Henry Clay Papers

This collection contains out-going letters of the Secretary of State Henry Clay and his Chief Clerk Daniel Brent to foreign ministers in the United States. The correspondence concerns international trade and commerce; the foreign relations of the United States, particularly those with Great Britain, routine State Department matters, and letters to resident representatives of various countries.

Topics include negotiations relative to the abolition of discriminating duty of import and tonnage in the commercial intercourse of the United States with: Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Prussia, Sicily and the Papal States, Russia, Sweden. American-British diplomatic relations covered include the Northeast boundary dispute (Maine and New Brunswick) 1828-29; letters and instructions to U.S. agents Albert Gallatin and William Pitt Preble; West India trade; and impressed seamen. Letters related to Latin-American republics include the Panama Congress and U.S. neutrality related to the independence of Brazil and Columbia including privateers with prizes in U.S. ports and rights of hospitality. There is also correspondence related to claims for indemnity and points on international law in regard to shipping, extradition, piracy, etc.

Countries addressed in four or more pieces:

Some notable items include:

These letters were published in: The Papers of Henry Clay/ James F. Hopkins, ed. [Lexington] University of Kentucky Press, [c1959]-c1992, vol. 4-7.