-
Clay had advocated gradual emancipation in Kentucky in 1798
-
Clay participated in the constitutional convention for Kentucky in 1799
-
In 1803 Clay was elected to the Kentucky Legislature.
-
Henry Clay was elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacant spot caused by the resignation of John Adair and served from November 19, 1806, to March 3, 1807
-
In 1806 and again in 1810 Clay was sent to the U.S. Senate to fill out short terms.
-
In 1811, Clay was elected to the House of Representatives and was chosen Speaker of the House and was elected six more times to that office, making it a position of party leadership.
-
Henry Clay was the leader of the “War Hawk,” and drove the country to war during the year of 1812
-
Henry Clay and John Calhoun proposed a new tariff that gradually lowered the tariff to the level of the Tariff of 1816. This compromise avoided civil war and prolonged the union for another 30 years
-
Clay was a candidate for the presidency in 1824, but three others received more votes, so his name did not go to the House for election.
-
The American System of 1824 was used to create a protective tariff, which stabilized the country and started trading the US market.
-
Foreign affairs were not important from 1825 to 1829, and most of Clay's diplomatic efforts did not succeed.
-
1831 Henry Clay was the leader of the whig party.
-
February 2, 1832, Clay gave his first speech on the Senate to launch a major attack on the Jackson administration. The speech was “In Defense of the American System,” this was about the importance of protective tariffs.
-
Clay’s Whig party was develop in 1834 under the Democratic party of Andrew Jackson.
-
In 1840, farmers were able to transport and sell goods to other parts of America creating a stable financial system.
-
By the 1840’s, with the help of internal improvements farmers from the west and northeast were able to be connected to markets and move their goods at a low cost,
-
Henry Clay made one last attempt (Fourth time) for Presidency for the Whig nomination in 1848.
-
In 1852, when henry clay died he had owned 50 slaves at the time.
-
Henry Clay took part in the Compromise of 1850, which was said to have postponed the American Civil War. (1861-1865)
-
In 1957 a Senate committee, head by John F. Kennedy named Clay the greatest Senator in the country's history.