James Monroe

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• Born: 28 April 1758
• Birthplace: Westmoreland County, Virginia
• Died: 4 July 1831
• Best Known As: President of the United States, 1817-1825

James Monroe served one term as governor of Virginia, then was sent to France by Thomas Jefferson to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. An officer during the American Revolution, Monroe was an all-around statesman whose career included stints as congressman, senator, foreign diplomat and cabinet member. In 1811 he was appointed Secretary of State under President James Madison, and in 1816 Monroe won the presidential election. He was easily re-elected in 1820 (winning 231 of 232 electoral votes), and his administration was termed "The Era of Good Feelings", a time when the United States focused on expansion and ignored the troubles of the European nations. He is famous for the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which proclaimed U.S. hostility toward any European intervention in the Americas.

Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is named after President Monroe... Monroe's was the first inauguration held outdoors... He was married to Elizabeth Kortright Monroe in 1786. He died less than a year after she died... Monroe died on 4 July 1831, five years to the day after Jefferson and John Adams... He was succeeded by John Quincy Adams.

While at William and Mary in 1776, Monroe was commissioned an infantry lieutenant in the 3rd Virginia Regiment. He subsequently rose to lieutenant colonel, serving with the Continental army in the battles of Long Island, New York; Trenton (where he was severely wounded); Brandywine; and the Battle of Monmouth.

In 1782, Monroe entered the Virginia House of Delegates; later he held positions in the Continental Congress (1783–86) and U.S. Senate (1790–93), and as governor of Virginia (1799–1802 and 1811). In 1793–96, he was U.S. minister to France, returning there in 1803 to help negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. Thereafter he served as minister in London and Madrid until 1807.

Monroe became secretary of state and a leading advocate for the diplomatic and military policies of James Madison's administration in 1811. As acting secretary of war during the winter of 1812–13 and secretary of war, October 1814–March 1815, he shaped U.S. manpower policies during the War of 1812.

Monroe's presidency (1817–25) contributed significantly to national defense and security. The 1819 Adams‐Onís Treaty (or Transcontinental Treaty) acquired the Floridas, established clear boundaries for the Louisiana Purchase, and extended U.S. territory to the Pacific. His annual message of 1823, subsequently known as the Monroe Doctrine, laid the foundation for U.S. diplomatic hegemony in the Americas. His administrations improved the efficiency of the army and began the professionalization of its officer corps. In 1825, Monroe retired to New York City; he died on 4 July 1831.

[See also Army, U.S.: 1783–1865; Commander in Chief, President as; Revolutionary War: Military and Diplomatic Course.]

Bibliography

• William P. Cresson, James Monroe, 1946.
• Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity, 1971

Monroe, James (1758-1831) 5th president of the United States (1817-25), born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Monroe fought in the Revolutionary War and was wounded at the battle of Trenton (1776). He later studied law with Thomas Jefferson and served in the Virginia legislature (1782). As a delegate to the Continental Congress (1783-86), Monroe opposed ratification of the Constitution, believing it granted too much power to the central government. While serving in the Senate (1790-94), Monroe became a staunch anti-Federalist, allying himself with the Jeffersonians. As governor of Virginia (1799-1802; 1811) Monroe proved a solid administrator. In 1803 he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase; giving him national prominence. As minister to Great Britain (1803-07), Monroe failed to effect a treaty acceptable to Jefferson. In 1811 James Madison appointed Monroe secretary of state, and for a time during the War of 1812 he was secretary of war as well (1814-15), reorganizing that department. In the presidential election of 1816 Monroe handily defeated his Federalist opposition, and four years later was easily reelected. His inauguration ushered in what came to be called the “Era of Good Feeling.” Monroe toured the country, put together a strong cabinet, acquired Florida (1819), and approved the Missouri Compromise (1820). His most significant achievement came in the realm of foreign affairs with the declaration, later known as the Monroe Doctrine, that the United States considered the Americas closed to further colonization and would regard as an unfriendly act any interference in their affairs. The principle was formulated with the assistance of secretary of state John Quincy Adams and issued in Monroe's annual message of 1823.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

James Monroe (1758-1831), fifth president of the United States, a founder of the Jeffersonian Republican party and a major agent in acquiring Louisiana and Florida, authored the celebrated American foreign policy statement, the Monroe Doctrine.

