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21 quotes by William H. Seward

William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and also served as Governor of New York and United States Senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years. Although regarded as the leading contender for the party's presidential nomination in 1860, he was...
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There is a higher law than the Constitution.

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If slavery, limited as it yet is, now threatens to subvert the Constitution, how can we as wise and prudent statesmen, enlarge its boundaries and... →

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It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true it was acquired by the valor and with the wealth of the whole nation. But we hold... →

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The right to have a slave implies the right in some one to make the slave; that right must be equal and mutual, and this would resolve society into a... →

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But assuming the same premises, to wit, that all men are equal by the law of nature and of nations, the right of property in slaves falls to the... →

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But you answer, that the Constitution recognizes property in slaves. It would be sufficient, then, to reply, that this constitutional recognition... →

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Sir, there is no Christian nation, thus free to choose as we are, which would establish slavery.

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But I deny that the Constitution recognizes property in man.

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But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.

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Therefore, states are equal in natural rights.

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I mean to say that Congress can hereafter decide whether any states, slave or free, can be framed out of Texas. If they should never be framed out of... →

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I speak on due consideration because Britain, France, and Mexico, have abolished slavery, and all other European states are preparing to abolish it... →

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I submit, on the other hand, most respectfully, that the Constitution not merely does not affirm that principle, but, on the contrary, altogether... →

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