Debatable. Clay is an ardent expansionist, just not for sectional reasons, nor really for war reasons.

The Man wants the US to reach the pacific like everyone else of that time. He may find it easier to make a treaty with Britain for Oregon though...
Exactly. Clay sort of gets made out to be anti-expansionist because of his opposition to bringing in Texas, but that was always, as you said, more about him not wanting to inflame sectional tensions or provoke a war with Mexico. If he could annex Texas without those things happening, he would.
I recommend reading the book that Christian Parenti wrote, Radical Hamilton.
I'll have to check it out!
He might purchase SF and above just to expand the pacific coast holdings.
Especially because there was talk of Britain purchasing part of California.
Makes sense 😂 several states used a rooster instead of a donkey for awhile so there's precedent.
With a rooster as the Democrats' symbol, the jokes just write themselves...
 
With America lacking the whole Southwest (at least for now) they'd probably be more likely to insist on obtaining the whole kit and kaboodle from Britain. I can see Seattle and Vancouver becoming the main Pacific ports for America. Unless they end up getting San Fran another way. I just like the idea of increased importance for the Pacific Northwest.
 
With America lacking the whole Southwest (at least for now) they'd probably be more likely to insist on obtaining the whole kit and kaboodle from Britain. I can see Seattle and Vancouver becoming the main Pacific ports for America. Unless they end up getting San Fran another way. I just like the idea of increased importance for the Pacific Northwest.
While I won't give away what happens to California, from what I've read the 49th parallel was more or less the maximum America could get from Britain peacefully, and Clay wouldn't want to go to war for the whole 54'40.
 
3. The American System
3. The American System

“President Clay was inaugurated on a cold and rainy day, having arrived by train in a Presidential first. Due to the windchill, Clay and most people in attendance wore overcoats and gloves to keep warm. President Van Buren was not in attendance, angry at the Whig’s attacks on him during the campaign. Instead, he remained at the White House for the remaining hours of his Presidency, signing legislation. Clay had written his inauguration speech himself, a brief restating of the American System that he hoped to implement during his administration.

“As the advocate, not of the interests of one state, nor seven states, but the interests of the whole Union,” Clay said, it was his duty to look out for the economic interests of the whole country and not favor sectional issues. He mentioned the economic depression, with a veiled jab at Van Buren: “we have all seen the picture of general distress pervading this nation. The people are oppressed and borne down by a lack of work, by debts, and by the failure of the Government to take action to protect the economy and livelihoods of the citizenry.”

He proposed that his American System of reforms were the best way to bring about an economic recovery, arguing that “the ruinous property sales, the declining values of property, and the run of bankruptcies is a loud demonstration of the necessity for several measures: the re-chartering of the Bank of the United States as a stabilizing institution to calm the tempestuous markets, the implementation of a protective tariff to protect the domestic industries, and the appropriation of funds for canals, roads, and turnpikes across this Union. In order to transform the condition of this country from gloom and distress to brightness and prosperity, these proposed measures are vital.” He also pledged to issue paper money to increase the Bank’s capacity for credit and promised to select competent candidates for government positions, rather than rewarding loyal supporters.

Clay also sought to assemble a balanced cabinet that would appease the various factions of the Whig Party without giving his rivals too much influence. To this end, he refused to appoint either Daniel Webster or Winfield Scott to his cabinet, awarding Secretary of State to Senator John M. Clayton of Delaware. He nominated his loyal ally, John J. Crittenden, for Attorney General, after giving Crittenden his pick of cabinet offices [1].

- From THE CLAY ERA: TRANSFORMING A NATION by Edmund Sellers, published 2017

Presidential Cabinet of Henry Clay:
Vice President:
Millard Fillmore
Secretary of State: John M. Clayton
Secretary of the Treasury: Thomas Ewing Sr.
Secretary of War: John Bell
Attorney General: John J. Crittenden
Postmaster General: Francis Granger
Secretary of the Navy: George E. Badger

“Henry Clay’s first act as President was to call a special session of Congress in order to respond to the economic crisis. Congress did not usually convene until March 31, but Clay’s proclamation meant that the House and Senate met on March 13. One of the first measures passed by Congress during the special session was the repeal of the Independent Treasury Act. Passed under President Van Buren, the Independent Treasury was intended to remove politics from the United States’ money supply, but the Whigs opposed it in favor of a National Bank. With Whig majorities in Congress, the repeal measure easily passed the House and Senate, and Clay signed it, clearing the way for the chartering of a third Bank of the United States.