James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Va., on April 28, 1758, on his parents' small plantation. He enrolled in William and Mary College in 1774 but left 2 years later, with the beginning of the American Revolution, to enlist as a lieutenant in the 3d Virginia Regiment. He was seriously wounded in the action at Trenton, and his heroism earned him the rank of major. In 1777 and 1778 he was aide to Gen. William Alexander (Lord Stirling) with the rank of colonel. Unable to obtain a field command because of the excess of officers, he returned to Virginia and entered the lower house of the legislature in 1782. At this time he formed his friendship with Governor Thomas Jefferson, with whom he began to study law.

In 1783 Monroe was elected to the governor's council; the next year he, Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee were members of the Virginia delegation to the Confederation Congress. Monroe labored to strengthen the central government, but after failing to secure reform through Congress, he endorsed the recommendation that a special convention be held. He was responsible for the structure of territorial government incorporated in the Ordinance of 1787. In 1786 he led the fight against the proposal of John Jay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to negotiate a treaty with Spain closing the Mississippi for 20 years in return for commercial concessions. While a member of Congress he married Elizabeth Kortright, one of the most beautiful women of her generation.

Monroe was not a member of the Constitutional Convention, but as a delegate to the Virginia ratifying convention, he opposed ratification unless the Constitution was amended. After the new government was inaugurated and the amending process under way, he ceased his opposition. At this time he shifted his residence to Albemarle County adjacent to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

U.S. Senator

After a few years of law practice Monroe entered the U.S. Senate in 1790. He emerged as a leading critic of George Washington's administration, which, he felt, was favoring the commercial class and seeking closer ties with Great Britain. He attributed these policies to the influence of Alexander Hamilton. Monroe joined James Madison and Jefferson in organizing the opposition that developed into the Republican party.

Diplomatic Posts

In 1794 Washington appointed Monroe minister to France. Monroe accepted at the urging of the Republicans, who felt that friendship with France was essential for the preservation of republican government in the United States. Arriving in France immediately after the downfall of Robes-pierre, Monroe was able to ease recent tensions, but he irritated Washington by publicly voicing enthusiasm for the French Revolution. The ratification of Jay's Treaty led to a worsening of relations between France and the United States, and Monroe was recalled in 1796 in a manner casting doubt on his conduct. He published a vindication, asserting that the administration was seeking to join England in the war against France.

As proof that Monroe's recall had not shaken party confidence, the Republicans elected him governor of Virginia in 1799. He proved an able administrator, acting decisively to suppress the attempted slave rebellion (Gabriel's Rebellion) in 1800. In 1803 President Jefferson sent him to France to assist Robert R. Livingston in seeking a port for America at the mouth of the Mississippi River after Spanish authorities had closed the river to American ships. In France, Monroe learned that Napoleon, who had acquired Louisiana from Spain, had offered to sell all Louisiana. Although empowered to buy only a small tract, Monroe and Livingston purchased the whole region. From 1804 to 1807 Monroe was minister to Great Britain.

In 1806 Monroe and William Pinkney concluded a treaty with Great Britain permitting American ships to carry produce of the French colonies to France if American duties were paid. Jefferson and his secretary of state, James Madison, did not consider this arrangement a sufficient compensation for the omission of impressment, which they deemed the sine qua non for any treaty with England. Consequently, it was not submitted to the Senate. Deeply offended, Monroe allowed dissident Republicans in Virginia to run him against Madison in the 1808 presidential election. Madison won, but Monroe garnered enough votes to indicate wide support. In 1811 President Madison, plagued by factional conflicts within his own party and a resurgence of federalism, appointed Monroe secretary of state.

Secretary of State

Monroe's entry into the Cabinet did not change the policy of commercial warfare with Great Britain, but it did strengthen the administration. Enjoying great popularity among the younger Republican congressmen, Monroe worked with them to implement presidential policies. He collaborated with the "War Hawks" in drafting the measures that culminated in the declaration of war against England in 1812. He continued in the State Department during the war, serving simultaneously as secretary of war after John Armstrong retired in disgrace following the burning of the capital.

