Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence alongside another leader of the time – Benjamin Harrison the Fifth. He was serving as governor of Virginia, and the two corresponded often about the important issues of the time.
Shortly after the American Revolution, Jefferson wrote to Harrison about a subject that remains controversial today.
“You see the spark of liberty taking root in Europe in general, and the purpose of these movements is to fight for democracy over monarchy," says collector Nathan Raab. "And one of the things that these people want is the right to bear arms, which was of course central to the American experience.”
The Second Amendment did not yet exist, but Jefferson was adamant that people have the right to defend their country.
"You see the echoes of that – Lexington and Concord moment – in this letter.”
Raab, who deals in rare documents, bought this one from a private collector who paid $5,500 for it in 1982. Today, the purchase price is set at $90,000.
“The value of a letter is based on the person who signed it and the historical importance of the letter. Does the letter matter in the grand scheme of history? Those are the things that, over time, maintain their value.”
Raab says the market is strong.
“Such a statement by a Founding Father and particularly a signer of the Declaration of Independence – somebody who authored the Declaration of Independence on something so fundamental as that spirit of 1775 and what we now think of as the Second Amendment – something like that on the market, I have never seen anything like it, and I may never again.”
He expects major institutions and private collectors to check in from around the world.
