Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (108 page)

IN
THE
E
AGLE
T
AVERN
Joseph Wheelan,
Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary
(New York, 2006), 6–7.

FILIBUSTERS
WERE
NOT
ILLEGAL
Simon,
What Kind of Nation,
232–33.

MESSENGER
FROM
R
ICHMOND
JHT,
V, 320–25.

SUBPOENAI
NG
THE
PRESIDENT
TJ to George Hay, June 20, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

M
A
RSHALL
'
S
DECISIONS
A
ND
DEMEANOR
EOL,
439–40.

“T
HE
NA
TION
WILL
JUDGE
”
TJ to William Branch Giles, April 20, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“I
AM
NOW
IN
THE
7
TH
DAY
”
TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, March 20, 1807, University of Virginia.

“I
AM
TIRED
OF
”
TJ to John Dickinson, January 13, 1807, Historical Society of Pennsylvania,

“T
HE
B
RITISH
COMMISSIONERS
”
TJ to James Monroe, March 21, 1807, James Monroe Papers, LOC.

J
EFF
ERSON
INVITED
J
OHN
W
AY
LES
E
PPES
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., February 18, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“W
HAT
ACTS
OF
MINE
”
Ibid.

“Y
OUR
RETURN
TO
THE
HOUSE
”
Ibid.

“
REAL
LY
LOVING
YOU
”
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., February 19, 1807, University of Virginia.

DISPA
TCHED
A
RETAINER
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., February 28, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“I
C
ERTAINLY
WOULD
NOT
”
Ibid.

J
EFFERSON
KEPT
TRACK
TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, March 12, 1807, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City.

THIRTY
-
EIGHT
·
THIS DAMNED EMBARGO

“N
EVER
SINCE
”
TJ to Pierre-Samuel du Pont de Nemours, July 14, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“S
OMETHING
NOW
OCCURS
”
TJ to Albert Gallatin, July 10, 1807, Gallatin Papers, New-York Historical Society, New York City.

ATTACK
ON
THE
USS
C
HESAPEAKE
Bowers,
Jefferson in Power,
427–28.

“A
FTER
I
HAD
READ
”
John Keehmle to TJ, June 29, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. The correspondent, John Keehmle, added: “This unexpected attack on one of our national vessels, has realized my anticipations and fears of the hostile disposition of the
British Government
toward us. They have now cast the die, and struck the blow; it rests with you as the head of our nation to resent the unexpected murder of our citizens, in a spirited and manly manner, and you may rely and depend on the hearty support and approbation of all true Americans.” (Ibid.)

“I
A
M
SORRY
TO
BE
”
Bowers,
Jefferson in Power,
428.

“I
AM
SO
MUCH
FATIGUED
Ibid.

O
F
APPEARING
AT
J
EFFER
SON
'
S
ANNUAL
LEVEE
Ibid., 431.

PATRIOTIC
TOASTS
Ibid.

BANNING
ARMED
B
RITISH
SHIPS
Proclamation on British Armed Vessels, July 2, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. “At length a deed transcending all we have hitherto seen or suffered, brings the public sensibility to a serious crisis, and our forbearance to a necessary pause,” he said. (Ibid.)

HE
DECIDED
TO
CALL
Notes on Cabinet Meeting, July 5, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. He was receiving reassuring counsel from voices outside the administration. “The late outrage by the British on the
Chesapeake,
has produced everywhere, within our range of intelligence at this place, a degree of emotion bordering on rage,” wrote James Wilkinson from Richmond on June 29. And yet, Wilkinson wrote, “The present is no moment for precipitancy or a stretch of power. On the contrary the British being prepared for war and we not, a sudden appeal to hostilities will give them a great advantage.… The prevalent, I might say almost universal, sentiment here is embargo, and to you, Sir, every honest eye is directed in full confidence.” (James Wilkinson to TJ, June 29, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.)

ORDER
ED
THE
PURCHASE
PTJRS,
III, 100. “After the affair of the Chesapeake, we thought war a very possible result,” he wrote afterward. “Our magazines were illy provided with some necessary articles, nor had any appropriations been made for their purchase. We ventured, however, to provide them, and to place our country in safety.” (Ibid.)

“T
H
E
MOMENT
OUR
PEACE
”
Annual Message to Congress, October 27, 1807, President's Messages, Records of the United States Senate, National Archives. See also Sofaer,
War, Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Power,
172.

