Monroe, James

**James Monroe**
	Fifth President of the United States
Term of office	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825
Preceded by	James Madison
Succeeded by	John Quincy Adams
Date of birth	April 28, 1758
Place of birth	Westmoreland County, Virginia
Date of death	July 4, 1831
Place of death	New York City
Spouse	Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Political party	Democratic-Republican

Latest revision as of 16:07, 8 February 2023

James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was a member of the U.S. Continental Congress, minister to France and Great Britain, governor of Virginia, U.S. senator, secretary of state, and fifth president of the United States. He was the last chief executive to personally fight for independence from Britain during the Revolutionary War.

Monroe was a popular president who ran unopposed for a second term in 1820. With the opposition Federalist Party effectively moribund, the eight years of Monroe's administration (1817-1825) were called the Era of Good Feeling. He was also the last American president of the “Virginia Dynasty”—of the first five U.S. presidents, four were born and lived in Virginia.

As president, Monroe consistently and successfully pursued a policy that served both to protect the United States from European interference and to foster unhampered growth of the nation and its economy. He was responsible for the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine, a major tenet of U.S. foreign policy asserting that the United States would not tolerate new colonies or interference by outside powers in the internal affairs of nations in the Western hemisphere. The 1820 Missouri Compromise addressed the contentious issue of slavery in newly admitted western states, but merely delayed the resolution of the issue of slavery until the U.S. Civil War in 1861-1865.

Monroe was a patriot of whom Jefferson reportedly said, "[He] was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it."^[1] Like his predecessors in the nation's highest office, Monroe also acknowledged the Creator with respect to America's rising fortunes: "When we view the great blessing with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we posses of handling them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly down to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for those blessing to the Divine Author of All Good."

Family and early years

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe went to school at Campbelltown Academy and then the College of William and Mary, both in Virginia. Monroe's father, Spence Monroe, was a woodworker and tobacco farmer and mother Elizabeth Jones Monroe had significant land holdings, but little money. After graduating from William and Mary in 1776, Monroe fought in the Continental Army, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. Following his military service, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786, at the Trinity Church in New York.

Political Career

Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and served in the Continental Congress (1783–1786). 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. As Minister to France in 1794–1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the French Revolution; later, with Robert R. Livingston and under the direction of President Thomas Jefferson, he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase.

Monroe served as governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802. He was minister to France again in 1803 and then minister to the Court of St. James from 1803 to 1807. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates and was elected to another term as governor of Virginia in 1811, but he resigned a few months into the term. He then served as secretary of state from 1811 to 1814. When he was appointed to secretary of war on October 1, 1814, he stayed on as the interim secretary of state. On February 28, 1815, he was again commissioned as the permanent secretary of state, and left his position as secretary of war. Thus from October 1, 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe held the two cabinet posts. Monroe stayed on as secretary of state until the end of the James Madison presidency, and the following day Monroe began his term as the new president of the United States.

Presidency 1817-1825

Policies

Following the War of 1812, Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested.

Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well. He made strong cabinet choices, naming a southerner, John C. Calhoun, as secretary of war, and a northerner, John Quincy Adams, as secretary of state. Only Henry Clay's refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding westerner. Most appointments went to deserving Republicans, but he did not try to use them to build the party's base. Indeed, he allowed the base to decay, which reduced tensions and led to the naming of his era as the "Era of Good Feeling."

To build goodwill, he made two long tours in 1817. Frequent stops allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and good will. The Federalist Party dwindled and eventually died out, starting with the Hartford Convention. Practically every politician belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party, but the party lost its vitality and organizational integrity. The party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and there were no national conventions.

Acquisition of Florida

Monroe's greatest achievements as president lay in foreign affairs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. His chance came when General Andrew Jackson invaded Florida in 1818. In pursuit of hostile Indians, Jackson seized the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola, acts that many persons regarded as violations of congressional war powers. In the cabinet, Adams, an expansionist, urged Jackson's complete vindication, while Crawford and Calhoun demanded that he be reprimanded for exceeding his instructions.

