Printed circular letter, one page, 8 x 12.5, November 16, 1808. Sent to Joseph Wilson, the Collector in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the letter reads, in part: “The House of Representatives having directed that a report should be made stating, so far as practicable, the names and places of residence of such persons as have been detected in violating the Embargo Laws; you will be pleased immediately to prepare and transmit to me a concise statement of all the evasions and violations aforesaid, which have to your knowledge taken place in your district…In mentioning names, it will be proper to distinguish those of persons who have clearly contravened the laws, from those against whom the proofs may be doubtful…You will also be pleased to make a separate statement of the suits which may have been instituted against you for any act done in carrying the Embargo Laws into effect …” Second integral page bears an address panel in another hand, free franked in the upper portion, “Albert Gallatin,” and stamped “Free.” In very good condition, with a few small areas of paper loss and tears to corners and hinge, scattered toning, and partial separations along intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature.
Rampant violations of the Embargo Act of 1807, especially in New England, resulted in Congress directing Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to send these letters to individual revenue collectors, such as Mr. Wilson, requesting the names and addresses of “such persons as have been detected in violating the Embargo Laws.” The request, made on the behalf of President Thomas Jefferson, stemmed from a blatant disregard of the embargo act, enacted in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars between England and France. Despite US neutrality, American shipping to both nations was severely affected by British and French policies prohibiting trade with any nation that might be friendly to the enemy. The Embargo Act prohibited American ships from carrying cargo to foreign ports and also halted foreign vessels from loading any cargo in American ports—facts that impeded the livelihood of merchants. RRAuction COA.
