By 1850
sectional disagreements centering on slavery were straining the bonds of union
between the North and South. These tensions became especially acute when
Congress began to consider whether western lands acquired after the Mexican
War would permit slavery. In 1849 California requested permission to enter the
Union as a free state. Adding more free state senators to Congress would
destroy the balance between slave and free states that had existed since the
Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Because everyone looked to the Senate to defuse
the growing crisis, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed a series of
resolutions designed to "Adjust amicably all existing questions of controversy
. . . arising out of the institution of slavery." Clay attempted to frame his
compromise so that nationally minded senators would vote for legislation in
the interest of the Union.
In one of the most famous congressional debates
in American history, the Senate discussed Clay’s solution for 7 months. It
initially voted down his legislative package, but Senator Stephen A. Douglas
of Illinois stepped forward with substitute bills, which passed both Houses.
With the Compromise of 1850, Congress had addressed the immediate crisis
created by territorial expansion. But one aspect of the compromise—a
strengthened fugitive slave act—soon began to tear at sectional peace.
The Compromise of 1850 is composed of five
statues enacted in September of 1850. The acts called for the admission of
California as a “free state,” provided for a territorial government for Utah
and New Mexico, established a boundary between Texas and the United States,
called for the abolition of slave trade in Washington, DC, and amended the
Fugitive Slave Act.
The document presented here is Henry Clay’s
handwritten copy of the original Resolutions, which were not passed. The
transcription includes Clay’s Resolution and the five statutes approved by
Congress.
For more information, visit the National
Archives’
Treasures of Congress Online Exhibit.
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Henry Clay
CLAY, Henry, statesman, born in Hanover county, Virginia, in a district
known as "The Slashes," 12 April, 1777" do in Washington, District of
Columbia, 29 June, 1852. His father, a Baptist clergyman, died when Henry was
four years old, leaving no fortune. Henry received some elementary instruction
in a log school-house, doing farm and house work when not at school. His
mother married again and removed to Kentucky. When fourteen years of age he
was placed in a small retail store at Richmond, and in 1792 obtained a place
in the office of Peter Tinsley, clerk of the high court of chancery. There he
attracted the attention of Chancellor Whyte, who employed him as an
amanuensis, and directed his course of reading. In 1796 he began to study law
with Robert Brooke, attorney general of Virginia, and in 1797, having obtained
a license to practice law from the judges of the court of appeals, he removed
to Lexington, Kv. During his residence in Richmond he had made the
acquaintance of several distinguished men of Virginia, and became a leading
member of a debating clubo At Lexington he achieved his first distinction in a
similar society. He soon won a lucrative practice as an attorney, being
especially successful in criminal eases and in suits growing out of the land
laws. His captivating manners and his striking eloquence made him a general
favorite. His political career began almost immediately after his arrival at
Lexington. A convention was to be elected to revise the constitution of
Kentucky, and in the canvass preceding the election Clay strongly advocated a
constitutional provision for the gradual emancipation of the slaves in the
state; but the movement was not successful. He also participated vigorously in
the agitation against the alien and sedition laws, taking position as a member
of the Republican Party. Several of his speeches, delivered in Massachusetts
meetings, astonished the hearers by their beauty and force. In 1799 he married
Lucretia Hart, daughter of a prominent citizen of Kentucky. In 1803 he was
elected to a seat in the state legislature, where he excelled as a debater, hi
1806 Aaron Burr passed through Kentucky, where he was arrested on a charge of
being engaged in an unlawful enterprise dangerous to the peace of the United
States. He engaged Clay's professional services, and Clay, deceived by Burr as
to the nature of his schemes, obtained his release.
