細節
JEFFERSON, Thomas, and James MADISON, Presidents. Document signed ("Th:Jefferson" as President, "James Madison" as Secretary of State), Washington, D.C., 18 November 1803. 1 page, large oblong folio, ON FINE PARCHMENT, large papered seal at lower left, bold calligraphic heading "Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America...," marked "Duplicate" at top edge, ink very slightly pale, minor yellowing of parchment, IN A FINE GILTWOOD FRAME: double gilt-lined mat with olive velvet surround.
THE APPOINTMENT OF TOBIAS LEAR AS CONSUL TO ALGIERS
President Jefferson and Secretary of State Madison confirm the appointment of Tobias Lear (1762-1816) as Consul to Algiers. Lear, private Secretary (1785-1792) and military Secretary (1792-1799) to the late President George Washington, had first been dispatched by Jefferson as Consul to Santa Domingo, in 1801, but he had been forced to leave when the French invaded the island in their efforts to suppress the slave revolution under Toussaint l'Overture. The assignment to Algiers was another particularly difficult one; he was to expected to negotiate an agreement with the Barbary corsairs to end the interception of American merchant vessels. Lear sailed on the U.S.S. Constitution, under Captain William Eaton: "between 1803 and 1805 he assisted in making a treaty with Morocco, in keeping a precarious peace with Algiers, and in adjusting affairs in Tunis" (DAB), but in 1805 agreed a hasty and controversial treaty with the Pasha of Tripoli (who held 300 American hostages). Lear remained in his post, though, until 1812, when he was expelled by the Dey of Algiers. On Lear, see R. Brighton, The Checkered Career of Tobias Lear, 1985.
THE APPOINTMENT OF TOBIAS LEAR AS CONSUL TO ALGIERS
President Jefferson and Secretary of State Madison confirm the appointment of Tobias Lear (1762-1816) as Consul to Algiers. Lear, private Secretary (1785-1792) and military Secretary (1792-1799) to the late President George Washington, had first been dispatched by Jefferson as Consul to Santa Domingo, in 1801, but he had been forced to leave when the French invaded the island in their efforts to suppress the slave revolution under Toussaint l'Overture. The assignment to Algiers was another particularly difficult one; he was to expected to negotiate an agreement with the Barbary corsairs to end the interception of American merchant vessels. Lear sailed on the U.S.S. Constitution, under Captain William Eaton: "between 1803 and 1805 he assisted in making a treaty with Morocco, in keeping a precarious peace with Algiers, and in adjusting affairs in Tunis" (DAB), but in 1805 agreed a hasty and controversial treaty with the Pasha of Tripoli (who held 300 American hostages). Lear remained in his post, though, until 1812, when he was expelled by the Dey of Algiers. On Lear, see R. Brighton, The Checkered Career of Tobias Lear, 1985.