James Monroe 1817 - 1825

Born: 1758, Westmoreland Co., VA

Died: 1831



Faithful and competent, James Monroe benefited from the company of men more brilliant than he. He fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War and studied law under Thomas Jefferson. He was a Virginia legislator, Governor, and U.S. Senator. As Jefferson's Minister to France he acquired cultivation and taste, which he put into good use in the White House. The peace-loving President also ushered in the so-called "era of good feeling" with a goodwill tour of the strongly Federalist states of New England. Buoyed by his and a prosperous economy, Monroe handily won a second term.



In 1818, a Treaty set the 49th Parallel as the boundary between the U.S. and Canada. America's southern border was redrawn four years later when Spain ceded Florida to America, following the Seminole War. The Missouri Compromise, an ill-conceived attempt to straddle the deep division over slavery, served only to delay armed conflict between North and South. It permitted the slave state of Missouri to join the Union if the free state of Maine also joined, and prohibited slavery entirely north and west of Missouri. the Monroe Doctrine proved more enduring. Declaring that the U.S. would oppose any foreign interference in North and South America, it remains a keystone of U.S. policy today.



Fifth President

Republican