emphasis on the opposition of various Southwestern tribes to Cox’s scheme (Jefferson to William Blount, 12 Aug. 1791; Washington to Randolph, 10 Oct. 1791, Fitzpatrick, Writings, xxxi, 386–7).  

 

Jefferson probably asked Randolph for an opinion on the legal ramifications of Cox’s actions at about the same time that he wrote to Governor Blount, which means that the opinion itself could have been written at any time after August 12th, but before September 2, 1791, the date Jefferson left Philadelphia for Mon-ticello. The law of the second session was the July 22, 1790 act of Congress regulating trade and intercourse with the Indians (Annals, ii, 2301–3).

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