Secession.

Right now the Muse is very much into the Civil War, where secession was the major issue. The secession issue relative to the South was no different than it was for New England during the Embargo. If the Yankees formed their own union, they would be free to trade with Britain and the rest of Europe. They were willing to put up with the boardings of the British and the confiscations of the French, because commerce was their life-blood. Jefferson and his party (by now we were a two-party system, one favoring Britain and one favoring France) were concerned with the lack of respect shown our flag, thus our country, treating it as though it were not worth worrying about. In the larger scheme of things, this was important since the country wasn't very old yet and wasn't well established.

But the local folks, anywhere, are generally not worried about the larger scheme of things. They are interested in their own well being, and this often means the well-being of their families and communities. Said well-being is sometimes in conflict with the common good; the Federalists and ship owners and mariners protested that the consitution guaranted their liberties and pursuit of happiness, which certainly must include making a living. And they were certainly deprived of these.

But, finally, the day before he was due to leave office, Jefferson repealed the Embargo. Impressment resumed (the French, by then, were buying flour so presumably they weren't the problem they had once been) and American trade picked up where it left off. For the next three years the European routes were open and, as far as the Muse knows, much money was made, though American mariners were forbidden to  trade with England or France.

In the fictional town of Waterford, and most likely everywhere else, Elijah Merrick and his cohort wanted to conserve what money they had and add to it, certain that war with England was inevitable; he forbade Molly from spending on entertainments and social activities so she was still stuck with the dirty work, though was able to hire a local girl to help her, which took the curse off the return to penury.

The simple life was now Molly's life. She was ripe to take on something new and exciting, because the daily round of work was neither new nor exciting, and she had been badly spoiled by Elijah. As a female person, the Muse is dumbfounded at the work of women in those days. It seems impossible that such drudgery was the inevitable result of marriage -- but it was. And marriage was inevitable, too; who was going to take care of the daughters of the house when their father passed away? The ramifications are very contemporary, relative to women's rights, but since the Muse is historic, we will not take that up.

As far as secession goes, we think New England could have made it just fine on her own. Money and manufacturing was centered here, and though we couldn't feed ourselves, we'd have been able to buy food, because of that money and manufacturing. In fact, the west would probably have liked to seceed, too, having little in common with the east. The Mississippi River was their outlet to the world, and as long as they could control it, they didn't really need the federal government. Unfortunately for them, by 1807, the government was well established in New Orleans and could have easily blocked their only outlet to the world. Not so New England, with a whole lot of coastline....

50 years later, it was another story. A really awful one, which the Muse will not dwell on, just now.