Presidential Policies

Monroe was named Republican presidential candidate in 1816. The Federalists offered only token opposition. As president, Monroe was an old-fashioned figure, wearing his hair pulled back in a queue and clad in the black clothes of the Revolutionary days. Tall, dignified, and formal in manner, he was admired for his genuine goodness, warmth, and lack of malice. His face was rather plain with massive features, but his widely set gray eyes and his smile reflected benevolence. He did not reach decisions quickly, for he was inclined to reflect carefully on all aspects of a question. His attention to detail gave him a soundness of judgment often lacking in more original minds. His remarkable awareness of the trends of public opinion contributed to his political success. He introduced into the White House a new, more formal note. Although he received congressmen, state party leaders, and citizens freely, he kept diplomats at a distance.

Monroe's Cabinet consisted of John Quincy Adams (State), William H. Crawford (Treasury), John C. Calhoun (War), William Wirt (Attorney General), and Benjamin Crowninshield, followed by Smith Thompson and Samuel L. Southard (Navy). If Monroe's appearance suggested the past, his policies were distinctly contemporary. A moderate nationalist, he supported the Bank of the United States, sought to maintain a large peacetime army, and approved the protective tariff.

Monroe made the restoration of political harmony (which meant, in effect, the elimination of parties) a major goal. To facilitate this, he toured the Union, journeying to New England in 1817 and to the South and West in 1819. The "Era of Good Feeling" that followed was short-lived. In 1820 Monroe, who was unopposed, received all the electoral votes but one.

During Monroe's presidency two major domestic crises occurred. The Panic of 1819 resulted from the overexpansion of credit during and after the War of 1812. The abrupt decline in government revenues forced a drastic reduction in the appropriation for the extensive system of coastal fortifications that Monroe had undertaken. The second crisis took place in 1820, following attempts to make the abolition of slavery a condition for the admission of Missouri to statehood. This conflict so divided the nation that many feared the Union would be destroyed. Monroe opposed any restriction on Missouri, but in the interest of harmony he accepted the compromise admitting Missouri as a slave state but excluding slavery from north of 36°30' in the Louisiana Territory.

Monroe's most important accomplishments were in foreign affairs. In 1819 he capitalized on Andrew Jackson's invasion of Florida to pressure Spain into ceding Florida and establishing the western and northern boundaries of Louisiana. Jackson's seizure of Spanish military posts precipitated a domestic furor. Many felt he should be reprimanded for exceeding his orders. Monroe, who appreciated the advantage Jackson's action gave him in negotiations with Spain, chose a middle course. He restored the posts and acknowledged that though Jackson had violated his orders, he had acted on reasons that seemed sufficient during the campaign.

Monroe Doctrine

In spite of considerable pressure for recognizing the new Latin American states, Monroe held off until 1822, after ratification of the treaty with Spain. His concern that the European powers might intervene in South America to restore Spanish authority seemed justified in 1823, after France suppressed revolution in Spain. Consequently, in 1823 Monroe was inclined to accept Britain's proposal that the United States and Great Britain jointly declare opposition to European interference in Latin America. However, though Jefferson and Madison urged him to accept, Monroe, desiring the United States to pursue an independent course, decided to act unilaterally. In his annual message of Dec. 2, 1823 (subsequently known as the Monroe Doctrine), he expressed disapproval of European intervention and affirmed America's intention of not interfering in the internal affairs of other nations. The message also contained a statement that the Americas were not to be considered open to further European colonization.

Last Years

Monroe's last years in office were harassed by the intraparty battle for the 1824 presidential nomination. His hope for a general rapprochement with England was frustrated when a treaty to suppress the international slave trade was so amended that England withdrew ratification.

Monroe's retirement was plagued by financial difficulties. He obtained some relief when Congress voted him $30,000 in 1826, and a similar sum in 1831. Until his health failed in 1831, he was a member of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia. In 1829, as a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention, he joined Madison in an unsuccessful attempt to arrange a compromise between Eastern and Western interests. He died in New York City on July 4, 1831.

Further Reading

The Writings of James Monroe was edited by Stanislaus M. Hamilton (7 vols., 1898-1903). Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (1971), concentrates on Monroe's political and public life. Useful older biographies are George Morgan, The Life of James Monroe (1921), and William P. Cresson, James Monroe (1946). Lucius Wilmerding, James Monroe: Public Claimant (1960), is an exhaustive study of a minor aspect of Monroe's career.