Monroe chose a middle course—the posts were restored to Spain, but the administration accepted Jackson's explanation that his action had been justified by conditions in Florida. The incident led Spain to cede Florida and define, favorably to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated in 1819.

Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise, also called the Compromise of 1820, was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery for all new states north of the 36°30' line, or the border of the Arkansas territory (excluding Missouri). Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives had refused to accept this boundary and a conference committee was appointed. The United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure was lost.

During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime, the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the House (January 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine as a free state.

The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of 36°30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed.

Monroe Doctrine

The 1823 Monroe Doctrine advance the U.S. position that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the United States, Mexico, and others. In return, the United States planned to stay neutral in wars between European powers and in wars between a European power and its colonies. However, if these latter type of wars were to occur in the Americas, the U.S. would view such action as hostile toward itself.

The doctrine was issued by Monroe during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress. It was met first with doubt, then with enthusiasm. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States.

The Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President Theodore Roosevelt. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it advances George Washington's foreign policy of noninterference in European affairs if America's interests are not involved. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Administration and Cabinet

James Vanderlyn, James Monroe, 1816, oil on canvas, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.


OFFICE	NAME	TERM

President	James Monroe	1817–1825
Vice President	Daniel Tompkins	1817–1825

Secretary of State	John Quincy Adams	1817–1825
Secretary of the Treasury	William H. Crawford	1817–1825
Secretary of War	John C. Calhoun	1817–1825
Attorney General	Richard Rush	1817
	William Wirt	1817–1825
Postmaster General	Return Meigs	1817–1823
	John McLean	1823–1825
Secretary of the Navy	Benjamin Crowninshield	1817–1818
	John C. Calhoun	1818–1819
	Smith Thompson	1819–1823
	Samuel L. Southard	1823–1825

Supreme Court appointments

Monroe appointed the following Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Smith Thompson – 1823

States admitted to the Union

Mississippi – December 10, 1817
Illinois – December 3, 1818
Alabama – December 14, 1819
Maine – March 15, 1820
Missouri – August 10, 1821

Post-Presidency

Upon leaving the White House after his presidency, James Monroe moved to live at Monroe Hill on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This university's modern campus was originally Monroe's family farm from 1788 to 1817, but he had sold it to the new college in the first year of his presidency. He served on the Board of Visitors under Jefferson and then under the second rector and another former President James Madison, until his death.

Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his Highland Plantation. Today, it is owned by the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public. He never recovered from his financial troubles, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. As a result, he and his wife lived in Oak Hill until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830.

Following his wife Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in New York City and died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and five years after the death of presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. He was originally buried in New York, but he was re-interred in 1858 to the President's Circle at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Other facts

Apart from George Washington and Washington, D.C., James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him—that of Monrovia in Liberia which was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves.
Monroe was the third president to die on July 4. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the sighing of the Declaration of Independence.
Monroe was the last president to have fought in the Revolutionary War, although Andrew Jackson served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British.
In the famous painting of Washington's Delaware Crossing, Monroe is standing behind George Washington and holds the American flag.
In the election of 1820, Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate casted his vote on an unknown because he wanted Washington to be the only president to be elected unanimously.

Notes

↑ "James Monroe," The White House

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Ammon, Harry. James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990. ISBN 0813912660
Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. The Presidency of James Monroe (American Presidency Series). Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1996. ISBN 0700607285
Dangerfield, George. The Era of Good Feelings. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1986.
Dangerfield, George. The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
Holmes, David L. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195300925
Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe." The Virginia Quarterly Review (Autumn 2003). Online version

External links

All links retrieved March 19, 2018.

