Fifth President: James Monroe.
[April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831]
A
Presentation
by;;
Julian Mesina
George Berganza
Laura Youk
{B a c k g r o u n d.}
[+] Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758, Monroe attended
the College of William and Mary, fought with distinction in the
Continental Army, and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
[+] As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia
Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, an advocate of
Jeffersonian policies, was elected United States Senator.
[+] His ambition and energy, together with the backing of President
Madison, made him the Republican choice for the Presidency in 1816.
With little Federalist opposition, he easily won re-election in 1820.
{F a m i l y.}
>>James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758, in a wooded area
of Westmoreland County, Virginia.
• Monroe's father, Spence Monroe (1727–1774) was a moderately prosperous
planter who also learned the carpentry trade.
• His mother, Elizabeth Jones Monroe (1730–1774), married Spence Monroe in
1752.
• *They had four children live to maturity:
• Elizabeth Monroe Buckner - of Caroline County, Virginia
• James Monroe
• Spence Monroe, Jr. - Died at age 1
• Andrew Monroe - of Albemarle County, Virginia
• Joseph Jones Monroe - clerk of the District Court of Northumberland County,
Virginia; private secretary to President Monroe; later settled in Missouri.
• His paternal 2nd great-grandfather immigrated to America from Scotland in
the mid-17th century.
{E l e c t i v e O f f i c e.}
*Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and
served in the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1786.
*He ran for a seat on the 1st Congress but was defeated by future
President James Madison.
*As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia
Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, was elected
United States Senator.
{A m b a s s a d o r T o F r a n c e.}
>>Monroe resigned his Senate seat after being appointed Minister to France in
1794.
>>As ambassador, Monroe was able to secure the release of Thomas Paine
when the latter was arrested for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI.
>>He helped free Adrienne de La Fayette from prison,with Elizabeth Monroe, who
visited Adrienne in jail.On 1 September 1795 Monroe issued Adrienne American
passports for herself and the Lafayette family, (since they had been granted
Citizenship), before she traveled to Lafayette's place of imprisonment, in Olmutz.
>>His task of reassuring France that Washington's policy of strict neutrality did
not favor Britain was sabotaged, however, by the signing of the Jay Treaty,
particularly as Monroe had not been provided with a copy and thus was unable to
respond to French requests to see its contents. He was recalled in 1796 due to
Federalist discontent with deteriorating French relations
P r e s i d e n c y (1817–1825):
The Era of Good Feelings.
The Monroe Cabinet
Office;;
-&President:
-&Vice President:
-&Secretary of State:
-&Secretary of Treasury:
Secretary of War;;
Attorny General;;
Secretary of the Navy;;
Name;;
James Madison
Daniel D. Tomkins
John Quincy Adams
William H. Crawford
John C. Calhoun
Richard Rush
Wiliam Wirt
Benjamin W. Crowninshield
Smith Thompson
Samuel L. Southard
Term;;
[1817-1825]
[1817-1825]
[1817-1825]
[1817-1825]
[1817-1825]
[1817]
[1817-1825]
[1817-1818]
[1819-1823]
[1823-1825]
{M i s s o u r i C o m p r o m i s e.}
• The Missouri Compromise was signed by James Monroe on March 6, 1820.
• The compromise was an agreement between both anti-slave and pro-slave
which admitted Main as a free state into the U.S. while also admitting Missouri
as a slave state. Both states were admitted at the same time to keep the
number of slaves and non-slaves equal.
• Slavery was prohibited above north latitude 36° 30' in what used to be
Louisiana but does not include Missouri. However, slaves captured above the
line could be returned to their owners.
• Thomas Jefferson was against this new law and believed that the division
caused by this would cause a downfall in the Union.
{M o n r o e D o c t r i n e.}
- -The Doctrine was a United States policy that said that any further efforts
European governments to colonize land or interfere with the states of
America would be viewed as an act of agression by the U.S.
- -The doctrine was officially declared in a few paragraphs of James
Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823.
- -The Monroe Doctrine became a cornerstone of future U.S. foreign policy
Successes and Failures
Success!
• Monroe had plenty of
successes in foreign affairs.
One of these included the
acquisition of Florida, as wells
as helping to ease boundary
issues with Britain.
• Monroe was able to put the
United States on an
independent course which
was no longer tied to
European policy.
Failures!
• During Monroe's first term, he
was faced with two domestic
crises.
• One of which was the panic of
1819 with the unemployment
in urban areas, farm prices
downhill, and business
failures.
"Aggressive"
Monroe was very successful in his
conduct of foreign policy. He was
able to do this in an aggressive-like
manner which strengthens the
presidency.
Final Opinion
If James Monroe where to run today, it is probably
possible that he would not be elected again today.
With his foreign affair policy of the past, the only
other related subject that mattered next would be
domestic affairs. Andrew Jackson covers this later
on, however. Would Monroe successfully run for
Presidency today? Possibly.
Bibliography
"James Monroe." Ushistory.org. Web. 18 Jan. 2010.
<http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/monroe.html>.
"James Monroe |." The White House. Web. 18 Jan.
2010. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesmonroe>.
"American President: James Monroe." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web.
18 Jan. 2010. <http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/monroe>.