Rare Thomas Jefferson Letter Discovered In Family's Attic On Sale For $325,000

One Mississippi family is selling a rare letter from Founding Father Thomas Jefferson for $325,000 after locating the document in a box of heirlooms inside their home.

The letter from Jefferson was addressed to William H. Crawford, a former U.S. Cabinet member and Ambassador to France. The four-page letter was described as a "testament to independence" by the president of The Raab Collection, according to Yahoo. The letter, written in 1815, was authenticated by the Philadelphia-based dealer of historical documents. The Raab Collection posted the letter for sale on July 4.

"The historical importance of this letter blew my mind," Nathan Raab, the vice president of The Raab Collection told CNN. "You feel like you're in the room with Thomas Jefferson, unfiltered. He talks about Napoleon, gives an assessment of the war, talks about Andrew Jackson and his victory at the Battle of New Orleans, compares the War of 1812 to the U.S. Revolution."

Jefferson wrote in the letter regarding the British: "We owe to their past follies and wrongs the incalculable advantage of being made independent of them." He also wrote: "We must sacrifice the last dollar and drop of blood to rid us of that badge of slavery, and it must rest with England alone to say whether it is worth eternal war, for eternal it must be if she holds to the wrong."

According to Raab, the family who discovered the rare letter in their home are direct descendants of Crawford. The identity of the family has not been disclosed because The Raab Collection reportedly does not release the identities of their sellers.

"We authenticated the material using our extensive knowledge of Jefferson's hand-writing, our decades of experience, and the context of an entire family archive," Nathan Raab continued. "Knowledge of Jefferson's pens, paper and flow of ink are crucial of course."

There has been a "huge" level of interest from buyers looking to purchase the letter. "It's the kind of letter that comes up once in a generation," Raab stated.

Head over to The Raab Collection website to learn more about the rare letter from Founding Father Thomas Jefferson.