Fifth President: James Monroe.[April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831]

A  Presentation 

by;; Julian MesinaGeorge BerganzaLaura 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 CabinetOffice;; Name;; Term;; -&President: James Madison [1817-1825] -&Vice President: Daniel D. Tomkins [1817-1825] -&Secretary of State: John Quincy Adams [1817-1825] -&Secretary of Treasury: William H. Crawford [1817-1825] Secretary of War;; John C. Calhoun [1817-1825] Attorny General;; Richard Rush [1817]                                       Wiliam Wirt                                        [1817-1825] Secretary of the Navy;; Benjamin W. Crowninshield [1817-1818] Smith Thompson [1819-1823] Samuel L. Southard [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 OpinionIf 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>.