T
HE
PRESIDENCY
WAS
TH
US
FURTHER
STRENGTHE
NED
Sofaer,
War, Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Power,
172–73.

“A
STRICT
OBSER
VANCE
”
PTJRS,
III, 99.

A
SHIP
—
THE
USS
R
EVENGE
—
WAS
DISPATCHED
Jon Latimer,
1812
(Cambridge, Mass., 2007), 21.

“T
O
THE
T
ORIES
”
George Clinton to TJ, July 9, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“T
HE
SPI
RIT
AND
ENTERPRISE
”
William Duane to TJ, July 8, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. Still, Jefferson was determined to maintain his perspective amid the storm. He described his plan to John Page in July 1807:

1. The usage of civilized nations requires that an opportunity of reparation shall always be given. If a word and a blow were the practice there would never be peace.

2. We should procrastinate 3 or 4 months, were it only to give time to our merchants to get in their vessels, property and seamen, which are the identical materials with which the war is to be carried on.

3. It is our duty to do no act which may com[mit] the legislature to war, rather than non-intercourse or any other measure they may prefer. They will probably be called in time to receive the answer of England. Before that they would be acting in the dark. (TJ to John Page, July 9, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.)

“R
EASON
AND
THE
USAGE
”
TJ to John Wayles Eppes, July 12, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. A correspondent signing himself “An Indignant American” wrote: “The time will come, if it has not already, when the American people will feel indignant at the
pusillanimity
of their chief Magistrate. Remember Carters Mountain, and now that you have an opportunity, convince the world that you are not what you have been always supposed to be a
coward
.” (“An Indignant American” to TJ, July 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.)

“ ‘R
EPARAT
ION
FOR
' ”
TJ to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, July 14, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

CALLED
FOR
THE
O
CTOBER
SPECIAL
S
ESSION
JHT,
V, 435.

INCREASED
T
HE
MAIL
SERVICE
Thomas Jefferson to Egbert Benson, July 31, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. At Monticello he surveyed a world scene that seemed more and more complex and demanding. “I never expected to be under the necessity of wishing success to Bonaparte. But the English being equally tyrannical at sea as he is on land, and that tyranny bearing on us in every point of either honor or interest, I say, ‘down with England,' and as for what Bonaparte is then to do to us, let us trust to the chapter of accidents. I cannot, with the Anglomen, prefer a certain present evil to a future hypothetical one,” he wrote Thomas Leiper on August 21. (TJ to Thomas Leiper, August 21, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.)

His trip back to Washington was something of a disaster. He nearly lost his horse crossing the Rapidan River. Then, two days after reaching the President's House, he came down with the flu. It was going to be that kind of season. (TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, October 12, 1807, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City.)

J
EF
FERSON
HAD
GUESSED
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., July 5, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC. “The power of declaring war being in Congress,” Jefferson had written, “the Executive should do no act committing them to war, when it is very probable they may prefer a non-intercourse to war.” (Ibid.)

A
T
DINNER
ONE
DAY
Diary of John Quincy Adams,
48.

“I
SUPPOSE
[
THIS
]
W
ILL
TAKE
”
Ibid.

“I
F
THERE
W
AS
ANY
SINCERITY
”
Ibid.

QU
ESTION
OF
THE
MOMENT
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., November 30, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“T
HE
MEMBERS
,
AS
FAR
AS
”
TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., October 26, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

NEWS
FROM
P
ARIS
AND
L
ONDON
JHT,
V, 481.

J
EFFERSO
N
PROPOSED
Message to Congress, December 17, 1807. See also
JHT,
V, 482.

“
MAKIN
G
EVERY
PREPARATION
”
Ibid.

“T
HE
WAR
FEVER
IS
PAST
”
TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, November 23, 1807, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City.

“I
N
EVE
RY
POINT
OF
VIEW
”
Albert Gallatin to TJ, December 18, 1807, Thomas Jefferson Papers, LOC.

“W
H
AT
IS
GOOD
”
JHT,
V, 476.

“T
HE
EMBARG
O
KEEPING
”
TJ to John Taylor, January 6, 1808, Washburn Collection, Massachusetts Historical Society.

LEGISLATI
ON
HAD
PASSED
QUICKL
Y
Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson,
Empire of Liberty
(New York, 1992), 204.

STRUCK
BY
“
A
TOO
TH
-
ACHE
”
TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, December 29, 1807, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City.