When there's a whale, there's a way

Today, I shall enrage the woke left even further upon them discovering that I have caused the deaths of still more whales by preserving their New England ancestors from economic ruin in the letter I wrote on October 23, 1787.

On that date I addressed the Count de Montmorin, Foreign Minister of France, urging that the recent arrêt (royal decree) forbidding the importation of foreign whale oils not be enforced against the produce of the United States. That prohibition, applied to us, would have instantly destroyed the New England whale fishery, which depended upon French markets for its survival. By securing continued access for American oils and spermaceti, I sustained an industry that employed thousands of seamen, supplied the illuminants and lubricants of the age, and furnished a nursery for our navy—while of necessity taking the lives of the leviathans themselves.

Thus a measure of commercial relief, intended solely for the prosperity of Massachusetts and her sister states, becomes in modern eyes an additional charge against me.

This October 23, 1787, letter may be read here: https://www.thomasjefferson.com/jefferson-letters/october-23