Seward, WILLIAM HENRY, an American statesman, was born at Florida, Orange county, New York, May 16, 1801, graduated at Union College in 1820, was admitted to the bar at Utica in 1822, and thenceforth made his home at Auburn. He early took an active interest in politics, and in 1827 presided over a young men's convention held at Utica to advocate the re-election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency. In 1830 he was elected, as an anti-Mason, to the state senate, where he remained four years, leading the opposition to the dominant Democratic party. In 1834 he was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for the governorship of the state of New York, but was elected to that position in 1838, and again in 1840. A noteworthy incident of his administration was a controversy with the governor of Virginia in regard to three negro seamen, whom the latter claimed as fugitives from justice, on the charge of inciting a slave to escape, and whom Governor Seward refused to surrender. Having declined a third nomination, he was engaged from 1843 to 1849 in the practice of his profession, being especially sought after in criminal and patent cases. In 1847 he defended John van Zandt, accused of aiding in the escape of fugitive slaves, and incurred obloquy by his defence of the negro murderer, Freeman, on the plea of insanity. His argument in this case was pronounced by Mr Gladstone 'the greatest forensic effort in the English language.' Mr Seward continued to give active support to his party, while at the same time making himself remarked as an opponent of the pro-slavery policy. In a speech against the admission of Texas into the Union he said: 'To maintain the slave-holding power is to subvert the constitution;' and at Cleveland, during the campaign of 1848, he told his hearers, in speaking of slavery: 'It must be abolished, and you and I must do it.' In February 1849 he was elected to the United States senate, where he served two full terms, being re-elected in 1855. He was much consulted by President Taylor, but declined to be put on any important committee lest his opinions on slavery should embarrass the administration. In 1850, while urging the admission of California into the Union, he declared that the national domain was devoted to liberty, not only by the constitution, but by 'a higher law than the constitution'—a phrase which became famous. He opposed the Compromise Bill of 1850; separated himself from those Whigs who followed President Fillmore in his pro-slavery policy; opposed the Know-Nothing (q.v.) party; and on the formation of the Republican party became one of its leaders. His speeches in the senate on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the admission of Kansas made a great impression, as did also an address delivered at Rochester in 1858, in which he spoke of the 'irrepressible conflict' between freedom and slavery.
In 1860 Mr Seward was a candidate for the presidential nomination, but on failing to receive it gave his hearty support to Mr Lincoln, whose cabinet he entered as Secretary of State, an office which he held through two administrations, from 1861 to 1869. The civil war, which was in progress during the first half of this period, rendered the foreign relations of the United States unusually delicate, especially in view of the attitude of the governments of France and Britain. In the 'Trent' affair he was obliged, in opposition to popular clamour, to admit the justice of England's claim and to advise the president that the Confederate envoys should be given up. He protested against the fitting out of the Alabama and similar vessels in British ports, and declared that the United States would claim from the English government indemnities for damages resulting from this breach of the obligations of a neutral power. On the subject of the French invasion of Mexico he maintained a prudent reserve, until the conclusion of the war enabled him to insist on the withdrawal of the French troops. On April 14, 1865, while confined to his bed with a broken arm and jaw, the results of a carriage accident, he was attacked and severely cut on the face and neck by an accomplice of J. B. Booth. He supported President Johnson's reconstruction policy, thereby placing himself in opposition to the majority of his own party and incurring much bitter censure. In 1867 he negotiated with Russia the treaty for the purchase of Alaska. After leaving office he travelled in 1869 to California and Alaska, returning through Mexico, where he was warmly welcomed as the guest of the nation; and in 1870-71 he made a tour round the world, his narrative of which was edited and published (1873) after his death by his adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward. He died at Auburn, October 10, 1872. Without being a creative statesman, Mr Seward had great practical ability controlled by sound notions of truth and justice; always a party man, he was never an extreme partisan, and rather made public opinion than followed it. Strong convictions joined to a conciliatory disposition rendered him a fitting representative of the moderate anti-slavery sentiment and a worthy fellow-worker with Lincoln in preserving the Union.
See his Autobiography, continued to 1846 in a memoir by his son (1877), and to 1872 in his Life and Letters (2 vols. 1891); Life by the same (3 vols. 1895); also C. F. Adams's Address on his Life, &c. (1873), the memoir by G. E. Baker, with his Works (3 vols. 1853; 2 other vols. 1862-84), and the Life by F. Bancroft (1900).