Preceded by: John Walker	United States Senator (Class 1) from Virginia 1790 – 1794	Succeeded by: Stevens T. Mason
Preceded by: Gouverneur Morris	U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France 1794 – 1796	Succeeded by: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Preceded by: James Wood	Governor of Virginia 1799 – 1802	Succeeded by: John Page
Preceded by: Rufus King	U.S. Minister to Great Britain 1803 - 1807	Succeeded by: William Pinkney
Preceded by: John Tyler, Sr.	Governor of Virginia 1811	Succeeded by: George William Smith
Preceded by: Robert Smith	United States Secretary of State April 2, 1811 – September 30, 1814; February 28, 1815 – March 3, 1817	Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams
Preceded by: John Armstrong, Jr.	United States Secretary of War 1814 – 1815	Succeeded by: William H. Crawford
Preceded by: James Madison	Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominee 1816 (won), 1820 (won)	Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Harris Crawford, Andrew Jackson^(a)
Preceded by: James Madison	President of the United States March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825	Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams

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[1] "James Monroe," The White House

[1]


Fifth President of the United States
Term of office	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825
Preceded by	James Madison
Succeeded by	John Quincy Adams
Date of birth	April 28, 1758
Place of birth	Westmoreland County, Virginia
Date of death	July 4, 1831
Place of death	New York City
Spouse	Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Political party	Democratic-Republican

