Jefferson, Thomas. Important autograph letter signed, 21 April 1810....

Click the image to load the highest resolution version.

Sold on Jun 11, 2015 for:

$25,312.50 Bid Source: Internet bidder

Get one of these:

Share this lot

Track Item Printable Auction Results

Sell One of These

Description

Auction Info

Guides & Info

Description

Jefferson, Thomas. Important autograph letter signed, 21 April 1810. Important autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), 2 pages (9.5 x 7.25 in.; 241 x 184 mm.), front and back, "Monticello", 21 April 1810, written to his nephew and close friend John Wayles Eppes; docketed (on the verso, at the top margin) "Eppes John W. Apr. 21. 10." Light browning; scattered spotting and later marginal ink splotch. Thomas Jefferson, wary of the deceptive Napoleon I - whom he calls the testy emperor, that spoiled child of fortune - first learns of Congress' intent to repeal the Non-Intercourse Act, which reopened trade with England and France on 1 May 1810. Jefferson writes in full: I found here your letter of the 2nd on my return from a three weeks visit to Bedford: and as I see by a resolution of Congress that they are to adjourn on the 23rd. I shall direct the present to Eppington where it may meet you on your passage to Carolina. Mr. Thweatt is to let me know when I am to set out for Richmond. He says it will be in May & perhaps early. This however you can learn from him. My principal compensation for the journey is the visit to my friends at Eppington from which your absence would be a great deduction: for be assured that no circumstances on earth will ever lessen my affection for you, or my regret that any should exist which may affect the frequency of my meetings with you. But here I must brood over my grief in silence. The company of my dear Francis [John W. Eppes' father] has been a great comfort to me this winter; I shall restore him to you at Eppington, in fine health I hope, and not less advanced in the first elements of education than might be expected. Patsy [Jefferson's daughter, Martha Jefferson (1772-1836)] has the whole merit of this as her attentions to him have been the same as to her own. Your letter gave me the first intimation that an accommodation with England was expected. I rejoice at it; for she is the only nation from which serious injury is to be apprehended. This may put us under the ban of the testy emperor, that spoiled child of fortune, and it is true that if excluded from the continent our trade to England will be of no value. But I would rather suffer in interest than fail in good faith. We are neutrals, & have been honestly so. We have declared we would meet either or both parties in just accommodation, and if either holds off, it is her fault not ours. Altho' connected with England in peace, I hope we shall be so with the other party in principal, and that our accommodation will involve no sacrifice of the freedom of the seas. For this however I can safely trust to the present administration, as well as the republican majority in Congress. In April 1809, the British minister in Washington, David M. Erskine, signed a convention providing for the mutual suspension of the British and American restrictions-effective 10 June 1809. However, the agreement was repudiated in London because Erskine had exceeded his instructions. Non-intercourse was restored against England by President James Madison (9 August 1809). On 1 March 1809, Thomas Jefferson himself, as President, had signed the Non-Intercourse Act (effective 15 March 1809), which reopened all overseas commerce to American shipping, with the exception of France and Great Britain. One year later, in May 1810, shortly after Jefferson's letter, Congress repealed the Non-Intercourse Act and substituted Macon's Bill #2, since the Non-Intercourse Act was set to expire at the close of the Second Session of the 11th Congress on 1 May 1810. The law reopened trade with England and France, though it promised to reimpose non-importation against either belligerent if the other rescinded its restrictions on neutral trade. It was Napoleon I's opportunity to deceive the U.S. He ordered his Foreign Minister, the Duc de Cadore, to promise French cooperation. In the "Cadore Letter," sent to the American government (August 1810), France pledged to suspend the Continental Decrees if the U.S. "shall cause their rights to be respected by the English" - presumably by reimposing non-importation. Of course, it was never Napoleon's intention to make good on his promise. The French released a few American ships for appearances sake, and then continued to prey on American shipping. As well, they imposed a new series of French tariffs and exports restrictions which rendered American trade with the Continent virtually impossible. It was Napoleon's plan to give the appearance of making concessions to the U.S. so as to further embroil the new nation with England. An important letter in which the ex-President foresees the problems to come from Napoleon I, whom he names "that spoiled child of fortune", realizing that a war with Britain could only be detrimental to the United States, for, as he states, "England is the only nation from which serious injury is to be apprehended" - and also realizing that any such accommodation with Britain will most certainly aggravate the French Emperor.