He also signed the Preemption Act, which facilitated the rapid settlement of much of the western territories, namely the modern states of Kansas and Nebraska. Under the terms of the legislation, ‘squatters’ who lived on federally owned land for at least 14 months were given priority to purchase up to 160 acres of land, for $1.25 per acre before the lands were opened up for sale to the general public. [2] The Preemption Act sent a flood of settlers west, with much of modern-day Kansas and Nebraska settled with such land claims. Most importantly to Clay, the funds raised by land sales under the Preemption Act were directed towards the internal improvements (canals, railroads, bridges, and roads) that his American System called for.

Internal improvements were also funded by the Tariff of 1841 that was approved by the Whig congress. The Tariff of 1833 had instituted a gradual reduction of the tariff rate over ten years to 20%. Now, Whig leaders wanted to raise the rate to nearly 40%, as well as mandate payment of duties in cash and implement pre-set tariff rates, as opposed to the then-current ad valorum system (where payments were judged on the spot). However, raising the tariff rate beyond 20% would end the distribution system, where each state received a percentage of land revenue. Many Southern Whigs depended on the distribution system to defend protectionism to their agrarian constituents. In New York, future president William Seward hoped to use distribution payments to peacefully end the anti-rent movement.

The tariff bill and a bill extending distribution payments were thus joined and passed by Congress, with President Clay signing the legislative package on August 3rd, 1842. Imports were nearly halved, amid a marked decrease in international trade. Nevertheless, the Clay tariff, as its opponents labeled it, would last until its 1849 repeal and replacement with the Polk tariff.”

- From WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS by Josiah Wentworth, published 1978

“In 1841, Rhode Island had one of the most restrictive franchises in the United States. While the Jacksonian era had seen most states establish universal white male suffrage, Rhode Island clung to its property and tax qualifications that placed the state government under the dominance of just 40% of the state’s citizens. As Rhode Island’s cities industrialized and grew, many Rhode Islanders no longer met the eligibility requirements.

Numerous attempts at franchise reform had been attempted through the state legislature, but the powerful landowners refused to amend the state Charter and give up their outsized influence. Fed up with a legislative struggle that he saw as futile, state representative Thomas Dorr organized the ‘People’s Party’. In 1841, the People’s Party convened and adopted a new state constitution, before holding a referendum to ratify it. Nearly 14,000 people voted in favor, but the state legislature ignored the Dorr constitution as illegal, heightening tensions. Dorrites seized cannon while Governor Samuel King warned that attempts to enforce the Dorr constitution would be suppressed with force, if necessary…

…Dorr was elected Governor in 1842 by the People’s Party, forming a parallel government to King, who also claimed to have won the election. King had command of the Rhode Island militia, though Dorr and his supporters were also armed. The two rival governments of Rhode Island existed in a tense peace during April 1842, while the crisis polarized the rest of the country. Democratic newspapers denounced King as a tyrant, with one claiming “King and Clay, there is no difference between them… both are disposed towards tyranny.” Former President Andrew Jackson praised Dorr for defending the people as “the sovereign power of the land.” Democrats won the Massachusetts gubernatorial election on a platform supporting Dorr’s movement. Meanwhile, Senator Daniel Webster denounced Dorr for “acting outside of proscribed constitutional procedure.” Governor King pleaded with President Clay to send federal troops into Rhode Island. Clay refused, writing King that “there does not exist, at present, a violent insurrection.” However, he promised that “if resistance is made to the execution of the laws of Rhode Island… it will be the duty of this government to enforce the constitutional guarantee. [3]”

On May 17th, 1842, Dorr made his move. Together with loyal militia, he launched a nighttime attack on the state arsenal in Providence. Taking the defenders by surprise, he managed to occupy the arsenal and force King to retreat from the city. [4] Clay reacted immediately, dispatching 2,000 soldiers under the command of Winfield Scott to suppress the rebellion and confirm the “legal and constitutional authority of Governor King.” Facing the U.S. army, Dorr’s soldiers dispersed and fled. Dorr himself escaped to Massachusetts to avoid prosecution by King, where he established himself as Governor-in-exile of Rhode Island.

