August 1807
Monroe, James, 1758-1831
Autograph manuscript
Title: [Fragment]
Unsigned fragment. "It would be dishonourable, and might be ruinous if without a redress of our wrongs war did not promptly follow the expiration of the embargo. No other alternative is left to our choice. Every other expedient has been tried and failed...We cannot retrace our steps and abandon, perhaps forever, our most important rights...It would be folly in the extreme to attempt to disguise from ourselves the true character of the present embargo. It is not an engine to be wielded in negotiation. From the privations to which it may expose the belligerents nothing ought to be expected. If…
GLC09135