...Constitution was devoted "to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to liberty," there was "a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates...over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes." A higher law. To many, the concept seemed to justify an open defiance of the new Fugitive...

...only did the Constitution bind the American people to goals incompatible with slavery, he asserted, "but there is a higher law than the Constitution,...over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part . . . of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed upon them by the...

...Constitution, devoted to principles of union and liberty, was not the final arbiter of the matter. There was a "higher law than the Constitution, which regulates...domain, and devotes it to the same noble purpose" — God's higher law. potential and pervading influence on the national mind and character than any...

...the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare, and to liberty. Bat there is a higher law than the Constitution, which...over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part, no inconsiderable part, of the common heritage of mankind bestowed...

...applied to newer parts of the country. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which reflates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. 'The territory is a part, no inconsiderable part, of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed...

...that instrument. Speaking of the power of Congress over the territories, "The Constitution," said he, "regulates our stewardship ; the Constitution devotes...over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part, no inconsiderable part, of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed...

...the title is drawn from his March 8, 1850 speech in favor of admitting California as a free state: "But there is a higher law than the Constitution which...over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes." Two words from one sentence of a lengthy speech became a proslavery sound bite. Antislavery...

...and must do it." He now swept aside historical subtleties and constitutional precedents and declared "there is a higher law than the Constitution which...authority over the domain and devotes it to the same noble purposes [' to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to liberty']." This appeal to "the higher...

...a phrase that became forever associated with the substance of his dramatic speech, Seward declared, "There is a higher law than the Constitution which...authority over the domain and devotes it to the same noble purposes." He argued that the Senate, in discharging its duties, must take into account not only its...