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What did Henry Clay oppose?
But like his run a decade earlier, the election centered around one issue and this time it was the annexation of Texas. Clay opposed the move, fearing it would provoke a war with Mexico and reignite the battle between pro-slavery and anti-slavery states. His opponent, James K.
What did Henry Clay’s Compromise say?
If passed, the North would gain California as a free state and an end to the slave trade in Washington, D.C., while the South would get a stronger fugitive slave law and the possibility of western slavery through popular sovereignty. This compromise, Clay insisted, represented the “reunion of [the] Union.”
What was Henry Clay’s view slavery?
Throughout his life, Clay maintained a “moderate” stance on slavery: He saw the institution as immoral, a bane on American society, but insisted that it was so entrenched in Southern culture that calls for abolition were extreme, impractical and a threat to the integrity of the Union.
What was Henry Clay’s view on the constitution?
Clay also declared that under the Constitution “there is no right on the part of any one or more of the States to secede from the Union.” He warned that dissolving the Union would result in a bloody civil war.
What did Henry Clay argue about Manifest Destiny?
Clay made clear his opposition, but true to his moniker, he sought compromise. And in his 1844 race against James Polk, Clay opposed the annexation of Texas, sealing his defeat in the face of national obsession with manifest destiny. For his last hurrah, Clay returned to the issue of slavery.
Was Henry Clay a Confederate?
Henry Clay was my mother’s father. I served as a Confederate in the Vicksburg campaign and was shot on June 25, 1862. I served in the Confederate army under General John Hunt Morgan. I was captured in a raid on September 4, 1864.
How did Robert Wythe affect clay’s worldview?
Wythe had a powerful effect on Clay’s worldview, and Clay embraced Wythe’s belief that the example of the United States could help spread human freedom around the world. Wythe arranged for Clay a position with the Virginia attorney general, Robert Brooke, with the understanding that Brooke would finish Clay’s legal studies.
What are the names of John Clay’s children?
Clay and his wife had eleven children (six daughters and five sons): 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 Clay (1817–1864), and John Morrison Clay (1821–1887).
How many children did Elizabeth Clay have with Captain Henry Watkins?
However, the widow Elizabeth Clay married Captain Henry Watkins, who was an affectionate stepfather and a successful planter. Elizabeth would have seven more children with Watkins, bearing a total of sixteen children.