Jefferson's Disastrous Embargo

On December 22, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed what still stands as one of the most controversial—and unusual—of American foreign policies, the Embargo Act.  In this excerpt from a 2007 talk, Jim Sofka, a former fellow at Monticello's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, lists the Embargo's disastrous effects on the U.S. economy and explains why it's considered the greatest failure of Jefferson's Presidency.

(Added to Monticello Podcasts on December 15, 2007. Approx. 11.5 min.)

• Listen to Jim Sofka's entire talk on the Embargo of 1807