Wednesday Wisdom

WHO?

William H Seward was an American statesman who was born In Florida, NY in 1801. He attended Union College graduating in 1820 and was later admitted to the bar of NY. He served as the Govenor of NY in 1839-1842 and served as Senator from 1849-1861. Originally a member of the Whig party, Seward unsuccessfully lost the Republican nomination for President to eventual winner Abraham Lincoln. In what was titled “Team of rivals” by historian Doris Kearns, Lincoln appointed Seward as Secretary of State and served that post under Lincoln and Andrew Johnson until 1869.

What he produced

Seward was a fierce critic of slavery, and he gained notoriety for his participation in the Underground Railroad, a network that helped escaped slaves reach freedom in the North. As a diplomat, Seward was instrumental in dissuading foreign countries like Great Britain, France and Spain from recognizing the Confederate States and in providing aid. This was crucial in preserving the Union and the eventually abolition of slavery.

The term "Manifest Destiny" is often attributed to journalist John L. O'Sullivan. He first used the phrase in an article titled "Annexation" published in the Democratic Review in July-August 1845. In this article, O'Sullivan argued for the annexation of Texas and that The United States should exist from sea to shining sea. In 1846 the Oregon treaty was signed between the US and Great Britain establishing the 49th parallel has the boundary between the US and Great Britain (Canada) establishing the US on the Pacific Ocean. The annexation of Texas prompted the Mexican American war, which led to the ceding of New Mexico, Arizona and California in 1848.

Even with all his political wins and influence, Seward is most notably remembered with his purchase of the territory of Alaska in 1867 from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. With Russia engaged in battle with Great Britain over Crimea and looking to establish a seaport on the Black Sea, Russia was keen to raise funds. Russia was also afraid that Great Britain who, had colonies in Canada, would take the territory and Russia wouldn’t be able to defend the land. The purchase was approved overwhelming by over 2/3 of the Senate and signed into law by President Andrew Johnson and was initially looked upon as a favorable by rational observers and media.

However, this purchase became known as “Sewards Folly” as he was ridiculed by politician opponents for buying a piece of barren, cold and remote land. Political opponents seized on the “waste of money” especially given the tenuous fiscal nature of the country in the “Restoration” period of America after the Civil War. As a political cudgel, his opponents named the remote Alaska territory as “Seward’s Icebox” or “Johnson’s polar bear garden”.

Despite the criticism, Seward believed that Alaska held strategic importance and significant potential for resources. He envisioned it as a gateway to the Pacific, with economic opportunities in fisheries, timber, and minerals.

2024 why do we care?

President Andrew Johnson was a Tennessee native who supported the Union during the civil war and vetoed legislation for freed slaves making him a pariah to both the North and the South post-Civil War. Universally disliked, he was impeached and but for one vote not thrown out of office in 1868. The disdain for Johnson prompted the attack on Sewards’s purchase of Alaska and he spent the remainder of public life defending the move.

In hindsight, the purchase of Alaska is now recognized as a strategic and economic success for the United States. The name "Seward's Folly" serves as a reminder of the initial skepticism and the subsequent realization of the territory's value. Seward logically defended his position by responding "I can inform the Senate that the whole of this territory is owned by the United States and that it contains resources which are as yet but partially developed, which are of great value to our country and will become of still greater value to our posterity."

Seward had the last laugh as his frozen joke became a literal gold mine.

And now you know...

Thanks, Dad, for the gift of curiosity!

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.