James Monroe Essay, Research Paper

James Monroe

(1817-1825)

James Monroe was born in Westmoreland county Virginia, on April 28th, 1758. His father was Spence Monroe. He came from a Scottish family, but settled in Virginia in the mid sixteen hundreds. James was the eldest of four boys and one girl.

In 1786, Monroe married a seventeen-year-old girl named Elizabeth Kortright on June 30, 1768. Together they had two daughters named Eliza and Maria, and a son but he died at the age of two.

James Monroe had a good education. He studied at home with a tutor until he was twelve. Then his father sent him to the school of Parson Archibald Campbell. He had to leave home early in the morning just to reach school on time. Often he would carry a rifle so he could shoot game on his way through the woods. At the age of sixteen, James entered the college of William and Mary. But soon after enrolling, he would leave college, and join the revolutionary war.

Monroe began his political career in 1782, when he won a seat in the Virginia assembly. In 1783, he was elected to the Congress Of The Confederation, where he served three years. In 1786, Monroe started practicing law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. But soon after, he ran for the Virginia assembly again and remained in the assembly for four years. In 1790, Monroe was elected to the United States Senate. He was a democratic republican. In 1794, president George Washington appointed James Monroe, Minister to France. During his talks in France, Monroe criticized Jay?s treaty between United States and Britain, as ?The most shameful transaction I have ever known?. In 1799, Monroe was elected governor of Virginia. He played an important part in preserving democratic processes.

In 1817, James Monroe was elected president of the United States of America. Daniel D. Tompkins was his Vice president. Monroe?s presidency was known as ?The era of good feeling?. During this period, the Federalists Party disappeared. The country prospered because of its fast growing industries. In Monroe?s first term, he devised a plan called ?The American System?. This proposed to strengthen the nation in two ways. The first way was to construct new roads and build canals to open up the west. One of the major occurrences during Monroe?s presidency was the Monroe Doctrine. This occurred when the British Foreign Minister asked for the help of the U.S. in the help of the hostility in South America. What this Doctrine stated was that the United States would regard any interference with internal affairs would be regarded as an unfriendly act. Monroe also included a declaration aimed at the Russians, stating that to stay away from the American continents, which were very close to further colonization from the

Russians. Another major event in the U.S. was the Transcontinental Treaty, also known as the Adams-Onis treaty. John Quincy Adams and the Spanish Foreign Minister Onis? negotiated this treaty. This treaty defined the borders of the Louisiana Territory, and all other territories that bordered Mexico. One more event was the ?Seminole and Maroon? event. This was a small war that started in 1817 when fighting broke out between the Seminole Indians and the Georgian settlers. A militia leader chased the Indians back to the Everglades and captured Spanish-Florida. In 1819 Spain agreed to give Florida to the U.S. in 1820, when much unnoticed hostility surfaced, because of the restriction of slaves in Missouri. When this was worked out Missouri became a state and slavery was not restricted. This brought on the beginning of sectionalism. In 1821, an adventure partly organized by Monroe to establish trading in the Southwest. The man who led this adventure was William Becknell. This was a very big part of the establishment of the states in the Southwest Monroe?s wife had no contributions to his presidency.

There were many inventions during the time of James Monroe.