Beschreibung:

JEFFERSON,ÿ THOMAS, President. Letter signed ("Th: Jefferson") as President, Washington, D.C., February 1803. 1 page, 4to, 252 x 203mm. (9 3/4 x 8 in.), even age-toning [ With: ]: Report of the Committee Appointed on so much of the President's Message, of the 15th of December Last, 'As Relates to The Militia Institution of the United States," Washington: William Duane & Son 1803, 8vo, pp. 1-[6], disbound. (2) "NONE BUT AN ARMED NATION CAN DISPENSE WITH A STANDING ARMY": PRESIDENT JEFFERSON URGES THAT STATE MILITIAS BE STRENGTHENED TO PROVIDE "A SURE AND PERMANENT BULWARK OF NATIONAL DEFENCE" Apparently the only known surviving copy of an important circular letter addressed to state governors, in which Jefferson, concerned over the repeated maritime infractions of France, urges the vital necessity of maintaining strong volunteer militias in each state, as recommended by the Constitution. Although Jefferson had long opposed the creation of a permanent standing army, he encouraged "In compliance with a regard of the House of Representatives of the United States, as well as with a sense of what is necessary, I take the liberty of urging on you the importance and indispensable necessity of vigorous exertions, on the part of the States-Governments, to carry into effect the militia system adopted by the national legislatures, agreeable to the power reserved to the States respectively by the constitution of the United States, and in a manner the best calculated to ensure such a degree of military discipline, and knowledge of tactics, as will, under the auspices of a benign providence, render the militia a sure and permanent bulwark of national defence. "None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army. To keep ours armed & disciplined is, therefore, at all times, important; but especially so at a moment when rights the most essential to our welfare have been violated, and an infraction of treaty committed without colour or pretext: And altho we are willing to believe that this has been the act of a subordinate agent only, yet is it wise to prepare for the possibility that it may have been the leading measure of a system. While, therefore, we are endeavouring, & with a considerable degree of confidence, to obtain, by friendly negociation, a peaceable redress of the injury, and effectual provision against its repetition, let us array the strength of the nation, and be ready to do with promptitude and effect whatever a regard to justice and our future security may require." The question of whether or not the United States should have a standing army was a major issue during the Jefferson administration, one which Jefferson did not thoroughly support. In this letter, however, he seems to be in favor of building a standing army, especially since he alludes to the impressment of American sailors into the British Navy, an illegal act practiced by the British government throughout the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). Impressment, too, was a major issue during the Jefferson administration, one that outraged most Americans because it clearly displayed England's blatant contempt for the American government. Jefferson would not have alluded to this if he did not want the states' governors to support Congress' decision to raise a standing army.