In 1830 Henry Clay, one of the most prominent members of the House of Representatives, spoke out against American Indian removal. In this speech, he quotes from an 1814 statement by the US government that says American Indians have a legal right to their lands and are not subject to US laws. Henry Clay thought that American Indian tribes  a legal right to their territory. He believed that tribes should be  for land they ceded to the United States. As a result, Clay  the idea of Indian removal.