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Contracted}}
+{{Ebapproved}}{{Copyedited}}{{Paid}}{{Approved}}{{Images OK}}{{Submitted}}
+{{epname|Monroe, James}}
 {{Infobox_President | name=James Monroe
 | nationality=american
-| image=GSJamesMonroe.jpg
+| image name=GSJamesMonroe.jpg
-| order=5th [[President of the United States]]
+| order=Fifth President of the United States
-| term_start=March 4, 1817
+| date1=March 4, 1817
-| term_end=March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —>
+| date2=March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —>
-| predecessor=[[James Madison]]
+| preceded=[[James Madison]]
-| successor=[[John Quincy Adams]]
+| succeeded=[[John Quincy Adams]]
-| birth_date=April 28, 1758
+| date of birth=April 28, 1758
-| birth_place=[[Westmoreland County, Virginia]]
+| place of birth=Westmoreland County, Virginia
-| death_date=July 4, 1831
+| dead=dead
-| death_place=[[New York City]]
+| date of death=July 4, 1831
-| spouse=[[Elizabeth Kortright Monroe]]
+| place of death=[[New York City]]
-| party=[[United States Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]
+| wife=Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
+| party=Democratic-Republican
 | vicepresident=[[Daniel D. Tompkins]]
 | religion=[[Episcopal]]
 | signature=James Monroe signature.gif
 |}}
-'''James Monroe''' (April 28, 1758 &ndash; July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817&ndash;1825) [[President of the United States]] and author of the [[Monroe Doctrine]].  Monroe's Presidency was marked by a disappearance of partisan politics, after the politically charged [[War of 1812]], and came to be known as the [[Era of Good Feelings]].  Monroe was a major [[politician]] of the era, although the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] almost withered away during his presidency.
+'''James Monroe''' (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was a member of the U.S. [[Continental Congress]], minister to [[France]] and [[Great Britain]], governor of [[Virginia]], U.S. senator, secretary of state, and fifth president of the [[United States]]. He was the last chief executive to personally fight for independence from Britain during the [[Revolutionary War]].
-== Early years ==
+Monroe was a popular president who ran unopposed for a second term in 1820. With the opposition [[Federalist Party]] effectively moribund, the eight years of Monroe's administration (1817-1825) were called the [[Era of Good Feeling]]. He was also the last American president of the “Virginia Dynasty”—of the first five U.S. presidents, four were born and lived in Virginia.
-The President’s parents, father [[Spence Monroe|Spence]] (ca. 1727&ndash;1774), a woodworker and tobacco farmer, and mother [[Elizabeth Jones Monroe|Elizabeth Jones]] had significant land holdings but little money. Born in [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]], Monroe went to school at [[Campbelltown Academy]] and then the [[College of William and Mary]], both in [[Virginia]].  After graduating in 1776, Monroe fought in the [[Continental Army]], serving with distinction at the [[Battle of Trenton]], where he was shot in his left shoulder. Following his military service, he practiced law in [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]]. James Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786 at the [[Trinity Church, New York|Trinity Church in New York]].
-Monroe was elected to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] in 1782 and served in the [[Continental Congress]] 1783&ndash;1786. As a youthful politician, he joined the [[anti-Federalist]]s in the [[Virginia Convention]] which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, was elected [[United States Senate|United States Senator]]. As [[U.S. Ambassador to France|Minister to France]] in 1794&ndash;1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the [[French Revolution]]; later, with [[Robert R. Livingston]] and under the direction of President [[Thomas Jefferson]], he helped negotiate the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. He served as [[Governor of Virginia]] from 1799 to 1802. He was Minister to France again in 1803 and then [[U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain|Minister to the Court of St. James (Britain)]] from 1803 to 1807. He returned to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] and was elected to another term as [[governor of Virginia]] in 1811, but he resigned a few months into the term. He then served as [[Secretary of State]] from 1811 to 1814.  When he was appointed to [[Secretary of War]] on October 1, 1814, he stayed on as the interim [[Secretary of State]].  On February 28, 1815, he was again commissioned as the permanent Secretary of State, and left his position as Secretary of War.  Thus from October 1, 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe held the two cabinet posts.  Monroe stayed on as Secretary of State until the end of the [[James Madison]] Presidency, and the following day Monroe began his term as the new President of the United States.
+As president, Monroe consistently and successfully pursued a policy that served both to protect the [[United States]] from [[Europe|European]] interference and to foster unhampered growth of the nation and its economy. He was responsible for the promulgation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]], a major tenet of U.S. foreign policy asserting that the United States would not tolerate new colonies or interference by outside powers in the internal affairs of nations in the Western hemisphere. The 1820 [[Missouri Compromise]] addressed the contentious issue of [[slavery]] in newly admitted western states, but merely delayed the resolution of the issue of slavery until the [[U.S. Civil War]] in 1861-1865.
+{{toc}}
+Monroe was a patriot of whom Jefferson reportedly said, "[He] was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it."<ref>"James Monroe," The White House </ref> Like his predecessors in the nation's highest office, Monroe also acknowledged the Creator with respect to America's rising fortunes: "When we view the great blessing with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we posses of handling them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly down to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for those blessing to the Divine Author of All Good."
