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Wilson, John (1777-1848) to Aaron Hobart

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06313.04.042 Author/Creator: Wilson, John (1777-1848) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 22 February 1815 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket : free frank ; 25.1 x 20 cm.

Summary of Content: Informs Hobart of President Madison's approval of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.. Shares his insight on the war by stating that "we have ... not obtained Peace by War,... but have lost much of that we possessed".

Background Information: John Wilson was a Massachusetts congressman, elected as a federalist to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815)and the Fifteenth Congress (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1819).

Full Transcript: [Draft Excerpt:]
The President says the treaty is honorable, substantially, altho not in so many words, but how it is so I do not exactly comprehend, it is true that ...it gives us, what we have all anxiously sought, peace, but we should have had Peace, had we not gone to War, we have therefore not obtained Peace by War, and what have we obtained? I believe nothing that we required, but have lost much that we possessed, on the whole you will not be suprised to learn that I differ from the President, and that while I rejoice at the return of Peace, I regret the resort to War.See More

People: Wilson, John, 1777-1848
Hobart, Aaron, 1787-1858
Thomas, Brother

Historical Era: National Expansion and Reform, 1815-1860

Subjects: PeaceAmerican StatesmenPoliticsGovernment and CivicsWar of 1812TreatyGlobal History and CivicsForeign AffairsPresident

Sub Era: The Age of Jefferson & Madison

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