In the winter of 1806 Clay was appointed to a seat in the United States
Senate to serve out an unexpired term. He was at once placed on various
committees, and took an active part in the debates, especially in favor of
internal improvements. In the summer of 1807 his county sent him again to the
legislature, where he was elected speaker of the assembly. He opposed and
defeated a bill prohibiting the use of the decisions of British courts and of
British works on jurisprudence as authority in the courts of Kentucky. In
December, 1808, he introduced resolutions expressing approval of the embargo
laid by the general government, denouncing the British orders in council,
pledging the general government the active aid of Kentucky in anything
determined upon to resist British exactions, and declaring that President
Jefferson was entitled to the thanks of the country. He offered another
resolution, recommending that the members of the legislature should wear only
clothes that were the product of domestic manufacture. This was his first
demonstration in favor of the encouragement of home industry. About this
resolution he had a quarrel with Humphrey Marshall, which led to a duel, in
which both parties were slightly wounded. In the winter of 1809 Clay was again
sent to the United States senate to fill an unexpired term of two years. He
made a speech in favor of encouraging home industries, taking the ground that
the country should be enabled to produce all it might need in time of war, and
that, while agriculture would remain the dominant interest, it should be aided
by the development of domestic manufactures. He also made a report on a bill
granting a right of pre-emption to purchasers of public lands in certain
cases, and introduced a bill to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian
tribes, and to preserve peace on the frontier, a subject on which he expressed
very wise and humane sentiments. During the session of 1810-'1 he defended the
administration of Mr. Madison with regard to the occupation of West Florida by
the United States by a strong historical argument, at the same time appealing,
in glowing language, to the national pride of the American people. He opposed
the renewal of the charter of the U. S, bank, notwithstanding Gallatin's
recommendation, on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the bank, and
contributed much to its defeat.
On the expiration of his term in the senate Clay was sent to the national
house of representatives by the Lexington district in Kentucky, and
immediately upon taking his seat, 4 November, 1811, was elected speaker by a
large majority. Not confining himself to his duties as presiding officer, he
took a leading part in debate on almost all important occasions. The
difficulties caused by British interference with neutral trade were then
approaching a crisis, and Clay put himself at the head of the war party in
congress, which was led in the second line by such young statesmen as John C.
Calhoun, William Lowndes, Felix Grundy, and Langdon Cheves, and supported by a
strong feeling in the south and west. In a series of fiery speeches Clay
advocated the calling out of volunteers to serve on land, and the construction
of an efficient navy. He expected that the war with Great Britain would be
decided by an easy conquest of Canada, and a peace dictated at Quebec. The
Madison administration hesitated, but was finally swept along by the war furor
created by the young Americans under Clay's lead, and war against Great
Britain was declared in June, 1812. Clay spoke at a large number of popular
meetings to fill volunteer regiments and to fire the national spirit. In
congress, while the events of the war were unfavorable to the United States in
consequence of an utter lack of preparation and incompetent leadership, Clay
vigorously sustained the administration and the war policy against the attacks
of the federalists. Some of his speeches were of a high order of eloquence,
and electrified the country. He was re-elected speaker in 1813. On 19 January,
1814, he resigned the speakership, haying been appointed by President Madison
a member of a commission, consisting of John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard,
Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, to negotiate peace with
Great Britain. The American commissioners met the commissioners of Great
Britain at Ghent, in the Netherlands, and, after five months of negotiation,
during which Mr. Clay stoutly opposed the concession to the British of the
right of navigating the Mississippi and of meddling with the Indians on
territory of the United States, a treaty of peace was signed, 24 December,
1814. From Ghent Clay went to Paris, and thence with Adams and Gallatin to
London, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
After his return to the United States, Mr. Clay declined the mission to
Russia offered by the administration. Having been elected again to the house
of representatives, he took his seat on December 4, 1815, and was again chosen
speaker. He favored the enactment of the protective tariff of 1816, and also
advocated the establishment of a United States bank as the fiscal agent of the
government, thus reversing his position with regard to that subject. He now
pronounced the bank constitutional because it was necessary in order to carry
on the fiscal concerns of the government. During the same session he voted to
raise the pay of representatives from $6 a day to $1,500 a year, a measure
that proved unpopular, and his vote for it came near costing him his seat. He
was, however, re-elected, but then voted to make the pay of representatives a
per diem of $8, which it remained for a long period. In the session of 1816-'7
he, together with Calhoun, actively supported an internal improvement bill,
which President Madison vetoed. In December, 1817, Clay was re-elected
speaker. In opposition to the doctrine laid down by Monroe in his first
message, that congress did not possess, under the constitution, the right to
construct internal improvements, Clay strongly asserted that right in several
speeches. With great vigor he advocated the recognition of the independence of
the Spanish American colonies, then in a state of revolution, and severely
censured what he considered the procrastinating policy of the administration
in that respect. In the session of 1818-'9 he criticised, in an elaborate
speech, the conduct of General Jackson in the Florida campaign, especially the
execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister by Jackson's orders. This was the first
collision between Clay and Jackson, and the ill feelings that it engendered in
Jackson's mind were never extinguished. At the first session of the 16th
congress, in December, 1819, Clay was again elected speaker almost without
opposition. In the debate on the treaty with Spain, by which Florida was ceded
to the United States, he severely censured the administration for having given
up Texas, which he held to belong to the United States as a part of the
Louisiana purchase. He continued to urge the recognition of the South American
colonies as independent republics.