+== Family and early years ==
+Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe went to school at Campbelltown Academy and then the College of William and Mary, both in Virginia. Monroe's father, Spence Monroe, was a woodworker and tobacco farmer and mother Elizabeth Jones Monroe had significant land holdings, but little money. After graduating from William and Mary in 1776, Monroe fought in the Continental Army, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. Following his military service, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786, at the Trinity Church in New York.
+==Political Career==
+Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and served in the Continental Congress (1783–1786). As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, was elected [[United States Senate|United States]] Senator. As Minister to [[France]] in 1794–1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the [[French Revolution]]; later, with Robert R. Livingston and under the direction of President [[Thomas Jefferson]], he helped negotiate the [[Louisiana Purchase]].
+Monroe served as governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802. He was minister to France again in 1803 and then minister to the Court of St. James from 1803 to 1807. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates and was elected to another term as governor of Virginia in 1811, but he resigned a few months into the term. He then served as secretary of state from 1811 to 1814. When he was appointed to secretary of war on October 1, 1814, he stayed on as the interim secretary of state. On February 28, 1815, he was again commissioned as the permanent secretary of state, and left his position as secretary of war. Thus from October 1, 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe held the two cabinet posts. Monroe stayed on as secretary of state until the end of the [[James Madison]] presidency, and the following day Monroe began his term as the new president of the United States.
 == Presidency 1817-1825==
 ===Policies===
-Following the [[War of 1812]], Monroe was elected president in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1816|election of 1816]], and [[U.S. presidential election, 1820|re-elected in 1820]]. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested.
+Following the [[War of 1812]], Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested.
+Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well. He made strong cabinet choices, naming a southerner, John C. Calhoun, as secretary of war, and a northerner, [[John Quincy Adams]], as secretary of state. Only Henry Clay's refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding westerner. Most appointments went to deserving Republicans, but he did not try to use them to build the party's base. Indeed, he allowed the base to decay, which reduced tensions and led to the naming of his era as the "Era of Good Feeling."
+To build goodwill, he made two long tours in 1817. Frequent stops allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and good will. The Federalist Party dwindled and eventually died out, starting with the Hartford Convention. Practically every politician belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party, but the party lost its vitality and organizational integrity. The party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and there were no national conventions.
-Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well.  He made strong Cabinet choices, naming a southerner, [[John C. Calhoun]], as Secretary of War, and a northerner, [[John Quincy Adams]], as Secretary of State. Only [[Henry Clay]]'s refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding westerner.  Most appointments went to deserving Republicans, but he did not try to use them to build the party's base.  Indeed, he allowed the base to decay, which reduced tensions and led to the naming of his era as the "[[Era of Good Feelings]]". To build good will, he made two long tours in 1817. Frequent stops allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and good will. The [[United States Federalist Party|Federalist Party]] dwindled and eventually died out, starting with the [[Hartford Convention]]. Practically every politician belonged to the [[United States Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican Party]], but the party lost its vitality and organizational integrity. The party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and there were no national conventions.
+===Acquisition of Florida===
-These "good feelings" endured until 1824. Monroe, his popularity undiminished, would follow nationalist policies. Across the commitment to nationalism, sectional cracks appeared. The [[Panic of 1819]] caused a painful economic depression. The application for statehood by the [[Missouri Territory]], in 1819, as a [[slave state]] failed. An amended bill for gradually eliminating slavery in [[Missouri]] precipitated two years of bitter debate in Congress. The [[Missouri Compromise]] bill resolved the struggle, pairing Missouri as a slave state with [[Maine]], a free state, and barring slavery north and west of Missouri forever.
+Monroe's greatest achievements as president lay in foreign affairs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. His chance came when General [[Andrew Jackson]] invaded Florida in 1818. In pursuit of hostile Indians, Jackson seized the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola, acts that many persons regarded as violations of congressional war powers. In the cabinet, Adams, an expansionist, urged Jackson's complete vindication, while Crawford and Calhoun demanded that he be reprimanded for exceeding his instructions.
-Monroe did not begin formally to recognize the young sister republics (the former Spanish colonies) until 1822, after ascertaining that Congress would vote appropriations for diplomatic missions. He and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams wished to avoid trouble with [[Spain]] until it had ceded the [[Florida]]s to the U.S., which was done in 1821.
