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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Madison, James (1751-1836) to James Monroe [copy]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03490.02 Author/Creator: Madison, James (1751-1836) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Letter Date: 20 March 1807 Pagination: 4 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Secretary of State Madison's response to British minister to the United States Erskine's letter informing him that Parliament had issued an order denying trade among the ports of France, in retaliation for France's Berlin Decree (see GLC03490.03). Explains that he has relayed the news to President Jefferson and describes Jefferson's position, which questions the legality of the measure in detail. That order precipitated the passage of the Embargo Act later that year. Copy sent to James Monroe, then the American minister to Great Britain, along with GLC03490.01 and GLC03490.03. Docketed by Monroe.

Signer of the U.S. Constitution.

Madison, James, 1751-1836
Monroe, James, 1758-1831

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