Informing Congress that two of the world’s great powers were increasing the pressure on American interests, Jefferson proposed that the United States order its own ships to remain in port in the United States while “making every preparation for whatever events may grow out of the present crisis.”29,30 What came next? Politically, war seemed impossible at the moment. The emotional intensity that had grown out of the Chesapeake affair in summer had faded. “The war fever is past,” Jefferson wrote Patsy in November.31 For now, the answer was
