From James Madison to Thomas P. Jones, [ca. 30 November 1827]
To Thomas P. Jones
[ca. 30 November 1827]
J. Madison presents his respects to Docr Jones1 with many thanks for the copy of his late address before the Franklin Institute.2 The facts & remarks on the employment of slaves, in Manufacturies, make it particularly interesting to the Southern sections of the Union, & encourage the hopes of a success in the experiments on foot which may produce a rapid multiplication of them.
Draft (DLC). Undated; conjectural date assigned based on the publication of Jones’s pamphlet (see n. 2 below).
1. Thomas P. Jones (1774–1848), an English-born writer and editor, was appointed professor of mechanics and natural philosophy at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in December 1825. He edited the Franklin Journal for the next twenty-two years. In 1828 he was appointed superintendent of the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, and he held that post until the office’s reorganization in 1836. Appointed a patent examiner in 1837, he resigned the next year.
2. Thomas P. Jones, An Address on the Progress of Manufactures and Internal Improvement, in the United States: And Particularly, on the Advantages to Be Derived from the Employment of Slaves in the Manufacturing of Cotton and Other Goods; Delivered […] November 6, 1827 (Philadelphia, 1827; 29381).