The presidential elections of 1816 and 1820 are covered in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., History of American Presidential Elections (4 vols., 1971). For Monroe's presidency, George Dangerfield's colorful but overdrawn The Era of Good Feelings (1952) and his briefer and more restrained The Awakening of American Nationalism, 1815-1828 (1965) are important works. There is much material on Monroe in Irving Brant, James Madison (6 vols., 1941-1961), and in Dumas Malone, Jefferson and His Time (3 vols., 1948-1962).

Among the most important works on Monroe's foreign policy are Bradford Perkins, The Monroe Doctrine (1927; rev. ed. 1966); Philip C. Brooks, Diplomacy and the Borderlands: The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 (1939); Arthur P. Whitaker, The United States and the Independence of Latin America, 1800-1830 (1941); Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (1949); and Bradford Perkins, Castlereagh and Adams: England and the United States, 1812-1823 (1964).

For more information on James Monroe, visit Britannica.com.

• Born: Apr. 28, 1758, Westmoreland County, Va.
• Political party: Democratic-Republican
• Education: College of William and Mary, 1774–76
• Military service: 3rd Virginia Infantry, 1776–80
• Previous government service: Virginia House of Delegates, 1782, 1787, 1810; Virginia Governor's Council, 1781–83; Continental Congress, 1783–86; Annapolis Convention, 1786; Virginia constitutional ratifying convention, 1788; U.S. Senate, 1790–94; minister to France, 1794–97; governor of Virginia, 1799–1802; 1811; minister to Great Britain, 1803–7; U.S. secretary of state, 1811–17; U.S. secretary of war, 1814–15
• Elected President, 1816; served, 1817–25
• Subsequent public service: Virginia Constitutional Convention, 1829; regent, University of Virginia, 1826–31
• Died: July 4, 1831, New York, N.Y.

James Monroe was a brilliant secretary of state whose Presidency restored peace and prosperity in the aftermath of the War of 1812. Monroe was born into a family without much money, but relatives helped him attend the College of William and Mary. He left after two years to fight with the 3rd Virginia Infantry under General George Washington during the revolutionary war. He fought in several battles and was wounded while leading a charge at the Battle of Trenton. In 1780 he left the military and studied law under Thomas Jefferson, who was at that time governor of Virginia. In 1782 he served in the Virginia Governor's Council, then in the Congress under the Articles of Confederation from 1783 to 1786. Although he opposed ratifying the new U.S. Constitution, Monroe soon took part in national politics. He was defeated by James Madison for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1788, but two years later was selected by the Virginia legislature for a seat in the U.S. Senate, where he opposed the Federalist economic programs of Alexander Hamilton.

President George Washington appointed Monroe to be U.S. minister to France. He refused to defend the Jay Treaty with Great Britain to the French government, believing the terms to favor British interests against the French, and Washington recalled him. He published a defense of his conduct and an attack on the Federalist foreign policy in a book, A View of the Conduct of the Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States (1797). He then served three terms as governor of Virginia.

In 1803 President Jefferson appointed Monroe to a mission to France to purchase New Orleans. Finding that Emperor Napoleon wished to sell even more land, Monroe exceeded his instructions and negotiated a treaty to purchase the entire Louisiana Territory. The following year, however, he failed in an attempt to negotiate the purchase of Florida from Spain. In 1806 he negotiated a commercial treaty with Great Britain that seemed so favorable to the British that President Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate. In response, Monroe entered the Presidential contest in an attempt to defeat Jefferson's protege, James Madison. But in a replay of their 1788 contest, Madison defeated Monroe once again, this time for the Democratic-Republican caucus nomination.

In spite of their political rivalry, Madison appointed Monroe secretary of state in 1811. Simultaneously appointed secretary of war just after the British sacking of the capital in 1814, Monroe prevented an outright British victory, and he oversaw a favorable peace treaty that ended the War of 1812. By a narrow margin the Democratic-Republican congressional caucus nominated him for the Presidency in 1816. He handily won the general election against Federalist candidate Rufus King.

Since the Capitol had been burned to the ground by the British, Monroe's inauguration took place at the Brick Capitol, a temporary meeting hall for Congress. The Monroes could not move into the President's House, soon to be known as the White House, for six months, and Congress could not use the Capitol again until 1819.