+Monroe chose a middle course—the posts were restored to Spain, but the administration accepted Jackson's explanation that his action had been justified by conditions in Florida. The incident led Spain to cede Florida and define, favorably to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated in 1819.
-Monroe is probably best known for the [[Monroe Doctrine]], which he delivered in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823. In it, he proclaimed the Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It further stated the United States' intention to stay neutral in European wars and wars between European powers and their colonies, but to consider any new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States.
+===Missouri Compromise===
+The Missouri Compromise, also called the Compromise of 1820, was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery for all new states north of the 36°30' line, or the border of the Arkansas territory (excluding Missouri). Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives had refused to accept this boundary and a conference committee was appointed. The United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure was lost.
-The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], with its powerful navy, also opposed re-conquest of [[Latin America]] and suggested that the United States join in proclaiming "hands off." Ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison counseled Monroe to accept the offer, but Secretary Adams advised, "It would be more candid ... to avow our principles explicitly to [[Russia]] and [[France]], than to come in as a cock-boat in the wake of the British [[man-of-war]]." Monroe accepted Adams' advice. Not only must [[Latin America]] be left alone, he warned, but also Russia must not encroach southward on the Pacific coast. "... the American continents," he stated, "by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power." Some 20 years after Monroe died in 1831 this became known as the Monroe Doctrine.
+During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime, the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the House (January 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine as a free state.
+The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of 36°30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed.
+===Monroe Doctrine===
+The 1823 Monroe Doctrine advance the U.S. position that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the United States, [[Mexico]], and others. In return, the United States planned to stay neutral in wars between European powers and in wars between a European power and its colonies. However, if these latter type of wars were to occur in the Americas, the U.S. would view such action as hostile toward itself.
+The doctrine was issued by Monroe during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress. It was met first with doubt, then with enthusiasm. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States.
+The Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it advances [[George Washington|George Washington's]] foreign policy of noninterference in European affairs if America's interests are not involved. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
 ===Administration and Cabinet===
@@ Line 48: / Line 75: @@
 !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
 |-
-|align="left"|[[President of the United States|President]]||align="left" |'''James Monroe'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"|President||align="left" |'''James Monroe'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]||align="left"|'''[[Daniel Tompkins]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"|Vice President||align="left"|'''Daniel Tompkins'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
 !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
 |-
-|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]||align="left"|'''[[John Quincy Adams]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"|Secretary of State||align="left"|'''[[John Quincy Adams]]'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]||align="left"|'''[[William H. Crawford]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"|Secretary of the Treasury||align="left"|'''William H. Crawford'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]||align="left"|'''[[John C. Calhoun]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"|Secretary of War||align="left"|'''John C. Calhoun'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[Attorney General of the United States|Attorney General]]||align="left"|'''[[Richard Rush]]'''||align="left"|1817
+|align="left"|Attorney General||align="left"|'''Richard Rush'''||align="left"|1817
 |-
-|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[William Wirt (Attorney General)|William Wirt]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1825
+|align="left"| ||align="left"|'''William Wirt'''||align="left"|1817–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[Postmaster General of the United States|Postmaster General]]||align="left"|'''[[Return J. Meigs, Jr.|Return Meigs]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1823
+|align="left"|Postmaster General||align="left"|'''Return Meigs'''||align="left"|1817–1823
 |-
-|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[John McLean]]'''||align="left"|1823&ndash;1825
+|align="left"| ||align="left"|'''John McLean'''||align="left"|1823–1825
 |-
-|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]||align="left"|'''[[Benjamin Crowninshield]]'''||align="left"|1817&ndash;1818
+|align="left"|Secretary of the Navy||align="left"|'''Benjamin Crowninshield'''||align="left"|1817–1818
 |-
-|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[John C. Calhoun]]'''||align="left"|1818&ndash;1819
+|align="left"| ||align="left"|'''John C. Calhoun'''||align="left"|1818–1819
 |-
-|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Smith Thompson]]'''||align="left"|1819&ndash;1823
+|align="left"| ||align="left"|'''Smith Thompson'''||align="left"|1819–1823
 |-
