Thomas Jefferson actually said...

"It is by no means proposed that these works should be conducted on account of the United States."

"The instrument is now submitted to the Senate, with a request of their advice and consent as to its ratification."

"This having been lately claimed by a private individual, the city opposed the claim on a supposed legal title in itself."

"It is understood to have been a shoal or elevation of the bottom of the river adjacent to the bank of the suburbs of St. Mary, produced by the successive depositions of mud during the annual inundatio..."