Monroe's two terms saw the disappearance of the Federalist party and the brief establishment of a “no party” period known as the Era of Good Feelings. Sectional conflicts among the North, South, and West took the place of party competition. Monroe was reelected in 1820 by a 231-to-1 vote in the electoral college. The one dissenting vote was cast by William Plumer, an elector from New Hampshire, because he wished to reserve the honor of a unanimous vote for Washington alone.

Monroe appointed an exceptional cabinet: John Quincy Adams as secretary of state, John C. Calhoun as secretary of war, William Crawford as secretary of the Treasury, and William Wirt as attorney general—all men of Presidential stature. The cabinet met 180 times during Monroe's two terms, and most decisions were made by consensus.

In domestic affairs Monroe reduced taxes and paid off much of the public debt. He signed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which forbade slavery in the Louisiana Territory above the southern boundary of Missouri, in spite of his doubts that Congress had the constitutional power to exclude slavery from any part of the Union. The compromise preserved sectional peace. Monroe vetoed the Cumberland Road Bill in 1822 because he did not think it was constitutional for the national government to charge tolls for national roads. The following year, however, he submitted his own public works program for construction of roads and canals, to be funded by the national government out of general revenues.

Monroe's major accomplishments were in foreign affairs. In 1818 the United States settled its fishing disputes with Canada, which involved the right of Americans to fish off the coast of Labrador. By the Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) the United States acquired Florida from Spain and all Spanish claims to the Oregon Territory were granted instead to the United States. The United States recognized the newly independent nations of Latin America, and the Monroe Doctrine established the principles that European states were neither to colonize in the New World nor interfere with the governments there. Monroe's only significant failure involved the Senate, which refused to consent to a treaty with Great Britain that would have allowed navies of both nations to put an end to the illegal trade in African slaves.

Monroe retired in 1825 to Oak Hill, his Virginia plantation. He was the last of the “Virginia dynasty” to occupy the White House. Monroe acted as a regent of the University of Virginia and presided over the Virginia state constitutional convention in 1829. He died on a visit to New York City on July 4, 1831.

See also Caucuses, congressional; Jefferson, Thomas; Madison, James; Monroe Doctrine; Washington, George

Sources

• Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971).
• George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1952)

(1758-1831), fifth president of the United States. Monroe, who succeeded James Madison as president of the United States in 1817, was the last of the dynasty of Virginia presidents that began with Thomas Jefferson in 1801. Much of Monroe's career was closely associated with his two presidential predecessors. After reading law with Jefferson, he retained close ties with his mentor, and through Jefferson, he became friends with Madison. Jefferson's and Madison's more brilliant minds, broader interests, and greater impact on their times have overshadowed Monroe's place in the history of the early Republic. Nevertheless, he achieved a high degree of success in public life and enjoyed wide popularity. For Monroe politics was a consuming interest; he was a pragmatic man keenly sensitive to political currents.

Though closely linked to Jefferson and Madison in his political career, Monroe had established his own identity early. Leaving the College of William and Mary in 1776, the eighteen-year-old Monroe enlisted in the Continental army and as a junior officer fought under Washington in the fierce engagements of that year, being wounded at the Battle of Trenton. After the war, Monroe served in the Continental Congress and favored reform of the Confederation, but he opposed the ratification of the Constitution in the Virginia ratifying convention, where Madison led the fight for adoption. Monroe broadly approved the basic structure of the new government, but he favored adding to the Constitution more republican provisions, such as the direct popular election of the president and senators. He also wanted a bill of rights added prior to ratification. Monroe's antifederalism did not prevent his election to the U.S. Senate, and he soon joined with Representative Madison in support of Secretary of State Jefferson's opposition to Alexander Hamilton. He was active in organizing the early Republican party. Governor of Virginia at the time of Jefferson's election to the presidency, Monroe later was sent on the successful mission to purchase Louisiana and was subsequently named minister to Great Britain.

As Jefferson's retirement from office approached, Monroe allowed his name to be brought forward by Virginia friends as an opponent to Madison for the Republican nomination for president in 1808. Despite Monroe's differences with Madison, Jefferson succeeded in keeping the circle of friendship from being permanently broken, and in 1811 President Madison brought Monroe into his cabinet as secretary of state. For a time during the War of 1812, Monroe also acted as secretary of war.