In 1819-'20 he took an important part in the struggle in congress
concerning the admission of Missouri as a slave state, which created the first
great political slavery excitement throughout the country. He opposed the
"restriction" clause making the admission of Missouri dependent upon the
exclusion of slavery from the state, but supported the compromise proposed by
Senator Thomas, of Illinois, admitting Missouri with slavery, but excluding
slavery from all the territory north of 36° 30', acquired by the Louisiana
purchase. This was the first part of the Missouri compromise, which is often
erroneously attributed to Clay. When Missouri then presented herself with a
state constitution, not only recognizing slavery, but also making it the duty
of the legislature to pass such laws as would be necessary to prevent free
Negroes or mulattoes from coming into the state, the excitement broke out
anew, and a majority in the house of representatives refused to admit Missouri
as a state with such a constitution. On Clay's motion, the subject was
referred to a special committee, of which he was chairman. This committee of
the house joined with a senate committee, and the two unitedly reported in
both houses a resolution that Missouri be admitted upon the fundamental
condition that the state should never make any law to prevent from settling
within its boundaries any description of persons who then or thereafter might
become citizens of any state of the Union. This resolution was adopted, and
the fundamental condition assented to by Missouri. This was Clay's part of the
Missouri compromise, and he received general praise as "the great
pacificator."
After the adjournment of congress, Clay retired to private life, to devote
himself to his legal practice, but was elected to the 18th congress, which met
in December. 1823, and was again chosen speaker. He made speeches on internal
improvements, advocating a liberal construction of constitutional powers, in
favor of sending a commissioner to Greece, and in favor of the tariff law,
which became known as the tariff of 1824, giving his policy of protection and
internal improvements the name of the "American system."
He was a candidate for the presidency at the election of 1824. His
competitors were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Crawford,
each of whom received a larger number of electoral votes than Clay. But, as
none of them had received a majority of the electoral vote, the election
devolved upon the house of representatives. Clay, standing fourth in the
number of electoral votes received, was excluded from the choice, and he used
his influence in the house for John Quincy Adams, who was elected. The friends
of Jackson and Crawford charged that there was a corrupt understanding between
Adams and Clay, and this accusation received color from the fact that Adams
promptly offered Clay the portfolio of secretary of state, and Clay accepted
it. This was the origin of the "bargain and corruption" charge, which,
constantly repeated, pursued Clay during the best part of his public life,
although it was disproved by the well-established fact that Clay, immediately
after the result of the presidential election in 1824 became known, had
declared his determination to use his influence in the house for Adams and
against Jackson. As secretary of state under John Quincy Adams, Clay accepted
an invitation, presented by the Mexican and Colombian ministers, to send
commissioners of the United States to an international congress of American
republics, which was to meet on the Isthmus of Pan-area, to deliberate upon
subjects of common interest. The commissioners were appointed, but the Panama
congress adjourned before they could reach the appointed place of meeting. In
the course of one of the debates on this subject, John Randolph, of Roanoke,
denounced the administration, alluding to Adams and Clay as a "combination of
the Puritan and the blackleg." Clay thereupon challenged Randolph to a duel,
which was fought on 8 April, 1826, without bloodshed. He negotiated and
concluded treaties with Prussia, the Hanseatic republics, Denmark, Colombia,
Central America, and Austria. His negotiations with Great Britain concerning
the colonial trade resulted only in keeping in force the conventions of 1815
and 1818. He made another treaty with Great Britain, extending the joint
occupation of the Oregon country provided for in the treaty of 1818 : another
referring the differences concerning the northeastern boundary to some
friendly sovereign or state for arbitration; and still another concerning the
indemnity to be paid by Great Britain for slaves carried off by British forces
in the war of 1812. As to his commercial policy, Clay followed the accepted
ideas of the times, to establish between the United States and foreign
countries fair reciprocity as to trade and navigation, He was made president
of the American colonization society, whose object it was to colonize free
Negroes in Liberia on the coast of Africa.