Clay was faced with an onslaught of criticism from the Democratic press for, as one editorial wrote, “enforcing unjust, un-democratic rule of the few at bayonet-point.” Clay defended himself in a public letter, writing that he had been content to “permit the Rhode Island question to be resolved by the residents of said state,” but “the fomenting of domestic insurrection must not be tolerated.” He closed the letter by urging the Rhode Island state legislature to “adopt any and all reforms the General Assembly should judge appropriate” in order to prevent further unrest. Not for the last time, Clay straddled the fence on the issue, leading Daniel Webster to criticize him for “harboring sympathies with the Dorrite mob.” Nevertheless, Clay’s letter calmed public anger at the Administration, though the sentiment that the Whigs were elitist remained. Meanwhile, cowed by the uprising, the Rhode Island legislature approved the elimination of the property qualification in favor of universal male suffrage upon payment of a $1 poll tax. Despite the ultimate victory of the Dorrites, Dorr himself would never be allowed to return to his home state, and the rebellion would not be the first time that entrenched elites resisted direly-needed reforms to the point of violence.”

-From FRANCHISE: THE STRUGGLE FOR VOTING RIGHTS by Thaddeus Flagg, published 2021

“The primary goal of President Clay and the Whigs was the restoration of the National Bank, the charter of which had expired after President Jackson blocked efforts to renew it. Many Whigs blamed the lack of a central banking organ for the Panic of 1837 and the ensuing difficult recovery. A strong central financial apparatus combined with spending on internal improvements, Clay believed, would reinvigorate the economy, and strengthen American domestic markets.

At the time, the Independent Treasury, established a year prior by President Van Buren, was the central reserve for federal currency. Rather than rely on a national bank, a corporation, the federal government stored its specie in government-owned vaults. Van Buren had attempted to implement the Independent Treasury in 1837, but state banking interests mobilized conservative Democrats and Whigs to obstruct the bill’s passage, until the 1840 passage of the Independent Treasury Act. Clay regarded the Independent Treasury as a wholly inadequate measure, and within a month of his inauguration, his administration began the push to repeal it. It was primarily his desire to restore the bank that prompted Clay to call a special session of Congress in May. While Democrats mocked Clay’s rush to charter a third national bank, the President knew he and the Whigs held a mandate from the people and was determined to implement his agenda as quickly as possible.

After signing the repeal of the Independent Treasury into law on June 2nd, 1841, Clay turned to drafting its replacement. In conjunction with Treasury Secretary Ewing and Whig congressional leadership, Clay crafted the National Bank Act. Unsurprisingly for a master legislator, Clay took a leading role in passing the banking legislation. Secretary Ewing lobbied members of Congress, but President Clay met with and wrote letters to influential Senators and Congressmen and leaned heavily on contacts in the press to sway fence-sitting legislators. The lobbying was necessary, as National Bank Act had some controversial provisions. Some in Congress were uneasy with one clause that allowed the bank to operate in all states, regardless of whether that state consented. Clay and Speaker John White, a fellow Kentuckian, were able to keep the Whig caucus united and the bill passed Congress on August 6th, making one concession to assuage concerns – the Bank’s headquarters would be in Washington D.C. [5] In a major victory for his administration and the American system, President Clay signed the National Bank Act into law on August 16th, chartering the Third Bank of the United States.

Nicholas Biddle, the last head of the Second Bank, returned to serve as the Third Bank’s first president. Biddle had transformed the second bank into a strong national credit and currency system, and Clay trusted him to competently manage the bank’s newest iteration (it certainly helped that Biddle had ben instrumental in securing Clay’s nomination at the Whig convention in 1840). Clay exulted to his cabinet over the realization of the American system, remarking that “Jackson’s folly has been repudiated at last.””