Elected president in 1816, Monroe faced challenges different from any of his predecessors. With the demise in national politics of the Federalist party, he sought to end party divisions in the United States and to be the head of the nation, not of a party. The absence of a strong party in Congress in support of the president necessitated the working out of new relationships with Congress and with members of his cabinet. The "era of good feelings," over which Monroe is commonly seen as presiding, lacked the bitter partisanship of earlier years, but the times were not lacking in controversy. Although settled by compromise, the divisions over the admission of Missouri as a state in 1820 provided disturbing evidence of underlying tensions. Monroe's presidency is often remembered for the doctrine that bears his name, but the Monroe Doctrine would become more important in later years than when it was announced in 1823. Still, Monroe's nearly unanimous reelection to a second term in 1820 testified to his successful management of the office and his popularity as president.

Bibliography:

Harry Ammon, James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity (1971; reprint, 1990).

Author:

Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.

See also Elections: 1816 , 1820; Louisiana Purchase; Revolution. For events during Monroe's administration, see Adams-Onís Treaty; American System; Dartmouth College v. Woodward; Erie Canal; Gibbons v. Ogden; McCulloch v. Maryland ; Missouri Compromise; Monroe Doctrine; National Road.

Early Life

Leaving the College of William and Mary in 1776 to fight in the American Revolution, he served in several campaigns and was wounded (Dec., 1776) at the battle of Trenton. He later studied law (1780–83) under Thomas Jefferson, and the friendship that sprang up between them was the foundation for Monroe's political career.

Political and Diplomatic Career

Monroe was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1782 and served (1783–86) in the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. He was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in his own state he supported Patrick Henry in opposing the Constitution, which seemed to him to create a government so centralized that it encroached on states' rights.

Under the new government, he served (1790–94) in the U.S. Senate, where he proved himself an outstanding lieutenant of Jefferson and a vigorous opponent of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Federalists. Appointed (1794) minister to France in the hope that his Francophile sympathies would smooth the ruffled relations between the two nations, he did nothing to lessen French resentment over Jay's Treaty, and he was recalled in 1796.

Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802, he was sent (1802) by President Jefferson to France as a special envoy. There he assisted Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813; see Livingston, family) during negotiations (1803) for the Louisiana Purchase. The next year, in Spain, he aided Charles Pinckney in the unsuccessful negotiations with the Spanish government. A later mission, to England, was even more disastrous. Monroe and William Pinkney struggled to arrive at a commercial treaty to end the disputes between Great Britain and the United States over shipping, but they could get no concessions, and Jefferson did not even submit the treaty they drafted (1806) to the Senate for approval.

In 1808, Monroe made a bid for the presidential nomination. He thus alienated James Madison, but the estrangement did not last long, and Monroe, after serving again as governor of Virginia, was Madison's Secretary of State (1811–17). For a time he was also Secretary of War (1814–15), after the dismissal of John Armstrong.

Presidency and the Monroe Doctrine

In 1816 Monroe obtained the presidential nomination and was easily elected. During his first administration, serious differences over the question of slavery in the territories were accommodated by the Missouri Compromise, which Monroe signed despite his sympathy for the South in this matter. In foreign affairs a number of settlements were reached. The Rush-Bagot agreement with Great Britain (1817) provided for mutual limitation of armaments on the Great Lakes, and the U.S.-Canadian boundary question was also settled. U.S. possession of the Floridas was confirmed by Andrew Jackson's campaigns and a treaty with Spain (1819).

In the 1820 election, despite economic depression, Monroe lost only one vote in the electoral college that reelected him. Late in 1823, he issued what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, one of the most important principles of U.S. foreign policy. Although this declaration was as much the work of Monroe's Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, as of the President himself, the initiative for presenting it in the annual message to Congress was Monroe's. The experiment of the American Colonization Society in settling Liberia was undertaken with Monroe's blessing, and Monrovia was named for him.

At the end of his term Monroe retired to his estate, Oak Hill, near Leesburg, Va. In 1829 he presided over the Virginia constitutional convention and supported the conservatives on suffrage and slavery. He died during a visit to New York City.

