The fifth president of the United States was a native of the grand Old
Dominion, being born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758.
Like his predecessor, Madison, he was the son of a planter. Another
strange incident:--Within sight of Blue Ridge in Virginia, lived three
presidents of the United States, whose public career commenced in the
revolutionary times and whose political faith was the same throughout a
long series of years. These were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and
James Monroe.
In early youthhood Monroe received a good education, but left school to
join the army and soon after was commissioned a lieutenant. He took an
active part in the campaign on the Hudson, and in the attack on Trenton,
at the head of a small detachment, he captured one of the British
batteries. On this occasion he received a ball in the shoulder, and was
promoted to a captaincy. As aide-de-camp to Lord Sterling, with the rank
of major, he served in the campaign of 1777 and 1778, and distinguished
himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.
Leaving the army, he returned to Virginia and commenced the study of law
under Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of the State. When the British
appeared soon afterward in the State, Monroe exerted himself to the
utmost in organizing the militia of the lower counties; and when the
enemy proceeded southward, Jefferson sent him as military commissioner
to the army in South Carolina.
In 1782, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia from the county of
King George, and was appointed by that body, although but twenty-three
years of age, a member of the executive council. In 1783 he was chosen a
delegate to congress for a period of three years, and took his seat on
December 13th. Convinced that it was impossible to govern the people
under the old articles of confederation, he advocated an extension of
the powers of congress, and in 1785 moved to invest in that body power
to regulate the trade between the States.
The resolution was referred to a committee of which he was chairman, and
a report was made in favor of the measure. This led to the convention of
Annapolis, and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution.
Monroe also exerted himself in devising a system for the settlement of
the public lands, and was appointed a member of the committee to decide
the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. He strongly opposed the
relinquishment of the right to navigate the Mississippi river as
demanded by Spain.
Once more we see the value of a proper and elevating marriage, as a
feature in the success of our great men. In 1785 he married a daughter
of Peter Kortright, a lady of refinement and culture. He, being
inelligible for the next three years according to the laws, settled in
Fredericksburg.
In 1787 he was re-elected to the general assembly, and in 1788 was
chosen a delegate to the Virginia convention to decide upon the adoption
of the Federal Constitution. He was one of the minority who opposed the
instrument as submitted, being apprehensive that without amendment it
would confer too much authority upon the general government. The course
of the minority in Congress was approved by the great mass of the
population of the Old Dominion, and Monroe was chosen United States
Senator in 1790. In the Senate he became a strong representative of the
anti-Federal party, and acted with it until his term expired in 1794.
In May of that year he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France,
and was received in Paris with enthusiastic demonstrations of respect.
His marked exhibition of sympathy with the French Republic displeased
the administration. John Jay had been sent to negotiate a treaty with
England, and the course pursued by Monroe was considered injudicious, as
tending to throw serious obstacles in the way of the proposed
negotiations. On the conclusion of the treaty his alleged failure to
present it in its true character to the French government excited anew
the displeasure of the cabinet; and in August, 1796, he was recalled
under an informal censure.
On his return to America he published a 'View of the conduct of the
Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States,' which widened
the breach between him and the administration, but socially Monroe
remained upon good terms with both Washington and Jay.
He was Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802 and at the close of his
term was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the French government to
negotiate, in conjunction with the resident minister, Mr. Livingston,
for the purchase of Louisiana, or a right of depot for the United
States on the Mississippi. Within a fortnight after his arrival in Paris
the ministers secured, for $15,000,000, the entire territory of Orleans
and district of Louisiana.
In the same year he was commissioned Minister Plenipotentiary to
England, and endeavored to conclude a convention for the protection of
neutral rights, and against the impressment of seamen. In the midst of
these negotiations he was directed to proceed to Madrid as Minister
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to adjust the difficulties between the
United States and Spain, in relation to the boundaries of the new
purchase of Louisiana. In this he failed, and in 1806 he was recalled to
England to act with Mr. Pickney in further negotiation for the
protection of neutral rights. On the last day of that year a treaty was
concluded, but because of the omission of any provision against the
impressment of seamen, and its doubtfulness in relation to other leading
points the president sent it back for revisal. All efforts to attain
this failed and Monroe returned to America.
The time was approaching for the election of a president, and a
considerable body of the Republican party had brought Monroe forward as
their candidate, but the preference of Jefferson for Madison was well
known and of course had its influence. Monroe believed that the
rejection of the treaty and the predilection expressed for his rival
indicated hostility on the part of the retiring President, and a
correspondence on the subject ensued.