In 1828 Andrew Jackson was elected president, and after his inauguration
Clay retired to his farm of Ashland, near Lexington, Kentucky But, although in
private life, he was generally recognized as the leader of the party opposing
Jackson, who called themselves "national republicans," and later "Whigs,"
Clay, during the years 1829-'31, visited several places in the south as well
as in the state of Ohio, was everywhere received with great honors, and made
speeches attacking Jackson's administration, mainly on account of the sweeping
removals from office for personal and partisan reasons, and denouncing the
nullification movement, which in the mean time had been set on foot in South
Carolina. Yielding to the urgent solicitation of his friends throughout the
country, he consented in 1831 to be a candidate for the United States senate,
and was elected. In December, 1831, he was nominated as the candidate of the
national republicans for the presidency, with John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania,
for the vice-presidency. As the impending extinguishment of the public debt
rendered a reduction of the revenue necessary, Clay introduced in the senate a
tariff bill reducing duties on unprotected articles, but keeping them on
protected articles, so as to preserve intact the "American system." The
reduction of the revenue thus effected was inadequate, and the anti-tariff
excitement in the south grew more intense. The subject of public lands having,
for the purpose of embarrassing' him as a presidential candidate, been
referred to the committee on manufactures, of which he was the leading spirit,
he reported against reducing the price of public lands and in favor of
distributing the proceeds of the lands' sales, after certain deductions, among
the several states for a limited period. The bill passed the senate, but
failed to pass the house. As President Jackson, in his several messages, had
attacked the United States bank, Clay induced the bank, whose charter was to
expire in 1836, to apply for a renewal of the charter during the session of
1831-'2, so as to force the issue before the presidential election. The bill
renewing the charter passed both houses, but Jackson vetoed it, denouncing the
bank in his message as a dangerous monopoly. In the presidential election Clay
was disastrously defeated, Jackson receiving 219 electoral votes, and Clay
only 49.
On 19 November, 1832, a state convention in South Carolina passed an
ordinance nullifying the tariff laws of 1828 and 1832. On 10 December,
President Jackson issued a proclamation against the nulli-tiers, which the
governor of South Carolina answered with a counter-proclamation. On 12
February, 1833, Clay introduced, in behalf of union and peace, a compromise
bill providing for a gradual reduction of the tariff until 1842, when it
should be reduced to a horizontal rate of 20 per cent. This bill was accepted
by the nullifiers, and became a law, known as the compromise of 1833. South
Carolina rescinded the nullification ordinance, and Clay was again praised as
the "great pacificator." In the autumn of 1833, President Jackson, through the
secretary of the treasury, ordered the removal of the public deposits from the
United States bank. Clay, in December, 1833, introduced resolutions in the
senate censuring the president for having "assumed upon himself authority and
power not conferred by the constitution and laws." The resolutions were
adopted, and President Jackson sent to the senate an earnest protest against
them, which was severely denounced by Clay. During the session of 1834-'5 Clay
successfully opposed Jackson's recommendation that authority be conferred on
him for making reprisals upon French property on account of the non-payment by
the French government of an indemnity due to the United States. He also
advocated the enactment of a law enabling Indians to defend their rights to
their lands in the courts of the United States ; also the restriction of the
president's power to make removals from office, and the repeal of the
four-years act. The slavery question having come to the front again, in
consequence of the agitation carried on by the abolitionists, Clay, in the
session of 1835-'6, pronounced himself in favor of the reception by the senate
of anti-slavery petitions, and against the exclusion of anti-slavery
literature from the mails. He declared, however, his opposition to the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. With regard to the
recognition of Texas as an independent state, he maintained a somewhat cold
and reserved attitude. In the session of 1836-'7 he reintroduced his land bill
without success, and advocated international copyright. His resolutions
censuring Jackson for the removal of the deposits, passed in 1834, were, on
the motion of Thomas H. Benton. expunged from the records of the senate,
against solemn protests from the Whig minority in that body.
Martin Van Buren was elected president in 1836, and immediately after his
inauguration the great financial crisis of 1837 broke out. At an extra ses- i
CLAY CLAY 643 sion of congress, in the summer of 1837, he recommended the
introduction of the sub-treasury system. This was earnestly opposed by Clay,
who denounced it as a scheme to "unite the power of the purse with the power
of the sword." He and his friends insisted upon the restoration of the United
States bank. After a struggle of three sessions, the sub-treasury bill
succeeded, and the long existence of the system has amply proved the
groundlessness of the fears expressed by those who opposed it. Clay strongly
desired to be the Whig candidate for the presidency in 1840, but failed. The
Whig national convention, in December, 1839, nominated Harrison and Tyler.
