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William H. Seward Speech, 1854

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Political

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1854, "SPEECH OF WILLIAM H. SEWARD AGAINST THE ABROGATION OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE," Printed by Buell & Blanchard, Washington, D.C., Very Fine.
Disbound, 9.6" x 6" pamphlet, toned pages, some chipping, some penciled notations on the cover, 31 pages. In this February 17, 1854 speech, Sen. Seward addresses the key issues of freedom and public faith, which he felt were threatened by the Congress's abrogation of the Missouri Compromise, which was supposed to limit slavery in new territories and states such as Kansas and Nebraska: "The general authority of Congress over the Territories is one wisely confided to the National Legislature, to save young and growing communities from the dangers which beset them in their state of pupilage, and to prevent them from adopting any policy that shall be at war with their own lasting interests, or with the general welfare of the whole Republic. The authority over the subject of slavery is that which ought to be renounced last of all, in favor of Territorial Legislatures, because, from the very circumstances of the Territories, those Legislatures are likely to yield too readily to ephemeral influences, and interested offers of favor and patronage." Seward calls for continued control and diligence by Congress and the President--a stance that presaged Lincoln's approach to keeping the Union together in the 1860s.



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