Henry Clay
When remembering 19th-century US politics and history, too much attention is drawn to men like Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln who were shot dead. Men, such as Henry Clay, are seldom given credit for what they advocated and accomplished in regards to the economic growth of the United States. By the way, Clay defended Aaron Burr (who killed Alexander Hamilton) and was praised by Abraham Lincoln.
Clay advocated for high protective tariffs, internal developments, and a national bank, collectively known as the American System. You probably heard about it. Academic historians tend to gloss over his advocacy and instead push slavery as the cause of the Civil War, also known as Lincoln’s invasion. However, the continuous growth of the United States should cause for a re-evaluation of Clay and his economic advocacy in the time period. From the Louisiana Purchase to land acquired in the Mexican-American War, the United States was expanding quickly and Clay lived to see much of it.
Slavery was the moral issue of the day and could easily sell papers and books, but as a political force, it was never as strong as historians claim. If it was, John C. Fremont, the first presidential nominee of the newly created Republican Party would have been elected President in 1856. For Republicans to elect Abraham Lincoln in 1860, they had to adopt much of the economics of Henry Clay. This included higher tariffs and internal improvements. This not only included advocating for railroads, canals, and harbors but also, homesteading.
Clay’s advocacy seems so uncontroversial today but each state operated under different economic situations. For the Great Lake states, canals were important. Railroads would be important for such landlocked states as Iowa. High tariffs were hated by the coastal southern states but loved by New England who did not want to compete with imports. Yet, under the influence of Clay, the far-western California became a state. All of this fed into factions and sectionalism.
At the same time, Clay witnessed the political battles over tariffs which led to the Nullification Crisis with South Carolina nullifying the tariff increases. Historians downplay these tensions in part because they do not understand the economics of the times.
When secession started, most of the 15 slave states stayed in the Union. Only seven bolted: all coastal states. Of these first seceding 7 states, the majority of them were not one of the original 13 colonies. Three states, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, had actually been under non-British foreign powers. These states knew their trade with Europe would be subjected to a higher tax under what the Republican Party was advocating. Yes, many thought because the Republicans were pushing the tariff issue, the ultimate goal was to destroy the South to end slavery. This would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Republican Party took control of Congress in 1860 and once in office, they did not even wait for Lincoln to arrive and passed the Morrill Tariff Act on March 2, 1861. Lincoln would make his inaugural address on March 4 insisting on the Federal power to “collect the duties and imposts”. One of Lincoln’s economic advisors was Henry Charles Carey, a staunch supporter of Henry Clay’s American System. Clay had died in 1852 but with the election of Abraham Lincoln, his economic ideas had been carried into the White House and war would soon follow.