1777-1852
| Bibliography | Introduction | Links |
| Video | Pictures | Interesting Facts |
Introduction
Henry Clay was a Senator and Representative for Kentucky. He created the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Henry was Secretary of State during John Quincy Adams presidency between 1825-1829. He was a member of the Whig Party in 1844. Henry Clay was known for his compromising.
Henry Clay
Who was he?
On April 12, 1777, Henry Clay was born to John Clay and Elizabeth Hudson in Hanover County, Virginia. He was the seventh of nine children. At the age of 20, Clay moved to Lexington, Kentucky and quickly became a successful lawyer. He married Lucretia Hart on April 11, 1799. The Clay's had 11 children. Their children were Henrietta (1800-1801), Theodore (1802-1870), Thomas (1803-1871), Susan (1805-1825), Anne (1807-1835), Lucretia (1809-1823), Henry Jr. (1811-1847), Eliza (1813-1825), Laura (1815-1817), James Brown (1817- 1864), and John (1821-1887).
Political Career
Henry Clay's first role in political career was as a lawyer. He was very successful at his law office in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1803, he was elected at the age of 23 as a representative of Fayette County in the Kentucky General Assembly. On December 29, 1806, Henry Clay became a Senator for Kentucky. Clay was under the age of forty when he was sworn in as a Senator. He was not in this position long, though. In 1807, he was elected Speaker of the House. January 9, 1806, Clay and Humphrey Marshall had a duel because of the trial of Aaron Burr. In 1810, Clay became a Senator again in the place of Senator Buckner Thruston. Clay was elected into the House of Representatives and became Speaker of the House, soon after, for a second time in the summer of 1811.He was the Congressional leader of the Democratic-Republican Party and was a War Hawk during the war of 1812. He helped plan and negotiate the Treaty of Ghent and he signed it on December 24, 1814. Clay was the president of the American Colonization Society. The society wanted to send free African American slaves back to Africa. He helped pass the Tariff of 1816. To settle conflicts with the Missouri Territory, Clay created a plan called the Missouri Compromise. It stated that Maine would be a free state and Missouri would be a slave state. Henry Clay lost to Andrew Jackson in 1832, William Henry Harrison in 1840, and James K. Polk in 1844 for president.
Clay opposed the annexing of Texas because he believed "it would reawaken the slavery issue and provoke Mexico to declare war." His prediction came true in 1846, the add on of Texas caused the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). On January 29, 1850, Clay proposed a series of resolutions later called the Compromise of 1850. Henry Cay died of tuberculosis on June 29, 1852 in Washington D.C.
Video
Video on Henry Clay
Pictures
Henry Clay in Senate
Interesting Facts
- Seven of the eleven children died before Henry did.
- Nickname was "The Great Compromiser".
- Henry Clay opposed Manifest Destiny.
- He was against the Alien and Sedition Acts.
- Henry's home in Lexington, KY is called Ashland.
- He
is buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, KY.
Links
http://www.henryclay.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/accomplishments0001.pdf
Bibliography
Patrick, Randy.Newer World.2009.http://kyvoice.com/winchestersun/newerworld/?m=201011
Toxin. Henry Clay 10 Most Significant Accomplishments.2009.http://www.henryclay.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/accomplishments0001.pdf
ravenmtn.Henry Clay.2010.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiBHk9eFWWA
Back to Table of Contents
Henry Clay's home in Lexington, Kentucky
Bethany Padgett 8th Grade St. Gabriel School March 2011