Clay was very much incensed at his defeat, but supported Harrison with great
energy, making many speeches, in the famous "log-cabin and hard-eider"
campaign. After the triumphant election of Harrison and Tyler, Clay declined
the office of secretary of state offered to him. Harrison died soon after his
inauguration. At the extra session of congress in the summer of 1841, Clay was
the recognized leader of the Whig majority. He moved the repeal of the
sub-treasury act, and drove it through both houses. He then brought in a bill
providing for the incorporation of a new bank of the United States, which also
passed, but was vetoed by President Tyler, 16 August, 1841. Another bank bill,
framed to meet what were supposed to be the president's objections, was also
vetoed. Clay denounced Tyler instantly for what he called his faithlessness to
Whig principles, and the Whig party rallied under Clay's leadership in
opposition to the president. At the same session Clay put through his land
bill, containing the distribution clause, which, however, could not go into
operation because the revenues of the government fell short of the necessary
expenditures. At the next session Clay offered an amendment to the
constitution limiting the veto power, which during Jackson's and Tyler's
administrations had become very obnoxious to him; and also an amendment to the
constitution providing that the secretary of the treasury and the treasurer
should be appointed by congress; and a third forbidding the appointment of
members of congress, while in office, to executive positions. None of them
passed. On 31 March, 1842, Clay took leave of the senate and retired to
private life, as he said in his farewell speech, never to return to the
senate.
During his retirement he visited different parts of the country, and was
everywhere received with great enthusiasm, delivering speeches, in some of
which he pronounced himself in favor not of a "high tariff," but of a revenue
tariff with incidental protection repeatedly affirming that the protective
system had been originally designed only as a temporary arrangement to be
maintained until the infant industries should have gained sufficient strength
to sustain competition with foreign manufactures. It was generally looked upon
as certain that he would be the Whig candidate for the presidency in 1844. In
the mean time the administration had concluded a treaty of annexation with
Texas. In an elaborate letter, dated 17 April, 1844, known as the "Raleigh
letter," Clay declared himself against annexation, mainly because it would
bring on a war with Mexico, because it met with serious objection in a large
part of the Union, and because it would compromise the national character oVan
Buren, who expected to be the democratic candidate for the presidency, also
wrote a letter unfavorable to annexation. On 1 May, 1844, the Whig national
convention nominated Clay by acclamation. The democratic national convention
nominated not Van Buren, but James K, Polk for the presidency, with George M.
Dallas for the vice-presidency, and adopted a resolution recommending the
annexation of Texas. A convention of antislavery men was held at Buffalo, New
York, which put forward as a candidate for the presidency James G. Birney. The
senate rejected the annexation treaty, and the Texas question became the main
issue in the presidential canvass. As to the tariff and the currency question,
the platforms of the democrats and Whigs differed very little. Polk, who had
the reputation of being a free-trader, wrote a letter apparently favoring a
protective tariff, to propitiate Pennsylvania, where the cry was raised,
"Polk, Dallas, and the tariff of 1842)' Clay, yielding to the entreaties of
southern Whigs, who feared that his declaration against the annexation of
Texas might injure his prospects in the south, wrote another letter, in which
he said that, far from having any personal objection to the annexation of
Texas, he would be "glad to see it without dishonor, without war, with the
common consent of the Union, and upon fair terms." This turned against him
many anti-slavery men in the north, and greatly strengthened the Birney
movement. It is believed that it cost him the vote of the state of New York,
and with it the election It was charged, apparently upon strong grounds that
extensive election frauds were committed by the Democrats in the City of New
York and in the state of Louisiana, the latter becoming famous as the
Plaquemines frauds; but had Clay kept the anti-slavery element on his side, as
it was at the beginning of the canvass, these frauds could not have decided
the election. His defeat cast the Whig party into the deepest gloom, and was
lamely.ted by his supporters like a personal misfortune.
