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Autographs/W: Important "Danl Webster" Letter

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Autographs/W: Important  Danl Webster  Letter
DANIEL WEBSTER, American Lawyer, Statesman, and Orator. Letter Signed "Danl Webster" as Secretary of State, September 24, 1841, Department of State, Washington, 10" x 7.5", Choice Very Fine. To Joshua A. Spencer, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, at Utica. In full: "I have to invite your attention to the rumor of a flagrant breach of the laws of the United States by certain persons who are said to have fired cannon from Navy Island with the view to destroy certain vessels of war of Great Britain near the Canada shore. It is the President's desire that you should at once make use of all the means at your command for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of the rumor referred to and of detecting the authors of the outrage whom, if discovered, you will prosecute to the utmost extent of the law. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Danl Webster." This important letter refers to an incident in the hostilities along the Canadian border, which had two causes. Since around the beginning of 1838, there had been certain violent acts, mainly on the river and lake border between New York State and Canada, committed by American sympathizers with Canadian rebels against Great Britain (there were also some attacks against Americans by Canadian militia). Another slightly later conflict between the U.S. and Canada, dubbed the Aroostook War, over the northeastern boundary of Maine, nearly erupted into all-out war. It was in the interest of the U.S. Government to stop its citizens from hostile actions such as those mentioned in Webster's letter. As Secretary of State (appointed by William Henry Harrison and retained by John Tyler after Harrison's untimely death), much of the burden of dealing with the Canadian border situation fell on Webster's shoulders. He was largely responsible for negotiating the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, which finally resolved the Maine border problem and is considered one of the major achievements of the Tyler administration. A letter of significant content.