A Study On William H.Seward’s Peace Policy Before The American Civil War (1860-1861)

As one of the most influential politicians in American history,William Henry Seward served as secretary of state in the two administrations of Lincoln and Johnson.He experienced two important periods of the American Civil War and the reconstruction of the south.His thoughts and policies had a profound impact on American society.Based on the background of the United States in the split period,this paper studies the Peace Policy formulated by Seward to prevent the outbreak of Civil War and solve the secession crisis.Seward’s idea of abolishing slavery was gradually formed in his growing environment and early political experience.Under the influence of the growing environment,Seward’s outlook on life and values gradually took shape,and formed the idea of abolitionism in his increasingly rich political experience,and finally became a representative of the moderate abolitionism.In order to realize his political ideal,Seward took part in the nomination contest of the Republican Party in 1860,but he lost to Lincoln because of various external factors.However,in order to make the Republican Party in power,Seward actively helped Lincoln to run for the election,and was gradually regarded as the leader of the party in the process,and the special political relationship between them was gradually formed.At the same time,because Seward’s political prestige is much higher than Lincoln’s,the alliance between them is not equal.Seward also put forward the Peace Policy on this basis.In order to solve the secession crisis caused by Lincoln’s election as president of the United States,Seward put forward the Peace Policy which is embodied in three aspects.In the Pacification Policy,Seward advocated stabilizing the southern slave states by appointing southern leaders to assume cabinet positions.In the Compromise Policy,Seward hopes to reach a temporary compromise on the issue of territorial expansion in exchange for peace.In the Transfer Policy,Seward tried to transfer the domestic contradictions to foreign countries,in exchange for domestic peace with foreign wars.However,due to the differences between Seward and Lincoln in the means of solving slavery,and due to his overconfidence,lack of communication with Lincoln and his misjudgment of the international situation,the Peace Policy ended in failure,but it also produced certain influences in many aspects.The Peace Policy delayed the outbreak of civil war,changed the relationship between Seward and Lincoln,and also changed the political direction of Seward to diplomacy.As mentioned above,the status of abolitionist moderates is the ideological basis of Seward’s Peace Policy.The unequal and special political relationship with Lincoln was the prerequisite for his Peace Policy.Pacification Policy,Compromise Policy and Transfer Policy constitute the main content of Seward’s Peace Policy.Although the Peace Policy ended in failure,it had an impact on the American Civil War,the relationship between Seward and Lincoln,and Seward’s later political direction.It can be said that the Peace Policy is an important transition for Seward to complete the transformation of self-awareness and role positioning to secretary of state,and it is also a crucial chapter in Seward’s life.