-|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Samuel L. Southard]]'''||align="left"|1823&ndash;1825
+|align="left"| ||align="left"|'''Samuel L. Southard'''||align="left"|1823–1825
 |-
 |}
@@ Line 80: / Line 107: @@
 === Supreme Court appointments ===
-Monroe appointed the following Justice to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]:
+Monroe appointed the following Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States:
-*'''[[Smith Thompson]]''' &ndash; 1823
+*'''Smith Thompson''' – 1823
 === States admitted to the Union ===
-*'''[[Mississippi]]''' &ndash; December 10, 1817
+*'''Mississippi''' – December 10, 1817
-*'''[[Illinois]]''' &ndash; December 3, 1818
+*'''Illinois''' – December 3, 1818
-*'''[[Alabama]]''' &ndash; December 14, 1819
+*'''Alabama''' – December 14, 1819
-*'''[[Maine]]''' &ndash; March 15, 1820
+*'''Maine''' – March 15, 1820
-*'''[[Missouri]]''' &ndash; August 10, 1821
+*'''Missouri''' – August 10, 1821
 ==Post-Presidency==
-Upon leaving the White House after his presidency expired on March 4, 1825, James Monroe moved to live at [[Brown College at Monroe Hill|Monroe Hill]] on the grounds of the [[University of Virginia]].  This university's modern campus was originally Monroe's family farm from 1788 to 1817, but he had sold it in the first year of his Presidency to the new college.  He served on the Board of Visitors under Jefferson and then under the second rector and another former President [[James Madison]], until his death.
-Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his [[Ash Lawn-Highland|Highland Plantation]] (now called [[Ash Lawn-Highland]]; it is owned by the College of William and Mary which has opened it to the public. He never financially recovered, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. [http://www.ashlawnhighland.org] As a result, he and his wife lived in [[Oak Hill (plantation)|Oak Hill]] until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830.
+Upon leaving the White House after his presidency, James Monroe moved to live at Monroe Hill on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This university's modern campus was originally Monroe's family farm from 1788 to 1817, but he had sold it to the new college in the first year of his presidency. He served on the Board of Visitors under Jefferson and then under the second rector and another former President [[James Madison]], until his death.
-==Death==
+Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his Highland Plantation. Today, it is owned by the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public. He never recovered from his financial troubles, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. As a result, he and his wife lived in Oak Hill until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830.
-Upon Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in New York City and died there from [[heart failure]] and [[tuberculosis]] on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] was proclaimed and 5 years after the death of Presidents [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He was originally buried in New York, but he was re-interred in 1858 to the President's Circle at [[Hollywood Cemetery]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]].
-== Religious beliefs ==
+Following his wife Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in [[New York City]] and died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] was proclaimed and five years after the death of presidents [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He was originally buried in New York, but he was re-interred in 1858 to the President's Circle at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
-Nothing is known concerning President Monroe's religious beliefs, if any.  He never talked or wrote about them; his friends, family and associates did not write about them. Formally, Monroe was a life-long member of the Episcopalian Church and is therefore listed as an [[Episcopalian]]. In theological terms he has been called a [[Deism|Deist]], but there is no evidence of deist language or thoughts; Monroe's political enemies attacked Jefferson as a deist, but never Monroe.  Unlike Jefferson, he was not anticlerical. [Holmes 2003]
-==Trivia==
+==Other facts==
-* Apart from [[George Washington]] and [[Washington DC]], James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him&mdash;that of [[Monrovia]] in [[Liberia]] which was founded by the [[American Colonization Society]], in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves.
-* Monroe was the third president to die on July 4.
+* Apart from [[George Washington]] and Washington, D.C., James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him—that of Monrovia in Liberia which was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves.
-* Monroe was (arguably) the last president to have fought in the [[Revolutionary War]], although [[Andrew Jackson]] served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British.
+* Monroe was the third president to die on July 4. [[John Adams]] and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the sighing of the [[Declaration of Independence]].
-* In the famous painting of [[Washington Crossing the Delaware]] (also depicted on the New Jersey state quarter), Monroe is standing behind [[George Washington]] and holds the American flag.
+* Monroe was the last president to have fought in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], although [[Andrew Jackson]] served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British.
+* In the famous painting of Washington's Delaware Crossing, Monroe is standing behind [[George Washington]] and holds the American flag.
+* In the election of 1820, Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate casted his vote on an unknown because he wanted Washington to be the only president to be elected unanimously.
+==Notes==
+<references/>
 ==References==
-* Ammon, Harry ''James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity'' Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990 ISBN 0813912660 biography
+* Ammon, Harry. ''James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity''. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990. ISBN 0813912660
-* Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. ''The Presidency of James Monroe''  (American Presidency Series)Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c1996 ISBN 0700607285
+* Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' (American Presidency Series). Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1996. ISBN 0700607285
-* Dangerfield, George ''The Era of Good Feelings'' Norwalk, Conn. : Easton Press, c1986
+* Dangerfield, George. ''The Era of Good Feelings''. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1986.
-* Dangerfield, George ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828'' New York : Harper & Row, c1965
+* Dangerfield, George. ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828''. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
-* Holmes, David L. ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers'' Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006 ISBN 9780195300925
+* Holmes, David L. ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers''. New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195300925
-* Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe", ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' (Autumn 2003) [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2003/autumn/holmes-religion-james-monroe/ online version]
+* Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe." ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' (Autumn 2003). [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2003/autumn/holmes-religion-james-monroe/ Online version]
 == External links ==
-{{wikisource author}}
+All links retrieved March 19, 2018.
-{{wikiquote}}
+*[http://www.ashlawnhighland.org/ The Presidential Home of James Monroe (Ash Lawn-Highland)]
-{{Commons}}
-*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm5.html White House Biography]
-*[http://www.american-presidents.com/presidents/james-monrow James Monroe Biography and Fact File]
-* {{CongBio|M000858}}
-*{{gutenberg author|id=James_Monroe|name=James Monroe}}
-*[http://www.ashlawnhighland.org/ The Presidential Home of James Monroe (College of William and Mary)]
-*[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/monroepa.htm The Papers of James Monroe] at the Avalon Project
 *[http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Monroe.html Monroe Doctrine and related resources at the Library of Congress]
 *[http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g05.htm James Monroe's Health and Medical History]
@@ Line 133: / Line 155: @@
 {{start box}}
-{{U.S. Senator box
+{{succession box
-| state=Virginia
+| title=United States Senator (Class 1) from Virginia
 | class=1
-| before=[[John Walker (politician)|John Walker]]
+| before=John Walker
-| after=[[Stevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)|Stevens T. Mason]]
+| after=Stevens T. Mason
-| alongside=[[John Taylor of Caroline]]
+| alongside=John Taylor of Caroline
-| years=1790 &ndash; 1794}}
+| years=1790 – 1794}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France]]
+| title=U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France
-| before=[[Gouverneur Morris]]
+| before=Gouverneur Morris
-| after=[[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]]
+| after=Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
-| years=1794 &ndash; 1796}}
+| years=1794 – 1796}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[Governor of Virginia]]
+| title=Governor of Virginia
-| before=[[James Wood]]
+| before=James Wood
-| after=[[John Page (Virginia)|John Page]]
+| after=John Page
-| years=1799 &ndash; 1802}}
+| years=1799 – 1802}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[U.S. Minister to Great Britain]]
+| title=U.S. Minister to Great Britain
-| before=[[Rufus King]]
+| before=Rufus King
-| after=[[William Pinkney]]
+| after=William Pinkney
 | years=1803 - 1807}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[Governor of Virginia]]
+| title=Governor of Virginia
-| before=[[John Tyler, Sr.]]
+| before=John Tyler, Sr.
-| after=[[George William Smith (politician)|George William Smith]]
+| after=George William Smith
 | years=1811}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[United States Secretary of State]]
+| title=United States Secretary of State
-| before=[[Robert Smith (U.S. politician)|Robert Smith]]
+| before=Robert Smith
 | after=[[John Quincy Adams]]
-| years=April 2, 1811 &ndash; September 30, 1814;<br>February 28, 1815 &ndash; March 3, 1817}}
+| years=April 2, 1811 – September 30, 1814;<br/>February 28, 1815 – March 3, 1817}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[United States Secretary of War]]
+| title=United States Secretary of War
-| before=[[John Armstrong, Jr.]]
+| before=John Armstrong, Jr.
-| after=[[William H. Crawford]]
+| after=William H. Crawford
-| years=1814 &ndash; 1815}}
+| years=1814 – 1815}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)#Candidates|Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominiee]]
+| title=Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominee
 | before=[[James Madison]]
-| after=[[John Quincy Adams]],<br>[[Henry Clay]],<br>[[William Harris Crawford]],<br>[[Andrew Jackson]]<sup>(a)</sup>
+| after=[[John Quincy Adams]],<br/>Henry Clay,<br/>William Harris Crawford,<br/>[[Andrew Jackson]]<sup>(a)</sup>
-| years=[[U.S. presidential election, 1816|1816]] (won), [[U.S. presidential election, 1820|1820]] (won)}}
+| years=1816 (won), 1820 (won)}}
 {{succession box
-| title=[[President of the United States]]
+| title=President of the United States
 | before=[[James Madison]]
 | after=[[John Quincy Adams]]
-| years=March 4, 1817 &ndash; March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —>}}
+| years=March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —>}}
-{{succession footnote
-| marker=<sup>(a)</sup>
-| footnote=The [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)]] split in 1824, fielding four separate candidates.}}
 {{end box}}
-{{USpresidents}}
-{{USSecWar}}
 {{USSecState}}
-{{VAGovernors}}
-[[Category:History and biography]]
+[[Category:Politicians and reformers]]
-[[Category:Biography]]
 {{credit|65314058}}