LS as president, signed “Th: Jefferson,” one page both sides, 8 x 9.75, September 23, 1808. Partly-printed letter to the "Inhabitants of the Town of Winchendon, in legal town-meeting assembled," addressing concerns raised about the Embargo Act of 1807. In part: "No person has seen with more concern than myself, the inconveniences brought on our country…by the circumstances of the times in which we happen to live….For years we have been looking as spectators on our brethren of Europe, afflicted by all those evils which necessarily follow an abandonment of the moral rules which bind men and nations together. Connected with them in friendship and commerce, we have happily so far kept aloof from their calamitous conflicts….At length however, all regard to the rights of others having been thrown aside, the belligerent powers have beset the high way of commercial intercourse with edicts which…expose our commerce and mariners…a prey to their fleets and armies. Each party indeed would admit our commerce with themselves, with the view of associating us in their war against the other; but we have wished war with neither."
Jefferson explains that he cannot lift the embargo except in "the event of such peace or suspension of hostilities between the belligerent powers of Europe, or of such change in their measures affecting neutral commerce as may render that of the United States sufficiently safe in the judgment of the President." Jefferson fills in the town's name and date, signing at the conclusion. Professionally cleaned and restored to near-fine condition.
In the years following the Revolutionary War, the young United States held claim to neutral shipping rights while at sea. In 1803, Britain and France went to war, with America caught squarely in the middle. By 1807, both powers had outlawed American trade with their opponent. In addition, British naval ships continuously seized American cargo ships and pressed their crews into serving the Royal Navy. In an effort to counteract this, President Thomas Jefferson, through his Democratic-Republicans in Congress, placed an embargo on American shipping in December 1807 intended to halt the interference of the two European powers, but only managed to wreck the American economy. The embargo was particularly unpopular in New England, where trade was a cornerstone of the local economy. In the end, Jefferson repealed the Embargo Act shortly before leaving office in March 1809.
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