Name: Date:
Secretary of State William H. Seward
IB U.S. History Mr. Coley
Seward, William Henry (1801-1872), American political leader, who was secretary of state under Presidents Abraham Lincoln
and Andrew Johnson. An able and innovative administrator, he retained the confidence of Europe during the Civil War. His determined pursuit of the purchase of Alaska, then regarded as "Seward's Folly," ultimately enriched the United States with its largest state.
In 1860, Seward was the most prominent Republican candidate for the presidential nomination, receiving more votes than Lincoln on the first ballot at the Chicago convention. After Lincoln's nomination, however, Seward
campaigned for him all over the North. Appointed secretary of state by Lincoln in
1861, he continued in this post through Johnson's administration. At first inclined to be bellicose and authoritarian, he steered the State Department admirably during the war years. He reorganized the diplomatic service, and by his dispatches and instructions to representatives abroad, he prevented Europe from yielding to pressures to support the Confederacy.
An important incident of his secretaryship was the conflict with Britain known as the "Trent Affair." A U.S. warship intercepted the British ship Trent, and two Confederate agents were seized. Britain demanded their restoration, which public opinion opposed. War was averted by Seward and Lincoln's skillful diplomacy. The United States released the prisoners while affirming Britain's recognition of the principle of exemption from search, a principle that the United States had contended for during the War of 1812. Seward also insisted on redress for U.S. citizens for depredations by the Alabama and other British ships used by the Confederacy.
The Secretary of State had always been at heart an expansionist. He and Weed had speculated at times on the future of America, and, like John Quincy Adams, the Auburn statesman had visualized it as that of an ever-increasing empire, expanding territorially north, east, and west. It would be, he prophesied, a democratic imperialism, partly economic, partly territorial, adding to the grandeur of the American nation, but nurturing everywhere the virtues of the democratic tradition. It would not be afraid to welcome new concepts to its shores, however radical they might be, and in consequence would absorb the best ideas of
Europe-social, economic, and political-transmuting them into a newer and higher civilization. He intended to take part, and if possible to play a leading role, in the realization of this great dream.
The restoration of the Union opened the way to this new era, Seward felt, and he made many efforts to promote the spread of American influence and power. He fostered immigration. He lent his support to a project for building a telegraph line that would circle the globe. He promoted good relations with the states of Latin America. He urged
building a canal in Panama that would be under the control, but not the sovereignty, of the United States. He sought to promote trade and good relations with China and Japan. Seward's positive accomplishments in these various directions were minimal, however, due to a lack of public interest and a suspicious and recalcitrant Senate, but there can be no question as to his foresight.
As an accompaniment to Seward's efforts at economic and ideological expansion, he sought island outposts for the United States in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Pacific north of the Panama isthmus. He tried to enlist interest in the purchase of Iceland and Greenland, not only on account of their geopolitical position, but also because of their fisheries and mineral resources. Congress was apathetic, however, about what Ben Butler scornfully described as "the ice fields of Greenland.”
Seward's first attempt at expansion in the West Indies nearly succeeded. He concluded a treaty with Denmark, acquiring the islands of St. Thomas and St. John for $7,500,000. A plebiscite in the islands favored annexation, and Seward enlisted the support of Senators Sumner and Stevens. Then came a series of setbacks. A hurricane, a tidal wave, and an earthquake in the islands diminished interest and aroused scorn in the project. Sumner became cool and delayed the treaty in the Senate. The growing quarrel between Congress and President Johnson and the hostility of President-elect Grant ended the possibility of ratification by the Senate. Seward's efforts to obtain footholds in other West Indian islands met a similar fate
Seward's roving vision turned west as well as east. He sought acquisitions in the Pacific, and repeatedly urged a reciprocity treaty with Hawaii as a first step toward annexation. The fear of competition from Hawaiian sugar, and popular indifference to expansion in general, stifled these moves toward what later became the fiftieth state in the Union. Other projects were stillborn in the fertile mind of the Secretary. The only mid-Pacific acquisition during Seward's two terms as Secretary of State was Midway Island, occupied by the Navy in 1867. Seward recommended its survey for the establishment of a naval base, but the government paid little attention to the establishment of such a faraway outpost until the twentieth century.
Fortuitous circumstances and Seward's unpopularity with Congress had been
major impediments to his expansionist plans. However, another effort to
enlarge United States territory had a more fortunate outcome. The Russian
government of Alexander II had little interest in a large chunk of earth which Russia had acquired far from St.
Petersburg (now Leningrad), which was then the capital of the Russian empire. It saw Alaska
as a losing venture in the frozen wilds of the North Pacific region, and feared that a possible influx of United States settlers would be a source of worry and
weakness. This was the negative aspect of the problem. On the positive side, the sale of Alaska to the United States would possibly open the way to American acquisition of parts of western Canada and thus weaken the prestige, if not the power, of Great Britain. The Russian Czar and his ministers decided, late in
1866, to sell Alaska to the United States if they could get an offer of at least
$5,000,000.
News of Russia's interest in selling Alaska came to Seward from various quarters, among others from Hiram Sibley, president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, who visited St. Petersburg in the Winter of 1864-1865. This information found Seward eager to buy. He knew that the territory would be strategically valuable to the United States, and he felt that its purchase could be important in promoting the prestige of President Johnson and himself, just when Congress was proposing to take over control of reconstructing the South. He was so eager to buy that, when word came of the Emperor's willingness to sell, the Secretary of State urged immediate action. Early in the morning of Saturday, March 30, 1867, Seward and the Russian minister, Edward de Stoecki, prepared the treaty of transmission for presentation to the Senate. The price agreed upon was $7,200,000 in gold for a territory more than twice the size of the state of Texas.
Secretary Seward firmly asserted the Monroe Doctrine in relation to the French invasion of Mexico, but, by avoiding a provocative attitude that might have involved the United States in a foreign war, he was able to defer the decision to a more favorable time. Before the close of the Civil War he intimated to the French government the irritation felt in the United States in regard to the armed intervention in Mexico. Many dispatches on this subject were sent during 1865 and 1866, increasing in urgency, until the French forces were withdrawn.
After returning to private life, Seward spent two years and a half in travel and died at Auburn on the 10th of October 1872.
Questions
1. How successful was Seward at managing relations with Great Britain during the Civil War?
2. Describe Seward’s vision for U.S. foreign policy.
3. What strategic islands and waterways did Seward try to control?
4. Why did Seward recommend the purchase of Alaska?
5. How did Seward attempt to renew and implement the Monroe Doctrine?