-From THE EVOLUTION OF THE WHIGS by James Welter, published 1997

[1] OTL, William Henry Harrison extended a similar offer to Crittenden.
[2] An OTL law signed by John Tyler.
[3] From John Tyler’s OTL missive to King regarding the Dorr Rebellion.
[4] OTL, there was a heavy fog and Dorr was forced to abandon the attack.
[5] An OTL provision in a compromise between Tyler and the Whigs.
 
Bismarck was born in 1800 I think, so it would not be out of the question for him to meet Henry Clay if he travels to the United States for some reason. However, it will not be as a meeting of equals, it would rather seem to historians as though he wanted to study to see what he could do in Germany as a very ambitious future leader. Whether or not he actually would become one.

So, it would be a meeting arranged with the German ambassador during a slower time in his presidency when he has time to discuss things.
 
Bismarck was born in 1800 I think, so it would not be out of the question for him to meet Henry Clay if he travels to the United States for some reason. However, it will not be as a meeting of equals, it would rather seem to historians as though he wanted to study to see what he could do in Germany as a very ambitious future leader. Whether or not he actually would become one.

So, it would be a meeting arranged with the German ambassador during a slower time in his presidency when he has time to discuss things.

Bismark was born in 1815 and didn't become political in life until 1847 when he was elected to the prussian legislature.

The man is literally a nobody until then. He may be a Prussian Junker, but he is still not high enough politically or with enough connections to be an ambassador to the US. Unless he randomly travells on his own expense in the next couple of years.
 
Bismark was born in 1815 and didn't become political in life until 1847 when he was elected to the prussian legislature.

The man is literally a nobody until then. He may be a Prussian Junker, but he is still not high enough politically or with enough connections to be an ambassador to the US. Unless he randomly travells on his own expense in the next couple of years.
Its also worth mentioning that (IIRC) until a few years after the revolutions of 1848, Bismark was an arch-reactionary politician, and his pragmatic shift happened around Clay’s health decline and death.
 
Wow, never thought of him as such a reactionary.

I meant as part of the ambassadors staff not the Ambassador himself but if he was that much of a reactionary then you're right he won't be getting near Clay.
 
Love the little hint at “future president William Seward”, very interested to see how this turns out.
 
With America lacking the whole Southwest (at least for now) they'd probably be more likely to insist on obtaining the whole kit and kaboodle from Britain. I can see Seattle and Vancouver becoming the main Pacific ports for America. Unless they end up getting San Fran another way. I just like the idea of increased importance for the Pacific Northwest.

Honestly, the lack of Texas makes this even MORE unlikely. Clay was the great consensus builer after all - and the South would HOWL with rage at the loss of Texas and then the addition of more free sates in the Oregon Territory. Even the addition of Oregon in this scenerio is going to throw off the balance of Slave v Free states. Pushing for OTL British Columbia would just push them even more to the breaking point. In OTL. the Slave states actually drug their heels in the Senate about orgaizing the Oregon Territory for just this reason and came very close to Oregon declaring its own Republic (an Oregon government was actually created, though it dissolved once a Territorial government was established). Adding even more free territory - or, worse yet, going to war with Britain to secure more free terrtiory - would lead to the conniption of all conniption fits: i.e. likely earlier attempts at Southron succession.
 
Honestly, the lack of Texas makes this even MORE unlikely. Clay was the great consensus builer after all - and the South would HOWL with rage at the loss of Texas and then the addition of more free sates in the Oregon Territory. Even the addition of Oregon in this scenerio is going to throw off the balance of Slave v Free states. Pushing for OTL British Columbia would just push them even more to the breaking point. In OTL. the Slave states actually drug their heels in the Senate about orgaizing the Oregon Territory for just this reason and came very close to Oregon declaring its own Republic (an Oregon government was actually created, though it dissolved once a Territorial government was established). Adding even more free territory - or, worse yet, going to war with Britain to secure more free terrtiory - would lead to the conniption of all conniption fits: i.e. likely earlier attempts at Southron succession.
There will definitely be a battle in Washington over Texas and Oregon, and bringing in Oregon and possibly California is in my estamation already be about the maximum the south will willingly allow in exchange for Texas (and maybe an earlier Fugitive Slave Act).
Great story. I look forward to see how this develops
Thanks so much!
 
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