Reviews for The works of William H. Seward

The average rating for The works of William H. Seward based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-08-24 00:00:00 Michitaka Hanibuchi A history devoted to many U.S. politicians bound together by antislavery idealism who worked in the U.S. Congress before and after the Civil War to end slavery and provide both equality under the law and voting rights for former slaves. The book describes an all too brief, but significant high-water mark for American democracy. Although some of their efforts were to be thwarted by Southern "redemption," these men deserve to be remembered.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-07 00:00:00 Susan L Morris This is an interesting analysis of the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, but it is written in a rather dry academic style that makes it slow going. I particularly liked Ellis' discussion of how nullification (the idea that any state, based on its sovereignty, may nullify - or refuse to acknowledge - any law passed by the federal government) fits in with various theories of states' rights. He also points out how the convergence of nullification and states' rights theories with efforts to justify slavery helped bring on the Civil War.