alleged fugitive slaves, to repeal the nine-month allowance for slaveholders bringing slaves into the state, to give state support to efforts to gain freedom for free blacks kidnapped and ...
Estimates of the number of runaways during the war vary. Secretary of War William Seward estimated that the Union Army seized about 200,000 slaves, while historians of estimated figures from 500,000 to 1,000,000. [37] Slaves often disguised their feelings from their masters, wishing to appear loyal but watching and waiting for a chance to at ...
In September 1855, Seward led his faction of Whigs into the Republican Party, effectively marking the end of the Whig Party as an independent and significant political force. [77] In May 1856, after denouncing the Slave Power in a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Sumner was attacked by Congressman Preston Brooks, outraging Northerners. [78]