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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852 to William Jarvis

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03307 Author/Creator: Clay, Henry, 1777-1852 Place Written: Ashland, Kentucky Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 3 August 1833 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Written as Senator from Kentucky. Clay blames the rise of nullification on the "triumph of Gen. [Andrew] Jackson over Mr. [John Quincy] Adams in 1828, alludes to the dangers of the nullification controversy, and highlights his role in effecting a congressional compromise to prevent bloodshed. Clay writes that if he had not compromised he feared the "entire destruction" of the American system of tariffs or a "Civil War." Hopes that manufacturing will not be hurt by the "Compromise" but feels that the bill was fair to both sides of the dispute. Concludes by stating, " ... it should now be the effort of all to maintain unviolated the conditions of the Compromise."

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
Jarvis, William, 1770-1859

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