MERRY CHRISTMAS NYC!!! The AMERICAN CIVIL WAR in OUR NYC Backyard- Celebrate the Civil War and USCT Sesquicentennial 1865-2015 VICTORY YEAR- WILLIAM SEWARD & HARRIET TUBMAN- In which park in NYC will you find Anti-Slavery public servant WILLIAM SEWARD- and where in NYC would you find the Statue of HARRIET TUBMAN ( facing south) one of those spirits who sometimes will go ahead of the oppositions public opinion instead of tamely following its footprints- Carl Schurz William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) Born in Southeastern NY to parents who were slave holders. He became a lawyer and moved to Western NY.. He served as the 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 Lincoln Republican Party in its formative years. Although regarded as the leading contender for the partys presidential nomination in 1860, he was defeated by Abraham Lincoln. Sometime in the mid-1850s, Tubman met Seward and his wife Frances. Mrs. Seward provided a home for Tubmans favorite niece, Margaret, after Tubman helped her to escape from Maryland. In 1857, the Sewards provided a home for Tubman, to which she relocated her parents from St. Catherines. This home was later sold to her for a small sum, and became her base of operations when she was not on the road aiding fugitives from slavery, and speaking in support of the cause. The spring of 1857 was the time when Harriet set out on her most daring rescue to free her elderly father, Ben Ross. Tubman bought a train ticket for herself and traveled in broad daylight which was dangerous considering the bounty for her head. When she reached Caroline County, she bought a horse and some miscellaneous parts to make a buggy. She took this and her father and mother to Thomas Garrett who arranged for their passage to Canada. Harriet Tubman relocated her parents from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada to Auburn, NY. She had been provided the two story brick home on the outskirts of Auburn, by her friend, William H. Seward. A short time later he sold the property to Tubman for a modest sum, an illegal transaction at the time. Seward was at that time the US Senator from New York In 1863, Tubman led a group of African American Union soldiers on raids along the Comcahee River in South Carolina. There she met a soldier named Nelson Davis. They were married in Auburn in 1869, with the Sewards among the many friends in attendance. Davis and Tubman lived in a brick house on the property until his death in 1888. That house is now used as home for the Resident Manager of the Harriet Tubman Home. William strong stances and provocative words against slavery brought him hatred in the South. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1855, and soon joined the nascent Lincoln Republican Party, becoming one of its leading figures. As the 1860 presidential election cycle approached, he was regarded as the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. Several factors, including attitudes to his vocal opposition to slavery, his support for immigrants and Catholics, and his association with editor and political boss Thurlow Weed, combined to defeat him. Although devastated by his loss, he campaigned for Lincoln, who was elected, and who appointed him Secretary of State. His firm stance against foreign intervention in the Civil War helped deter Britain and France from interfering in the conflict and possibly gaining the independence of the Confederate States. He was a target of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln, and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis Powell. Seward remained loyally at his post through the presidency of Andrew Johnson, and was responsible for the Alaska purchase.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 23:53:46 +0000
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