Bibliography

Monroe's writings were edited by S. M. Hamilton (7 vol., 1898–1903, repr. 1969). See his autobiography (ed. with introd. by S. G. Brown, 1959); biographies by G. Morgan (1921, repr. 1969), A. Styron (1945), and W. P. Cresson (1946, repr. 1971); studies by L. Wilmerding (1960) and H. Ammon (1971).

A political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; a leader of the Democratic-Republican party. He was president from 1817 to 1825, between James Madison and John Quincy Adams. He issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, supporting the independence of Spain's colonies in America. The Missouri Compromise was reached in his presidency.

James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States and a distinguished diplomat. His administration was marked by several foreign-policy accomplishments, including the MonroeDoctrine, and a period of domestic tranquility that has been called the Era of Good Feelings.

Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on April 28, 1758. He attended the College of William and Mary at the age of sixteen but left in 1776 to fight in the Revolutionary War. He was wounded at the Battle of Trenton but served until the end of the war.

During this period he became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia. Monroe soon adopted Jefferson as his teacher and mentor, a relationship that would endure throughout Monroe's life. In 1780 Monroe began studying law with Jefferson, and in 1786 he established a law practice in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Politics, however, proved a more powerful attraction than a legal career.

Monroe became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782, and from 1781 to 1786 he participated in the Continental Congress. Monroe, like Jefferson, did not favor a highly centralized federal government. He preferred a government system under the Articles ofConfederation, which allocated greater powers to the states, as opposed to the Constitution, which gave the federal government more authority. He did believe in the development of the West and worked with Jefferson to enact laws to further this purpose.

In 1786 he retired from Congress. In 1788 Monroe participated in the Virginia convention that ratified the new federal Constitution. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1790 and served until 1794. After the expiration of his senatorial term, Monroe served as minister to France. President George Washington appointed Monroe to this position despite Monroe's opposition to the Washington administration's policies. When Monroe did not follow his diplomatic instructions and made intemperate remarks about policies with which he disagreed, Washington recalled him in 1796.

Monroe quickly reentered Virginia politics. He was elected governor in 1799 and served a three-year term. In 1802 President Jefferson sent Monroe back to France as a special envoy. He and Robert R. Livingston negotiated the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. Following this success, Jefferson named Monroe minister to England, where he served until 1806.

Again Virginia politics beckoned. Monroe served briefly as governor but left in 1811 to join the cabinet of President JamesMadison. He was secretary of state from 1811 to 1817 and secretary of war, during the War of 1812, from 1814 to 1815. The successful conclusion of the war and the military triumphs of General Andrew Jackson helped boost Monroe's popularity.

In 1816 he was elected president of the United States as a member of the Democratic-Republican party. The Federalist party disappeared after the election, and most politicians belonged to the Democratic-Republican party. With an end to the political feuding of the early years of the Republic, Monroe was able to promote what has been called the Era of Good Feelings. His popularity was so great that he was unopposed for reelection in 1820.

Monroe's presidency produced important domestic legislation, including the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which limited the extension of slavery into new territories. His main efforts, however, were directed at foreign affairs. The Rush-Bagot Treaty, drafted in 1817, restricted the increase of armaments in the Great Lakes area. In 1818 Great Britain agreed to the forty-ninth parallel as the boundary between the United States and Canada from Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota-Ontario border as far west as the Rocky Mountains. In 1819 U.S. diplomats convinced Spain to cede Florida to the United States in return for the cancellation of $5 million in U.S. claims against Spain.

In 1823 Monroe presented the most significant measure of his administration, the Monroe Doctrine. During the Napoleonic Wars, Spain had lost interest in its American colonies. Most of the colonies declared their independence, but the United States was concerned that Spain might try to reassert control. The Monroe Doctrine declared that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization and that any European intervention would be regarded as a threat to the security of the United States. Conversely, the United States agreed not to intervene in European matters. The Monroe Doctrine would be invoked several times by future presidential administrations.

After leaving the presidency in 1824, Monroe retired to Oak Hill, his estate in Virginia that was near Jefferson's Monticello. He served as a regent of the University of Virginia and in 1829 presided over the Virginia Constitutional Convention.

Monroe's last years were difficult. He left public service a poor man and was too old to rebuild his law practice. He was forced to sell his home and move to New York City to live with his daughter. He died there on July 4, 1831.