Texas was annexed by a joint resolution which passed the two houses of
congress in the session of 1844-'5, and the Mexican war followed. In 1846,
Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, moved, as an amendment to a bill appropriating money
for purposes connected with the war, a proviso that in all territories to be
acquired from Mexico slavery should be forever prohibited, which, however,
failed in the senate. This became known as the "Wilmot proviso." One of Clay's
sons was killed in the battle of Buena Vista. In the autumn of 1847, when the
Mexican army was completely defeated, Clay made a speech at Lexington,
Kentucky, warning the American people of the dangers that would follow if they
gave themselves up to the ambition of conquest, and declaring that there
should be a generous peace, requiring no dismemberment of the Mexican
republic, but "only a just and proper fixation of the limits of Texas." and
that any desire to acquire any foreign territory whatever for the purpose of
propagating slavery should be "positively and emphatically" disclaimed. In
February and March, 1848, Clay was honored with great popular receptions in
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and his name was again brought forward
for the presidential nomination. But the Whig national convention, which met
on 7 June, 1848, preferred General Zachary Taylor as a more available man,
with Millard Fillmore for the vice-presidency. His defeat in the convention
was a bitter disappointment to Clay. He declined to come forward to the sup:
port of Taylor, and maintained during the canvass an attitude of neutrality.
The principal reason he gave was that Taylor had refused to pledge him= self
to the support of Whig principles and measures, and that Taylor had announced
his purpose to remain in the field as a candidate, whoever might be nominated
by the Whig convention. He declined, on the other hand, to permit his name be
used by the dissatisfied Whigs. Taylor was elected, the free-soilers, whose
candidate was Martin Van Buren, having assured the defeat of the democratic
candidate, General Cass, in the state of New York. In the spring of 1849 a
convention was to be elected in Kentucky to revise the state constitution, and
Clay published a letter recommending gradual emancipation of the slaves. By a
unanimous vote of the legislature assembled in December, 1848, Clay was again
elected a United States senator, and he took his seat in December. 1849.
By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, New Mexico and California, including
Utah, had been acquired by the United States. The discovery of gold had
attracted a large immigration to California. Without waiting for an enabling
act, the inhabitants of California, in convention, had framed a constitution
by which slavery was prohibited, and applied to congress for admission as a
state. The question of the admission of California as a free state, and the
other question whether slavery should be admitted into or excluded from New
Mexico and Utah, created the intensest excitement in congress and among the
people. Leading southern men threatened a dissolution of the Union unless
slavery were admitted into the territories acquired from Mexico. On 29
January, 1850, Clay, who was at heart in favor of the Wilmot proviso, brought
forward in the senate a " comprehensive scheme of compromise," which included
(1) the speedy admission of California as a state; (2) the establishment of
territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah without any restriction as to
slavery; (3) a settlement of the boundary-line between Texas and New Mexico
substantially as it now stands; (4) an indemnity to be paid to Texas for the
relinquishment of her claims to a large portion of New Mexico; (5) a
declaration that slavery should not be abolished in the District of Columbia;
(6) the prohibition of the slave-trade in the district; and (7) a more
effective fugitive-slave law. These propositions were, on 18 April, 1850,
referred to a special committee, of which Clay was elected chairman. He
reported three bills embodying these different subjects, one of which, on
account of its comprehensiveness, was called the "omnibus bill." After a long
struggle, the omnibus bill was defeated; but then its different parts were
taken up singly, and passed, covering substantially Clay's original
propositions. This was the compromise of 1850. In the debate Clay declared in
the strongest terms his allegiance to the Union as superior to his allegiance
to his state, and denounced secession as treason. The compromise of 1850 added
greatly to his renown ; but, although it was followed by a short period of
quiet, it satisfied neither the south nor the north. To the north the
fugitive-slave law was especially distasteful. In January, 1851, forty-four
senators and representatives, Clay's name leading, published a manifesto
declaring that they would not support for any office any man not known to be
opposed to any disturbance of the matters settled by the compromise. In
February, 1851, a recaptured fugitive slave having been liberated in Boston,
Clay pronounced himself in favor of conferring upon the president
extraordinary powers for the enforcement of the fugitive-slave law, his main
object being to satisfy the south, and thus to disarm the disunion spirit.
