TO THE PUBLIC. A PAMPHLET ENTITLED "CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EMBARGO LAWS" HAS ACCIDENTALLY COME INTO MY HANDS...CIRCULATED IN THE COUNTRY WITH INTENT...TO AFFECT THE APPROACHING ELECTION IN NEW- HAMPSHIRE...[signed:] ONE OF THE PEOPLE [caption title and introductory note]

Portsmouth, N.H.: Printed at the N.H. Gazette office, 1808. 12pp. Dbd. First leaf detached. Soft horizontal fold. Toned and foxed. A good copy. A New Englander's defense of the Embargo Act against Daniel Webster's recent pamphlet, CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EMBARGO LAWS (1808), which is considered to be Webster's first publication. The anonymous author of the present pamphlet recounts the military and economic events leading up to the passage of the embargo laws and calls for fellow northerners - and specifically residents of New Hampshire - to evince their patriotism and unite with the southern states in support of the Embargo and U.S. neutrality. New England, whose economy was largely dependent upon international shipping and trade, suffered disproportionately after Congress passed the Embargo Act in 1807 and produced a large share of its most vociferous opponents. By the end of 1808, the Act had lost all but its most ardent supporters and was replaced with the weak Nonintercourse Act in January 1809. As economically damaging as the Embargo was to New England in the short term, it would prove to have far-reaching benefits, forcing the region to develop the strong manufacturing base that would lead to its later prosperity and self-sufficiency. OCLC locates four copies. Scarce. SABIN 96013. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 16331.