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History of the United States I / Unit 14   USH1 1957 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Seward's Higher Law

Captions available

The idea

William H. Seward declared slavery incompatible with the proposition that all men are created equal, and destined for extinction.

In practice

His appeal to a higher moral law than the Constitution.

Where people slip

That phrase put him outside the terms of the debate, since a settlement can only be argued within the document both sides accept.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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