O Grab Me
From answers.com:
Embargo Act of 1807, passed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S. merchant marine suffered from both the British and French, and Thomas Jefferson undertook to answer both nations with measures that by restricting neutral trade would show the importance of that trade....Merchants, sea captains, and sailors were naturally dismayed to find themselves without income and to see the ships rotting at the wharves. All sorts of dodges were used to circumvent the law....Enforcement was difficult, especially in New England, where merchants looked on the scheme as an attempt to defraud them of a livelihood. When in Jan., 1809, Congress, against much opposition, passed an act to make enforcement more rigid, resistance approached the point of rebellion—again especially in New England—and the scheme had to be abandoned. On Mar. 1, 1809, the embargo was superseded by the Nonintercourse Act. This allowed resumption of all commercial intercourse except with Britain and France. Jefferson reluctantly accepted it....
From William Doyle:
The fact the state [of Vermont] shared a border with British Canada made Vermont more sensitive than many other states to the young nation's foreign policy decisions. When Jefferson called for an embargo on trade between the United States and Britain (and its colonies), many Vermonters were outraged. The young state shipped a considerable amount of its products north to Canada, and received goods from that country. To have the trade cut off was an economic hardship. Many defied the ban, skirting marshals patrolling the trade routes. Smuggler's Notch received its name in this period because the remote mountain gap was used as a pathway north. It was reported that in 1809 there were as many as 700 sleighs carrying oak and pork on the road from Middlebury to Montreal. Angry citizens transposed the letters of "embargo" to "o grab me" or "go bar em" as a way of denouncing the "dambargo."
Vermont's violations of the Embargo Act were so numerous that the United States customs collector in Vermont wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury that the law could not be enforced without military assistance. President Jefferson's response was to direct the collector to arm and equip vessels to prevent illegal trade. If this were not successful, the United States Marshal was authorized to raise a group of men "to aid in suppressing the insurrection or combination." Jefferson's orders enraged many Vermonters, "who resented imputations of treason." As a result of a town meeting, St. Albans wrote the president, denying the charge of insurrection. Vermont Federalists accused the Jefferson administration of supporting French radicalism.
As a result of the embargo, the Jeffersonians paid a heavy political price in the 1808 elections. The Federalists captured three out of the state's four congressional seats, and Federalist Isaac Tichenor recaptured the governship.
Moving to the 20th century, we have this:
When dealing with the news media, sooner usually means better. The earlier you can get your message to reporters and editors, the more likely your story will end up on TV or in print.
Sometimes, that means your agency is conducting an extensive public service campaign. You are planning a large kickoff event with a news conference, a demonstration and several well-known speakers. Two weeks prior to the event, you distribute news releases and media kits announcing the kickoff, but you embargo the information until after the news conference....
The media traditionally will honor your request for an embargo if the information does not involve a hard-news, breaking story. Also violating the request would create ill will with other media outlets as well as the sponsoring agency.
In general, the release of embargoed information can help the media help you get a good story produced, often by a wide range of media outlets.
Comments