Henry Lee (economist)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Henry Lee (February 4, 1782February 6, 1867) was a merchant,
political economist Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour m ...
and politician from Massachusetts whose writings were popular in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States in 1832 and came in 3rd place.


Economics

Henry Lee established himself as a merchant in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
as one of the owners of the firm H & J Lee & Company. After the economic collapse in 1811, the firm folded and Lee traveled to
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
for four years. He returned to Boston and became an importer of Indian goods, a business in which he had to pay a 30% tariff and compete with the local Boston Manufacturing Company (of which he later became a shareholder). When the textile business dried up, he began importing indigo, iron and sugar and sold salt to the Du Pont Company for the manufacture of munitions. He dedicated himself to the study of political economy and to the collection of financial and commercial statistics and exchanged correspondences with contemporary British economists such as McCulloch, Tooke, Villiers and Cobden, who considered him an authority. He assisted
Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan–American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years o ...
in preparing an analysis of the impact of the tariff on free trade in 1831 and became an advocate of
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
. He was a frequent contributor to the "Free Trade Advocate" and other periodicals and author of the book "Boston Reports" in 1827.


Politics

As a free trade proponent, Lee became an ardent Federalist and in 1830 ran a spirited, but losing campaign, against tariff proponent Nathan Appleton for a United States House seat. Appleton would go on to help write the Tariff of 1832 and the Tariff of 1842. Though his 1830 race was unsuccessful, it gained him further notoriety as a free trade supporter and so when the new Independent Democrat Party, which strongly opposed tariffs, met in a
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...
on November 20, 1832, in Charleston, South Carolina, Lee was well-known voice for the cause. Henry Lee was thus nominated as the party's candidate for
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
in the 1832 election. Lee and his running-mate John Floyd received 11 electoral votes in the
Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
, coming in third place. The ticket won only one state,
South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, in the midst of the Nullification Crisis, and though he was on the ticket, Henry Lee was not a supporter of nullification. At the time, South Carolina was the only state which did not select its presidential electors via
popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...
and so it was the legislature that awarded the electors to Floyd and Lee. Following the 1832 election, Lee returned to his life as a merchant. He and his wife Mary Jackson Lee had six children. His two sons became prominent members of Boston society, both serving as colonels in the Civil War. Lee died in Boston on February 6, 1867.


Bibliography

* * * * *


References


External links


Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Henry 1782 births 1867 deaths People from Beverly, Massachusetts 1832 United States vice-presidential candidates Businesspeople from Massachusetts Economists from Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople