The Obscure Presidents: James Monroe-Part II (Presidency)
When James Monroe became president in March of 1817 he ignored party lines in making appointments to lower offices and this helped to reduce political tensions. His administration would become famous for what historians have called the "Era of Good Feelings". In order to mend sectional tensions, Monroe made two long national tours in 1817. There were frequent stops on these tours, which allowed for numerous ceremonies and other expressions of good will. Although there had been previous sectional tensions between Virginia, from which three of the previous four presidents were selected, and New England. but Monroe, a Virginian, was well received on his tour on New England. The Federalist Party continued its decline for the most part and as a result, the Democratic-Republican Party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting as well.
Monroe managed to keep his support despite an period of tough economic times known as the Panic of 1819. Another contentious issue that arose on his watch was the application for statehood in 1819 by the Missouri Territory as a slave state. When the application failed, an amended bill was put forth proposing the gradual elimination of slavery in Missouri. The issue was resolved with the Missouri Compromise bill of 1820. It admitted Missouri as a slave state along with Maine as a free state. It also barred slavery north of latitude 36/30' N "forever".
Monroe was at odds with Congress over the issue of internal improvements. When Congress passed a bill for the improvement of the Cumberland Road, Monroe vetoed the bill, which provided for yearly improvements to the road. In his veto message he said that he believed it to be unconstitutional for the federal government to spend its revenue on what was essentially a local bill. Fortunately for Monroe, there was popular support for his position.
In 1817, Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson to move against Spanish Florida to pursue hostile Seminole Indians and to discourage the Spanish from aiding them. Jackson's actions led to a congressional investigation. Democratic-Republicans in Congress were generally expansionist and supported Jackson. Jackson's opponents were critical of liberties that he took in interpreting his instructions. After much debate, the House of Representatives voted down all resolutions that were critical of Jackson in any way, which in turn approved of Monroe's actions.
Monroe was re-elected unopposed in 1820, the only president other than George Washington to do so. A single elector from New Hampshire cast a vote for John Quincy Adams in order preventing a unanimous vote in the Electoral College. It is believed that this was done out of deference to Washington, though there is not universal agreement among historians on this point.
Relations with Spain over the purchase of Spanish Florida were not going well after Jackson invaded that territory on what he believed to be Monroe's authorization. But through the efforts of John Quincy Adams, a treaty, known as the Adams-Onis Treaty, was signed with Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the United States in return for the assumption of $5,000,000 in claims and the relinquishment of any claims to Texas.
After the Napoleonic wars, which ended in 1815, almost all of Spain's and Portugal's colonies in Latin America revolted and declared independence. Secretary of State Adams suggested delaying formal recognition until Florida was secured. Monroe told Congress in March 1822 that permanent stable governments had been established in several South American nations. Adams was directed by Monroe to instruct ministers (ambassadors) to these new countries. The declared policy of the United States was to uphold republican institutions and to seek treaties of commerce with them on a most-favored-nation basis. Monroe's policy toward Latin America meant that the United States was the first nation to extend recognition to these new nations. Monroe formally announced in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823, what was later called the "Monroe Doctrine." He proclaimed that the Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It further stated that the United States' intention was to stay neutral in European wars, and to consider new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States.
Monroe and Adams understood that American recognition would not protect the new countries against military intervention to restore the colonies to Spanish control. In October 1823, Richard Rush, the American minister in London, advised that Foreign Secretary George Canning was proposing that the U.S. and Britain jointly declare their opposition to European intervention. Britain had a powerful navy and it was opposed to re-conquest of Latin America by Spain. Monroe accepted Adams' advice. He also extended his doctrine to include Russia's encroachment of the Pacific coast as something that would not be tolerated.
The Monroe Doctrine held that the United States considered the Western Hemisphere as off limits for European colonization and that any future effort to gain further control in the hemisphere would be treated as an act of hostility. In return, the United States promised to refrain from intervention in European affairs.
When his presidency ended on March 4, 1825, James Monroe returned home to his residence at Monroe Hill, which today is on the grounds of the University of Virginia. He had sold his family farm in the first year of his presidency to the new college and he served on the college's Board of Visitors, first under Thomas Jefferson and then under the second rector James Madison. He remained on the board almost until his death.
In 1824 the capital city of the West African country of Liberia was re-named Monrovia in Monroe's honor. Monroe had been a prominent supporter of the colony and of the American Colonization Society, a group that purchased slaves for the purpose of giving them their freedom and sending them from the United States and from Caribbean islands to Liberia. This was seen as preferable to emancipation in America.
Monroe had acquired a large amount of debt during his years of public life. He was not financially solvent when he left office and his wife's poor health made matters worse. He and his wife lived in Oak Hill, Virginia. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there during the Marquis' famous return to the United States.
On September 23, 1830, Elizabeth Monroe died following a lengthy illness. Following his wife's death, James Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who was married to Samuel Gouverneur. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s. John Quincy Adams visited him there in April 1831 and Adams reportedly found Monroe alert and eager to discuss foreign affairs, but in ill health. Adams cut the visit short when he thought he was tiring Monroe.
Monroe died in new York from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831. He was the third president to have died on Independence Day, July 4. His death came 55 years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and 5 years after the death of two other Founding Fathers who became Presidents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Monroe was originally buried in New York at the Gouverneur family's vault in the New York City Marble Cemetery. Twenty-seven years later, in 1858, his body was re-interred in an area known as the President's Circle at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The James Monroe Tomb is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Despite being wounded in battle during the revolution, service in both houses of Congress, as Governor of his state, in two major cabinet posts, and two full terms as President, and despite receiving all but one electoral vote in his re-election bid, many people know little about James Monroe. Yes his presidency is impressive for its efforts at reaching out to and unite ordinary Americans, and its foreign policy successes including the Monroe Doctrine that has reverberated throughout American history. Monroe showed strength and offered conciliation in appropriate measures at appropriate times. He restored hope and pride to a nation that had been battered in the War of 1812. He accomplished all of this at a great personal cost to his own personal economic security.
Perhaps his relative obscurity is because he lived at a time of historic giants: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Jackson. Yet on an objective analysis of the presidency of James Monroe, he deserves to be recalled in the upper tier of great presidents. If nothing more, he is certainly deserving of the title of most under-rated president.
Tomorrow: William Henry Harrison
Monroe managed to keep his support despite an period of tough economic times known as the Panic of 1819. Another contentious issue that arose on his watch was the application for statehood in 1819 by the Missouri Territory as a slave state. When the application failed, an amended bill was put forth proposing the gradual elimination of slavery in Missouri. The issue was resolved with the Missouri Compromise bill of 1820. It admitted Missouri as a slave state along with Maine as a free state. It also barred slavery north of latitude 36/30' N "forever".
Monroe was at odds with Congress over the issue of internal improvements. When Congress passed a bill for the improvement of the Cumberland Road, Monroe vetoed the bill, which provided for yearly improvements to the road. In his veto message he said that he believed it to be unconstitutional for the federal government to spend its revenue on what was essentially a local bill. Fortunately for Monroe, there was popular support for his position.
In 1817, Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson to move against Spanish Florida to pursue hostile Seminole Indians and to discourage the Spanish from aiding them. Jackson's actions led to a congressional investigation. Democratic-Republicans in Congress were generally expansionist and supported Jackson. Jackson's opponents were critical of liberties that he took in interpreting his instructions. After much debate, the House of Representatives voted down all resolutions that were critical of Jackson in any way, which in turn approved of Monroe's actions.
Monroe was re-elected unopposed in 1820, the only president other than George Washington to do so. A single elector from New Hampshire cast a vote for John Quincy Adams in order preventing a unanimous vote in the Electoral College. It is believed that this was done out of deference to Washington, though there is not universal agreement among historians on this point.
Relations with Spain over the purchase of Spanish Florida were not going well after Jackson invaded that territory on what he believed to be Monroe's authorization. But through the efforts of John Quincy Adams, a treaty, known as the Adams-Onis Treaty, was signed with Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the United States in return for the assumption of $5,000,000 in claims and the relinquishment of any claims to Texas.
After the Napoleonic wars, which ended in 1815, almost all of Spain's and Portugal's colonies in Latin America revolted and declared independence. Secretary of State Adams suggested delaying formal recognition until Florida was secured. Monroe told Congress in March 1822 that permanent stable governments had been established in several South American nations. Adams was directed by Monroe to instruct ministers (ambassadors) to these new countries. The declared policy of the United States was to uphold republican institutions and to seek treaties of commerce with them on a most-favored-nation basis. Monroe's policy toward Latin America meant that the United States was the first nation to extend recognition to these new nations. Monroe formally announced in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823, what was later called the "Monroe Doctrine." He proclaimed that the Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It further stated that the United States' intention was to stay neutral in European wars, and to consider new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States.
Monroe and Adams understood that American recognition would not protect the new countries against military intervention to restore the colonies to Spanish control. In October 1823, Richard Rush, the American minister in London, advised that Foreign Secretary George Canning was proposing that the U.S. and Britain jointly declare their opposition to European intervention. Britain had a powerful navy and it was opposed to re-conquest of Latin America by Spain. Monroe accepted Adams' advice. He also extended his doctrine to include Russia's encroachment of the Pacific coast as something that would not be tolerated.
The Monroe Doctrine held that the United States considered the Western Hemisphere as off limits for European colonization and that any future effort to gain further control in the hemisphere would be treated as an act of hostility. In return, the United States promised to refrain from intervention in European affairs.
When his presidency ended on March 4, 1825, James Monroe returned home to his residence at Monroe Hill, which today is on the grounds of the University of Virginia. He had sold his family farm in the first year of his presidency to the new college and he served on the college's Board of Visitors, first under Thomas Jefferson and then under the second rector James Madison. He remained on the board almost until his death.
In 1824 the capital city of the West African country of Liberia was re-named Monrovia in Monroe's honor. Monroe had been a prominent supporter of the colony and of the American Colonization Society, a group that purchased slaves for the purpose of giving them their freedom and sending them from the United States and from Caribbean islands to Liberia. This was seen as preferable to emancipation in America.
Monroe had acquired a large amount of debt during his years of public life. He was not financially solvent when he left office and his wife's poor health made matters worse. He and his wife lived in Oak Hill, Virginia. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there during the Marquis' famous return to the United States.
On September 23, 1830, Elizabeth Monroe died following a lengthy illness. Following his wife's death, James Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who was married to Samuel Gouverneur. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s. John Quincy Adams visited him there in April 1831 and Adams reportedly found Monroe alert and eager to discuss foreign affairs, but in ill health. Adams cut the visit short when he thought he was tiring Monroe.
Monroe died in new York from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831. He was the third president to have died on Independence Day, July 4. His death came 55 years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and 5 years after the death of two other Founding Fathers who became Presidents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Monroe was originally buried in New York at the Gouverneur family's vault in the New York City Marble Cemetery. Twenty-seven years later, in 1858, his body was re-interred in an area known as the President's Circle at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The James Monroe Tomb is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Despite being wounded in battle during the revolution, service in both houses of Congress, as Governor of his state, in two major cabinet posts, and two full terms as President, and despite receiving all but one electoral vote in his re-election bid, many people know little about James Monroe. Yes his presidency is impressive for its efforts at reaching out to and unite ordinary Americans, and its foreign policy successes including the Monroe Doctrine that has reverberated throughout American history. Monroe showed strength and offered conciliation in appropriate measures at appropriate times. He restored hope and pride to a nation that had been battered in the War of 1812. He accomplished all of this at a great personal cost to his own personal economic security.
Perhaps his relative obscurity is because he lived at a time of historic giants: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Jackson. Yet on an objective analysis of the presidency of James Monroe, he deserves to be recalled in the upper tier of great presidents. If nothing more, he is certainly deserving of the title of most under-rated president.
Tomorrow: William Henry Harrison