RC (MHi); dateline at foot of text; endorsed by TJ as received 16 Mar. 1815 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Rhea to his constituents, Washington, D.C., 27 Feb. 1815, contending that the peace negotiations at Ghent had been delayed by the British government’s claim to “a large part of the district of Maine; the absolute dominion of all the great lakes, and fortified positions on their shores … a large part of the state of Ohio; the Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and western territories … together with the free navigation of the Mississippi” River; explaining the content and necessity of the taxes passed by Congress to meet America’s wartime needs and keep the public credit on a proper footing; hailing the peace treaties signed with Great Britain and her Indian allies; justifying the 1812 declaration of war by the United States; describing America’s successes on land and sea during the conflict, with particular emphasis on General Andrew Jackson’s decisive victories, first over the Creek Indians and then over the British at the Battle of New Orleans; stating that with the return of peace the “honor, rights, liberties, sovereignty, and independence, of this nation, are preserved and confirmed, and will be transmitted pure to posterity”; and asking his fellow citizens to join him in thanking “the Almighty Being, who holds in his power the destinies of men and of nations!” (printed circular in DLC: Printed Ephemera Collection; reprinted in Noble E. Cunningham Jr., ed., Circular Letters of Congressmen to Their Constituents, 1789–1829 [1978], 2:921–7).