CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY (the politician, not the boxer)


DATE OF HAPPENING: 1810-1903

On an autumn day of October 19, 1810, a baby named Cassius Marcellus Clay was born to his father Green Clay and Sally Lewis in Kentucky. Clay would grow up a normal early-1800's southern wealthy slave-owning farm life until around college, in 1832, where he heard a speech by the radical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. This speech very much changed the trajectory of his life, as it completely was against the ideas he grew up with from, as his family owned slaves.
Cassius Marcellus Clay.
In 1835, Clay was elected into the Kentucky House of Representatives. His anti-slavery views made him a target, but despite that he would be elected another three more times. During a political debate in 1843, a hired assassin (or so called "political enforcer") named Sam Brown shot Clay. Clay did not die however, as the bullet was somewhat blocked by his knife, and instead proceeded to slice off Brown's ear, eye, and nose before tossing him off an embankment. Another attempt on Clay's life 6 years later, in 1849, was equally unfruitful. A group of brothers, the Turner Brothers, whose father was a pro-slavery politician, attempted to beat and stab Clay to death. They were able to stick Clay's bowie knife into his back, but Clay did not fall, and instead fought back as he regained his knife, causing the group of brothers to flee, and even killing one of the brothers, Cyrus Turner.

In 1845, Clay started an anti-slavery newspaper called the True American. As a result, he received death threats and was forced to arm himself. Knowing there were ideological enemies all around this newspaper, Clay also installed armored doors as well as cannons to deflect potential attackers. Despite this a mob of around 60 men appeared and stormed the press and stole his printing equipment, and as a result Clay had to relocate the newspaper over to the free state of Ohio, just a border away. Clay still lived in Kentucky. Clay also volunteered in the Mexican-American War. Although he opposed Texas's annexation as that would increase the amount of slave-owning states in the USA, he preferred that outcome over Mexico seizing Texas for themselves. Clay was also a founding member of the Republican Party, which at the time, was very much anti-slavery. He became friends with fellow founding-Republican Abraham Lincoln. Clay also granted some of his land to another abolitionist, John G. Fee, who founded the town of Berea and Berea College, which was open to all races.
Cassius Marcellus Clay (slightly older)
Then BOOM, the Civil War happens! The Union and the Confederacy are at it, and are fighting about the issue of slavery. During this time, Britain and France were toying with the idea of supporting the Confederacy, and Jefferson Davis hoped that, despite Britain's official declaration of "Neutrality", he could somehow mosey over British support. Meanwhile in Washington DC, Clay organized 300 volunteers to protect the White House and the US Naval Yard from potential CSA attacks. Then, Federal (Union) troops arrived to D.C., and Clay went on a trip to the Russian Empire, and witnessed Tsar Alexander II's emancipation edict. Around this time, Russia also aided the Union, even going so far as to threaten war against the British and French had they recognized the Confederates as an independent entity. This happened, of course, because Clay was an able ambassador and convinced Alexander II to lend support to the Union, which led to the Tsar giving orders to dock parts of the Russian navy in the New York Harbor, as well as the US west coast. Lincoln also made Clay a Major General of the "US Volunteers General Staff" in 1862, and Clay would be influential in Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Clay would also be insturmental in the negotiations of the 1867 Purchase of Alaska.

Clay was very supportive of the Cuban independence movement. He also wanted to nationalize the railroads and was very much against the rich industrialists. Clay left the Republican Party in 1869, due to disagreements with the party, most notably the Radical Republican's reconstruction policy. Clay became a Liberal Republican in 1872, opposing Ulysses S. Grant. He got Horace Greeley to be the Liberal Republican presidental nominee, but he lost to Grant. In 1876, Clay flipped to the Democratic Party (strange, huh?) and supported the 1876 and 1880 Democrat candidates. He rejoined the Republican Party in 1884.
an even older Cassius Marcellus Clay
In 1902, a 92 year old Cassius Clay was sleeping at home when three assailants broke into his house and killed him. Nah, I'm kidding. The old Clay shot one of the assailants dead, stabbed another to death, and severely injured the third. Clay would die the next year of natural causes.