Yet Jefferson steadfastly maintained that economic pressure on Britain could have succeeded if it had been given more time. Shortly after leaving office, Jefferson held that the embargo “would have saved us had it been honestly executed a few weeks longer.” In 1815, Jefferson insisted that “a continuance of the embargo for two months longer would have prevented our war” of 1812. And just months before his death, Jefferson referred to the embargo as “a measure which persevered in a little longer . . . would have effected its object completely.” Yet there is no evidence to support these
...more
Trade embargoes work muchb better in theory than in reality as Jefferson learned.
