The 1824 “American System” speech by Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky**

March 30, 1824 – March 31, 1824

On this date, Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky addressed the House from the well to support targeted protective tariffs and to proclaim his ideal of an “American system” of national development that would benefit all sections of the United States. Clay’s speech distilled his long evolving belief in tariffs to protect fledgling American industry—one component of the American system that sought to promote federally-funded internal improvements and to institute a strong national bank. The speech befitted the reputation of a man widely accepted as one of Congress’ greatest orators. Armed with visual charts, Clay delivered an address that filled two legislative days and more than 40 pages of print in the Annals of Congress. “The object of the bill under consideration is to create this home market, and to lay the foundations of a genuine American policy,” Clay began. He then addressed 10 main objections to weak tariff provisions. “Are we doomed to behold our industry languish and decay yet more and more?” Clay intoned. “But there is a remedy, and that remedy consists in modifying our foreign policy, and in adopting a genuine AMERICAN SYSTEM. We must naturalize the arts in our country, and we must naturalize them by the only means which the wisdom of nations has yet discovered to be effectual—by adequate protection against the otherwise overwhelming influence of foreigners.” The speech garnered national accolades. The Tariff of 1824 passed the House by a narrow margin—with support from the northwest and Middle Atlantic and strong opposition from the South. It carried the Senate narrowly and was signed into law in May 1824.

**Taken from the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives

Ashland: The Home of the Great Pacificator

(To see the video in full screen mode, please click on the four directional arrows in the lower right hand corner)

In light of the new book concerning the Compromise of 1850 and Henry Clay, I thought this quick video introducing the historic house and grounds of the Great Compromiser would be appropriate! Unfortunately, the home we are able to visit today is not the same as the honorable gentleman from Kentucky built. The original was raised in the late 1850s and rebuilt by his son. I hope you enjoy Lextreks tour of Ashland.

At the Edge of the Precipice

In 1850, America hovered on the brink of disunion. Tensions between slave-holders and abolitionists mounted, as the debate over slavery grew rancorous. An influx of new territory prompted Northern politicians to demand the new states remain free; in response, Southerners baldly threatened to secede from the Union. Only Henry Clay could keep the nation together.

At the Edge of the Precipice is historian Robert V. Remini's fascinating recounting of the Compromise of 1850, a titanic act of political will that only a skillful statesman like Clay could broker. Although the Compromise would collapse ten years later, plunging the nation into civil war, Clay's victory in 1850 ultimately saved the Union by giving the North and extra decade to industrialize and prepare.

A masterful narrative by an eminent historian, At the Edge of the Precipice also offers a timely reminder of the importance of bipartisanship in a bellicose age.

Robert V. Remini, historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, has been teaching and writing about American history for more than half a century. He has written more than twenty books, including the definitive three volume biography The Life of Andrew Jackson, which won the National Book Award (1984). His other books include biographies of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John Quincy Adams, and Joseph Smith. His Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars won the Spur Award for best western nonfiction from the Western Writers of America. He lives in Wilmette, Illinois.

Information taken from Amazon.com