Jefferson candidly explained his course and assured him that his
preference was based solely upon solicitude for the success of the
party, the great majority of which had declared in the favor of Madison.
The misunderstanding ceased and Monroe withdrew from the canvass. In
1810 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in
1811 once more Governor of the State.
In the same year he was appointed Secretary of State by President
Madison, and after the capture of the capitol in 1814, he was appointed
to take charge of the war department, being both Secretary of State and
Secretary of War at once. He found the treasury exhausted and the
national credit at the lowest ebb, but he set about the task of infusing
order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed
an increase of 40,000 men in the army by levying recruits throughout the
whole country.
His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans, and
finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private
means as subsidary to the credit of the Government, and enabled the city
to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential
adviser of President Madison in the measures for the re-establishment of
the public credit of the country and the regulation of the foreign
relations of the United States, and continued to serve as Secretary of
State until the close of Madison's term in 1817.
In that year he succeeded to the Presidency himself, by an electoral
vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party now generally
known as Democratic.
His Cabinet was composed of some of the ablest men in the country in
either party. Soon after his inauguration President Monroe made a tour
through the Eastern and Middle States, during which he thoroughly
inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications and garrisons; reviewed
military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the
capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities.
On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In
every point of view this journey was a success. Party lines seemed about
to disappear and the country to return to its long past state of union.
The President was not backward in his assurances of a strong desire on
his part that such should be the case. The course of the administration
was in conformity to these assurances, and secured the support of an
overwhelming majority of the people.
The great majority of the recommendations in the President's message
were approved by large majorities. The tone of debate was far more
moderate; few of the bitter speeches which had been the fashion in the
past were uttered, and this period has passed into history as the "Era
of good feeling." Among the important events of the first term of
President Monroe was the consummation in 1818 of a treaty between the
United States and Great Britain in relation to the Newfoundland
fisheries--the interpretation of the terms of which we have of late
heard so much; the restoration of slaves and other subjects; also the
admission into the Union of the States of Mississippi, Illinois and
Maine; in 1819 Spain ceded to the United States her possessions in East
and West Florida with the adjacent islands.
In 1820 Monroe was re-elected almost unanimously, receiving 231 out of
the 232 electoral votes. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri became one of
the United States, after prolonged and exciting debates, resulting in
the celebrated "Missouri Compromise," by which slavery was permitted in
Missouri but prohibited FOREVER elsewhere north of parallel thirty-six
degrees and thirty minutes. Other events of public importance during the
second term of President Monroe were the recognition in 1822 of the
independence of Mexico, and the provinces in South America, formerly
under the dominion of Spain; and the promulgation in his message of
December 2, 1823, of the policy of 'neither entangling ourselves in the
broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers of the old world to interfere
with the affairs of the new,' which has become so famous as the "Monroe
Doctrine." On this occasion the president declared that any attempt on
the part of foreign powers to extend their system to any part of this
hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as dangerous to our
peace and prosperity, and would certainly be opposed.
On March 4, 1825, Monroe retired from office and returned to his
residence at Oak Hill in Virginia.
He was chosen a justice of the peace, and as such sat in the county
court. In 1829 he became a member of the Virginia convention to revise
the constitution, and was chosen to preside over the deliberations of
that body but he was obliged, on account of ill-health, to resign his
position in that body and return to his home.
Although Monroe had received $350,000 for his public services alone, he
was greatly harrassed with creditors toward the latter part of his life.
Toward the last he made his home with his son-in-law, Samuel L.
Gouverneur of New York city, where he was originally buried, but in 1830
he was removed to Richmond with great pomp and re-interred in Holleywood
Cemetery.
The subject of this sketch held the reins of government at an important
time and administered it with prudence, discretion, and a single eye to
the general welfare. He went further than any of his predecessors in
developing the resources of the country. He encouraged the army,
increased the navy, augmented the national defences, protected
commerce, approved of the United States Bank, and infused vigor into
every department of the public service.
His honesty, good faith, and simplicity were generally acknowledged, and
disarmed the political rancor of the strongest opponents. Madison
thought the country had never fully appreciated the robust understanding
of Monroe. In person, Monroe was tall and well-formed, with light
complexion and blue eyes. The expression of his countenance was an
accurate index of his simplicity, benevolence, and integrity. The
country never fully appreciated Monroe, partly on account of his never
having gained distinction as an orator.