After the adjournment of congress, on 4 March, 1851, his health being much
impaired, he went to Cuba for relief, and thence to Ashland. He peremptorily
enjoined his friends not to bring forward his name again as that of a
candidate for the presidency. To a committee of Whigs in New York he addressed
a public letter containing an urgent and eloquent plea for the maintenance of
the Union. He went to Washington to take his seat in the senate in December,
1851, but, owing to failing health, he appeared there only once during" the
winter. His last public utterance was a short speech addressed to Louis
Kossuth, who visited him in his room, deprecating the entanglement of the
United States in the complications of European affairs. He favored the
nomination of Fillmore for the presidency by the Whig national convention,
which met on 16 June, a few days before his death. Clay was unquestionably one
of the greatest orators that America ever produced; a man of incorruptible
personal integrity ; of very great natural ability, but little study; of free
and convivial habits ; of singularly winning address and manners; not a
cautious and safe political leader, but a splendid party chief, idolized by
his followers. He was actuated by a lofty national spirit, proud of his
country, and ardently devoted to the Union. It was mainly his anxiety to keep
the Union intact that inspired his disposition to compromise contested
questions. He had in his last hours the satisfaction of seeing his last great
work, the compromise of 1850, accepted as a final settlement of the slavery
question by the national conventions of both political parties. But only two
years after his death it became evident that the compromise had settled
nothing. The struggle about slavery broke out anew, and brought forth a civil
war, the calamity that Clay had been most anxious to prevent, leading to
general emancipation, which Clay would have been glad to see peaceably
accomplished. He was buried in the cemetery at Lexington, Kentucky, and a
monument consisting of a tall column surmounted by a statue was erected over
his tomb. The accompanying illustrations show his birthplace and tomb. See
"Life of Henry Clay," by George died Prentice (Hartford, Connecticut, 1831);
"Speeches," collected by R. Chambers (Cincinnati, 1842); "Life and Speeches of
Henry Clay," by J. born Swaim (New York, 1843); "Life of Henry Clay," by Epes
Sargent (1844, edited and completed by Horace Greeley, 1852); "Life and
Speeches of Henry Clay," by died Mallory (1844; new ed., 1857); "Life and
Times of Henry Clay," by Rev. Calvin Colton (6 vols., containing speeches and
correspondence, 1846-'57 ; revised ed., 1864); and "Henry Clay," by Carl
Schurz (2 vols., Boston, 1887).--His brother, Porter, clergyman, born in
Virginia in March, 1779; died in 1850. He removed to Kentucky in early life,
where he studied law, and was for a while auditor of public accounts. In 1815
he was converted and gave himself to the Baptist ministry, in which he was
popular and useful.--Henry's son, Henry, lawyer, born in Ashland, Kentucky, 10
April, 1811 ; killed in action at Buena Vista, Mexico, 23 February, 1847, was
graduated at Transylvania University in 1828, and at the United States
military academy in 1831. He resigned from the army and studied law, was
admitted to the bar in 1833, and was a member of the Kentucky legislature in
1835-'7. He went to the Mexican war in June, 1846, as lieutenant colonel of
the 2d Kentucky volunteers, became extra aide-de-camp to General Taylor, 5
October, 1846, and was killed with a lance while gallantly leading a charge of
his regiment.--Another son, James Brown, born in Washington, District of
Columbia, 9 November, 1817; died in Montreal, Canada, 26 January, 1864, was
educated at Transylvania University, was two years in a counting-house in
Boston, 1835-'6, immigrated to St. Louis, Maine, which then contained only
8,000 inhabitants, settled on a farm, then engaged in manufacturing for two
years in Kentucky, and afterward studied law in the Lexington law-school, and
practiced in partnership with his father till 1849, when he was appointed
charge 4'affaires at Lisbon by President Taylor. In 1851-'3 he resided in
Missouri, but returned to Kentucky upon becoming the proprietor of Ashland,
after his father's death. In 1857 he was elected to represent his father's old
district in congress. He was a member of the peace convention of 1861, but
afterward embraced the secessionist cause, and died in exile
Control Number |
NWL-46-HRBILLS-31AB3-1 |
Media |
Textual records |
Descr. Level |
Item |
Record Group |
46 |
Series |
HRBILLS |
File Unit |
31AB3 |
Item |
1 |
Title |
Resolution introduced by Senator Henry Clay in
relation to the adjustment of all existing questions of controversy
between the states arising out of the institution of slavery (the
resolution later became known as the Compromise of 1850) |
Dates |
01/29/1850 |
Sample Record(s) |
Thumbnails of online copies (with links to
larger access files) |
Creating Org. |
Congress. Senate. |
Record Type/Genre |
Resolutions |
See Also |
File Unit Description |
Access |
Unrestricted. |
Use Restrictions |
None. |
Items |
1 item(s) |
Contact |
Center for Legislative Archives (NWL),
National Archives Building, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington,
DC 20408 PHONE: 202-501-5350 FAX: 202-219-2176 |