RC (DNA: RG 46, LPPM, 8th Cong., 1st sess.); in a clerk’s hand, signed by Madison; at foot of text: “The President of the United States”; endorsed by a Senate clerk. PrC (DNA: RG 59, LMP, 1796-1814). Enclosures: (1) “Abstract of Impressments of Seamen belonging to American Vessels by the Agents of foreign Nations,” 2 Dec., containing a list of 77 persons impressed from American vessels from approximately March to October 1803, with individual entries including the following information (if known): name of the seaman, his place of birth, the date and place of his impressment, the name of the American vessel from which he was taken, the name of the foreign vessel that impressed him, his citizenship, and whether or not he carried a protection; three of the individuals on the list are identified as “Black men”; summaries at the conclusion of the abstract state that the British impressed 43 U.S. citizens, including 12 carrying protections, as well as 10 British natives and 17 seamen from other countries who were not naturalized citizens of the U.S. at the time of their impressment; the summary also notes that two men on the list had been impressed by France and one by the Batavian Republic. (2) Extract of James Maury, U.S. consul at Liverpool, to secretary of state, 24 Mch., warning that the threat of war between Great Britain and France “has occasioned a great press for Seamen”; he adds that many American mariners, confident in the continuation of peace, had not taken the precaution of furnishing themselves with proof of citizenship, “which exposes them to impressment.” (3) Extract of Robert W. Fox (misidentified as John W. Fox), U.S. consul at Falmouth, England, to secretary of state, 14 May, stating that “The Impress is very severe,” but that U.S. citizens have not been molested except for “two or three without protections,” who were taken while on board British ships; Fox had applied for their release and warns that U.S. seamen should carry their certificates of citizenship, “otherwise they will run great risk of being impressed.” (4) Extract of William Savage, agent for the relief and protection of American seamen at Kingston, Jamaica, to secretary of state, 25 June, reporting that a “hot press throughout this Island” has taken about 60 sailors from American vessels at his port; Savage has secured the release of those who are American citizens; several vessels on the north side of the island have found themselves in distress due to the loss of men; Savage has compiled a list of impressed seamen and will apply for their discharge once the British frigates carrying them shall arrive. (5) Thomas Barclay, British consul general for the eastern states of the U.S., to secretary of state, 20 Oct., enclosing a letter from Commodore Samuel Hood, 25 July, informing the U.S. government that the Royal Navy has blockaded Martinique and Guadeloupe since 17 June and warning that merchant vessels “may have no plea for attempting to enter the ports of those Islands” (Trs all in DNA: RG 46, LPPM, 8th Cong., 1st sess., in a clerk’s hand; printed in ASP description begins American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1832-61, 38 vols. description ends , Foreign Relations, 2:593-5. See also Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962- , 37 vols.: Sec. of State Ser., 1986- , 10 vols.; Pres. Ser., 1984- , 8 vols.; Ret. Ser., 2009- , 2 vols. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 4:451, 615-16; 5:124, 557).