THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT
William H. Seward — Rochester, New York — October 25, 1858
Authentic historical excerpt
The unmistakable outbreaks of zeal which occur all around me show that you are earnest men—and such
a man am I. Let us, therefore, at least for a time, pass all secondary and collateral questions, whether of a
personal or of a general nature, and consider the main subject of the present canvass. The Democratic
Party, or, to speak more accurately, the party which wears that attractive name—is in possession of the
federal government. The Republicans propose to dislodge that party, and dismiss it from its high trust.
The main subject, then, is whether the Democratic Party deserves to retain the confidence of the
American people. In attempting to prove it unworthy, I think that I am not actuated by prejudices against
that party, or by prepossessions in favor of its adversary; for I have learned, by some experience, that
virtue and patriotism, vice and selfishness, are found in all parties, and that they differ less in their motives
than in the policies they pursue.
Our country is a theatre, which exhibits, in full operation, two radically different political systems; the one
resting on the basis of servile or slave labor, the other on the basis of voluntary labor of freemen. The two
systems are at once perceived to be incongruous. But they are more than incongruous—they are
incompatible.
Free labor and slave labor, these antagonistic systems, are continually coming into close contact, and
collision results. Shall I tell you what this collision means? They who think it is accidental, unnecessary,
the work of interested or fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral, mistake the case altogether. It is an
irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States must and
will, sooner or later, become either entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free-labor nation.
I know, and you know, that a revolution has begun. I know, and all the world knows, that revolutions never
go backward.
Source basis: historical transcript of Seward's Rochester speech, published in 1858. This PDF
intentionally contains a verified excerpt rather than reconstructed or AI-written text.
