Lecture Notes: Henry Clay

Introduction

• Discussion on Henry Clay, a dominant figure in U.S. politics during the early to mid-1800s.
• Known as "The Great Compromiser."
• Engineered three key compromises that influenced U.S. growth, slavery expansion, Indian removal, and delayed the Civil War.

Early Life

• Born on April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Virginia.
• Seventh of nine children to John and Elizabeth Clay.
• Home ransacked by British troops during American Revolution.
• Father, John Clay, was a Baptist minister who died in 1781.
• Mother, Elizabeth, remarried Henry Watkins, who supported Clay’s education.

Education and Early Career

• Caught attention of George Wythe from William and Mary College.
• Became Wythe’s secretary; trained in political theory and law.
• Admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 1797.
• Moved to Lexington, Kentucky for legal career.

Personal Life

• Married Lucretia Hart in 1799; had 11 children.

Political Career

Early Political Involvement

• Elected to Kentucky General Assembly in 1803, U.S. Senate in 1806.
• Elected to the House of Representatives in 1811; became Speaker of the House.

War of 1812 and Treaty of Ghent

• Leading Warhawk, advocated for war with Britain.
• Negotiated the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, ending the War of 1812.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Addressed national growth and slavery.
• Set a precedent for expansion and fueled Indian removal.

Corrupt Bargain and Secretary of State

• Controversial loss in Election of 1824.
• Became Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams.

Senate Career and Nullification Crisis

• Returned to the Senate in 1831.
• Helped resolve the Nullification Crisis with South Carolina.

Whig Party and Presidential Campaigns

• Established Whig Party opposing Andrew Jackson.
• Ran unsuccessfully for Presidency several times.

Opposition to Mexican-American War

• Feared territorial expansion would exacerbate slavery conflict.
• Son, Henry Clay Jr., died in the war.

Compromise of 1850

• California entered as a free state.
• Outlawed slave trade in Washington D.C., strengthened fugitive slave laws.

Later Life and Death

• Resigned from Senate in 1851 due to health.
• Died on June 29, 1852, at age 75.
• First American to lie in state in U.S. Capitol rotunda.

Conclusion

• Clay’s work impacted the trajectory of U.S. political and social issues.