Jefferson's Embargo, the Potash Rebellion of 1808, and Trump's Idiocy
July 9, 2026
by William P. Meyers

Site Search

Popular pages:

With a little help from his fiends

A lot of people, Democrat's at least, think Donald Trump is the worst President in American history. They say he divides the country, his economic (and other) policies are idiotic, and the Iran War is the worst foreign policy decision in American history. Not a Trump fan, but have they read any American history?

Has Trump Herbert Hoovered the economy, or caused a Civil War like Lincoln?

Details matter. So let's take a look at one of the presidents usually considered great, Thomas Jefferson. No, I am not just using Jefferson because he proclaimed liberty while owning slaves. He did help right the Declaration of Independence and most of the original laws for the new State of Virginia. This essay is not about his positive contributions. This is about his screw ups. Because he screwed up worse than President Trump has, so far. Admittedly this example, his worst screw up, was from the last full year of his term, 1808. Trump could still screw up badly. So this evaluation, that Jefferson was a worse President than Trump, is preliminary.

Thomas Jefferson beat John Adams in the election of 1800, which back then lasted from October 31 until December 1, as states could still choose their own voting day. Jefferson won by a landslide. His party was known as the Democratic-Republicans, while Adams was a Federalist. The big issues were how powerful the new, central, federal government should be, and whether to favor England or France in foreign relations.

England and France continued their intermittent wars with each other starting in 1803. Jefferson tried to favor France, and got a positive result when it decided to sell the Louisiana Territory (actually, native American tribal lands) to the U.S.A. But both nations ended up blockading (and raiding) American shipping. Jefferson believed the U.S. was too weak to fight one or the other of these (then) great imperial nations.

In a moment of idiocy, Jefferson asked Congress to impose on a general embargo, which was passed and signed into law on December 22, 1807. Americans could neither import nor export goods to foreign nations.

Long experienced in smuggling, and quickly in dire economic straights, many Americans refused to honor the embargo.

Notice how the price of gasoline and diesel jumped up when Trump's idiocy closed the Strait of Hormuz? Well, in 1808 America was still highly dependent on foreign imports. Much of its agricultural products, and wood products, were exported back to Europe by sea. On March 3, 1808, by decree, President Jefferson closed all trade across the land frontiers as well, meaning trade with Canada, Florida, and Mexico.

Vermont was particularly hard hit because its economy depended on shipping wood and wood products. One of those products was potash, which was largely potassium carbonate, made by leaching water through wood ash. It was one of the important chemicals at that stage of the Industrial Revolution, used in making glass, soap, and textiles. Vermont officials protested to the federal government, to no avail. In fact Jefferson proclaimed that any trading between Vermont and Canada would be treated as an insurrection and crushed by force of arms. Smuggling continue, with Lake Champlain as the main route.

The best known smuggling ship on the lake was the Black Snake. It could carry 100 barrels of potash, which had risen in price from $25 to $300 per barrel. When it became known, in August, that the Fly was sent to stop the Snake, the Snake captain installed a large gun on his boat. When the ship was seized its crew was on shore, but fired on the federal agents. Three federal militia men were killed before the smugglers were captured. Cyrus Dean was convicted and hanged for urging Samuel Mott to fire. An estimated 10,000 men walked in Dean's funeral procession. In the Autumn the Republican government of Vermont was voted out and Federalist voted back in. "It was a vote for smuggling, against Jefferson and his hated embargo." [Thomas Jefferson, A Life, by Willard Sterne Randall, HarperPerennial, 1993. P. 582] After that two smugglers who had killed militiamen with their fire were sentenced to 10 years in prison, and public whippings, but their sentences were soon commuted.]

Jefferson's Embargo did not help the situation with England and France. It did tank the American economy. It was repealed in March, 1809.

Jefferson had thought of running for a third term as President. Instead the Democratic-Republicans ran James Madison, who easily won the election of 1804.

By all standards Thomas Jefferson was a very smart man, one of the top lawyers and scientists of his era. He was born well by the standards of colonial America, but nowhere near as rich as Donald Trump. All indications are, that if Trump is smart, it is not in the academic sense. Trump is an energetic man. He could be considered responsible for two rebellions: that of January 6, 2021, when he encouraged his followers to attack Congress and try to overturn election results; and the protests and riots resulting from his immigration policies. Who was the better President? Since the economy effects most Americans, the fairest measure would be how a President did on that issue. Jefferson tanked the U.S. economy, so despite his other achievements, so far I would need to admit Donald Trump is the better President.