Mathew Carey was an influential publisher and political economist in the Early Republic of the United States. A native of Ireland, he became a printer’s apprentice and served a portion of his apprenticeship under Benjamin Franklin in Paris, where he met the Marquis de Lafayette who later recommended him to George Washington and gave him the funds to buy a printing press in Philadelphia. He published a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Evening Herald, and a national magazine, the American Museum. He wrote an account of the Yellow Fever of 1793, the Olive Branch during the War of 1812 and a defense of Ireland, Vindiciae Hibernicae in 1819. He campaigned for Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800. An ardent nationalist, he promoted the work of American authors and advocated a strong central bank, protective tariffs and improvements to the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Henry Clay relied on Carey’s writings to advocate the American System.

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