RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr Late President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 13 Mar. 1811 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Rhea to his constituents, Washington, D.C., 25 Feb. 1811, describing the fiscal condition of the United States and progress made on paying the national debt; reporting the passage of a statehood act for Orleans Territory, the ports of which are of particular significance to Tennessee; detailing the background leading up to the Embargo, including decrees and orders issued by France and Great Britain; justifying decisions made by the federal government in response to French and British actions; discussing the possible consequences of France’s apparent revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees; declaring that American domestic conditions are fortuitous; and predicting a glorious future for the nation (Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina State Gazette, 21 Mar. 1811, at head of text: “Letter from Mr Rhea, of Tennessee, To his Constituents”; reprinted in Noble E. Cunningham Jr., ed., Circular Letters of Congressmen to Their Constituents, 1789–1829 [1978], 2:752–60).