Lincoln, Seward, and US foreign relations in the Civil War era / Joseph A. Fry.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780813177120
- ISBN: 081317712X
- Physical Description: 241 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Publisher: Lexington, Kentucky : The University Press of Kentucky, [2019]
- Copyright: ©2019
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-226) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Introductions -- Origins of the foreign policy partnership, 1801-1861 -- The first perilous year, 1861 -- The recognition and cabinet crises, 1862 -- Victory and the death of the partnership, 1863-1865 -- Seward and empire, 1865-1869 -- Conclusion. |
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Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kenton County.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Covington Branch | K 973.7 F946L 2019 (Text) | 33126022721017 | KY Nonfiction | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"In Lincoln, Seward, and U.S. Foreign Relations, 1861-1869, Joseph A. Fry proposes to examine this crucial partnership and its legacy. Despite differences in upbringing, personality, and social status, Lincoln became much closer personally and professionally to Seward than to any other member of his cabinet. Seward shared Lincoln's adamant belief that the institution of slavery fatally impeded the country's ability to promote American values and influence abroad. They both advanced preservation of the Union as ultimate standard for foreign policy decisions, and, by forestalling European intervention in the Civil War, their actions were critical to the North's victory and resulting reunification of the states. Lincoln reinforced Seward's conviction that future empires would be based on international commerce, especially in the Pacific region, and that the construction of a transcontinental railroad and interoceanic canal, along with acquisition of strategic island outposts, would be essential to dominating world trade. After Lincoln's death, Seward served as secretary of state to President Andrew Johnson, and during his tenure, he not only skillfully navigated war-related issues such as the French intervention in Mexico and claims derived from Confederateship building in Great Britain, he also acquired Alaska, one of the last North American additions to the ascendant American empire. Their policies provided the bridge between the nation's prewar emphasis on territorial acquisition and the great postwar pursuit of commercial markets abroad. Together, Lincoln and Seward formulated a remarkably prescient vision of late nineteenth-century U.S. imperial expansion"-- - University of Kentucky
The Civil War marked a significant turning point in American historyânot only for the United States itself but also for its relations with foreign powers both during and after the conflict. The friendship and foreign policy partnership between President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Henry Seward shaped those US foreign policies. These unlikely allies, who began as rivals during the 1860 presidential nomination, helped ensure that America remained united and prospered in the aftermath of the nation's consuming war.
In Lincoln, Seward, and US Foreign Relations in the Civil War Era, Joseph A. Fry examines the foreign policy decisions that resulted from this partnership and the legacy of those decisions. Lincoln and Seward, despite differences in upbringing, personality, and social status, both adamantly believed in the preservation of the union and the need to stymie slavery. They made that conviction the cornerstone of their policies abroad, and through those policies, such as Seward threatening war with any nation that intervened in the Civil War, they prevented European intervention that could have led to Northern defeat. The Union victory allowed America to resume imperial expansion, a dynamic that Seward sustained beyond Lincoln's death during his tenure as President Andrew Johnson's Secretary of State.
Fry's analysis of the Civil War from an international perspective and the legacy of US policy decisions provides a more complete view of the war and a deeper understanding of this crucial juncture in American history.