On the one hand, Seward’s “little bell” was a wonderful encapsulation of Republican excess and the wartime erosion of liberties which Democrats prided themselves on vigilantly protecting. On the other hand, it was a fabrication, an example of the Democrats’ own penchant for excess and the dramatization of their sufferings during Lincoln’s war—but even if Seward never actually said it, he well could have.

What was Seward’s “little bell”? How was Seward a poor Secretary of State? Why was Steward allowed to approve arbitrary arrests? What is the writ of habeas corpus? What did Fort Lafayette represent during the Civil War?

Related Content:

Mr. Seward’s Little Bell, written by Rick Beard

The Lincoln Administration and Arbitrary Arrests: A Reconsideration, written by Mark E. Neely, Jr.

Further Reading:

Lincoln the Colonizationist Part 1, with Phil Magness, Liberty Chronicles Podcast

Everything Wrong with the Tyler Administration, written by Anthony Comegna

Was the Civil War a Libertarian Moment?, Liberty Chronicles Podcast

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