Speech of Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, on the Subject of Abolition Petitions. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, February 7, 1839.


Senator and slaveholder Henry Clay of Kentucky discusses slavery in the the District of Columbia, the impediments to the immediate abolition of slavery, and the broader role of ultra-abolitionists. “The liberty of the descendants of Africa in the United States is incompatible with the safety and liberty of the European descendants. Their slavery forms an exception…to the general liberty in the United States. We did not originate, nor are we responsible for, this necessity. Their liberty, if it were possible, could only be established by violating the incontestable powers of the States, and subverting the Union; and beneath the ruins of the Union would be buried, sooner or later, the liberty of both races.” (p16)  With the dated ownership inscription of “C.P. Wilkins, Pitts, 183[9]”, likely Pittsburgh native and later California lawyer Charles Pearcy Wilkins (1820–1864).


Description: Speech of Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, on the Subject of Abolition Petitions. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, February 7, 1839.

Washington [D.C.]: Printed by Gales and Seaton, 1839. 16pp. 8vo. Pamphlet; removed; foxing, else Very Good.

[3730331]

Price: $50.00