James Monroe was among the most important citizens that ever lived in
Fredericksburg.
Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, not far from what is now Colonial
Beach. When a young man he was attracted by the larger opportunities
afforded by the town and moved to Fredericksburg, where he began the
practice of law, having an office in the row of old brick buildings on the
west side of Charles Street, just south of Commerce. Records still in the
courthouse show that he bought property on lower Princess Anne Street,
which still is preserved and known as "The Home of James Monroe." Monroe
occupied the house when it was located at Bradley's corner, and it was
afterwards moved to its present site, though some contend that he lived in
the house on its present site.
Shortly after his arrival he became affiliated with St. George's Church,
soon being elected a vestryman, and when he had been here the proper
length of time he got into politics, and was chosen as one of the Town
Councilmen. From this humble political preferment at the hands of the
Fredericksburg people, he began a career that seemed ever afterward to
have included nothing but officeholding. Later he became Continental
Congressman from the district including Fredericksburg, and was, in turn,
from that time on, Representative in the Virginia convention, Governor of
Virginia, United States Congressman, Envoy Extraordinary to France, again
Governor, Minister to England, Secretary of War, once more Minister to
England, Minister to Madrid, Secretary of State and twice President--if
not a world's record at least one that is not often overmatched. Previous
to his political career, Monroe had served in the Revolutionary Army as a
Captain, having been commissioned while a resident of Fredericksburg.
Monroe gave to America one of its greatest documents--known to history as
the Monroe Doctrine. It was directed essentially against the purposes of
the Holy Alliance, formed in 1815 by the principal European powers with
the fundamental object of putting down democratic movements on the part of
the people, whether they arose abroad or on this side of the world. After
consultation with English statesmen and with Jefferson, Adams, John Quincy
Adams and Calhoun, Monroe announced his new principle which declared that
the United States of America would resent any attempt of the Alliance to
"extend their system to this part of the Hemisphere."
[Sidenote: _"Old Doctor Mortimer"_]