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James Monroe
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James Monroe (28 April 1758–4 July 1831) was the fifth President of the United States, although he was also in several administrations before becoming President.[1] He is most famous for the Monroe Doctrine, and is the President most associated with the Era of Good Feelings.[2] He was essentially unopposed in his 1820 bid for reelection, with the Federalist Party not even fielding a candidate.[3] He was only stopped from sweeping the entire electoral college by a faithless elector from New Hampshire. While there is a rumor that this was done so that George Washington would be the only president to win every electoral vote, this has never been confirmed.[4]
The capital of Liberia is named after him.[5]
Before he was President[edit]
Monroe had a rather active career in office before he was President, especially under the Democratic-Republican Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Jefferson in particular was a mentor and friend to Monroe throughout his adult life.[6]
While President, Jefferson sent Monroe, along with Robert Livingston, to help negotiate what later became The Louisiana Purchase.[7]
How Monroe was involved with the first American sex scandal[edit]
Before the days of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, James Monroe was making sure to let the public know that politicians have never been the best at having a moral character.
This was because of the Reynolds Affair, which involved the Senate investigating "charges of financial malfeasance against Alexander Hamilton." One of the people accusing Hamilton of this was a New York speculator named James Reynolds, who Hamilton later claimed he only had financial involvement with in hopes of covering up an affair with Reynold's wife. Yes, Hamilton was defending himself by claiming he had an affair with a married woman and tried to cover it up. Hamilton even went so far as to publish "a lengthy pamphlet defending himself and detailing his affair with Maria Reynolds and even allegedly "commissioned James Reynolds to create fake letters indicating an affair between Maria and Hamilton."[8]
Hamilton turned his anger to Monroe, primarily because Monroe refused to disavow a claim that he had inappropriately used government funds once the story got out to the public. Hamilton and Monroe even considered a duel against one another, and Hamilton was writing letters specifically challenging Monroe to one as late as 1798, but such plans never materialized.[8]
His famous doctrine[edit]
Monroe is most famous for the doctrine that shared his name, first announced during his seventh annual message to Congress, on December 2, 1823.[9] Essentially, it saw Monroe declare that the United States would not interfere with the various foreign conflicts that entangled Europe and that, in return, Europe would not be allowed to do the same in the Western Hemisphere without it being viewed as an act of aggression against the United States.[10]
The doctrine came out because of concerns that Spain was going to attempt to regain control over the various former colonies in Latin America that had recently become independent, along with fears of Russia attempting to get territories in North America. This fear was shared by the British and, humorously, Monroe was originally going to engage in a joint declaration with the United Kingdom on this topic, only for his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, to talk him out of it. Similarly, Adams talked Monroe out of including the American opinion on European affairs, primarily through pointing out how you can't promise to not get involved in European affairs while also actively taking sides in them.[10]
Examples of it being referenced[edit]
Given the doctrine is over two centuries, it should not surprise anybody to learn that it has been used to justify various actions throughout United States history, including:
- President James Polk made mention of it in both 1845 and 1848 in order to warn "Britain and Spain not to establish footholds in Oregon, California, or Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula." Polk also made mention of it during the manifest destiny era, as although "Monroe had said only that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to European colonialism, Polk now stated that European nations should not interfere with projected territorial expansion by the United States."[10]
- The US government helping support the Mexican Revolution in 1865, in hopes it would overthrow the French-controlled government that existed.[9]
- The various interventions in Latin America the United States engaged in during the first two decades of the 20th century, including in nations like the Dominican Republic (1904), Nicaragua (1911), and Haiti (1915). [9] This was because Theodore Roosevelt went on to add the Roosevelt Corollary, which "stated that not only were the nations of the Western Hemisphere not open to colonization by European powers, but that the United States had the responsibility to preserve order and protect life and property in those countries."[11]
- One of the major justifications for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was that the Soviet Union putting missiles in Cuba was a clear act of aggression against the United States. The national archive calls this an example of the Monroe Doctrine being "invoked symbolically."[9]
Slavery[edit]
Like many of the early Presidents, Monroe is greatly complicated by his record on the topic of slavery. On the infamous side of his Administration, he was the President who signed the Missouri Compromise into law, which "admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation. It also outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory."[12] Although it did manage to keep the nation at peace regarding the issue of slavery, it failed to answer the question of slavery's place in the United States going forward. It also failed to really appease either side, because "Southerners who opposed the Missouri Compromise did so because it set a precedent for Congress to make laws concerning slavery, while Northerners disliked the law because it meant slavery was expanding into new territory."[13]
Monroe was "one of the county’s largest slave owners" according to the 1810 census.[14] When Monroe turned against slavery, he believed the best way to end it was through removing all former slaves from the United States, with Monroe specifically being close with a group called the Colonization Society, which advocated for returning all freed slaves to Africa.[15]:522-523
While Governor of Virginia, an event occurred known as Gabriel's Conspiracy.
Basically, an enslaved blacksmith named Gabriel and an army of his fellow slaves "planned to enter Richmond with force, capture the Capitol and the Virginia State Armory, and hold Governor James Monroe hostage to bargain for freedom for Virginia's slaves." This plot was foiled, "Twenty-six slaves were hanged, and another apparently committed suicide in his cell. Several convicted slaves were sold and transported out of Virginia. Two slaves, who had informed their masters about the intended rebellion, received their freedom."[16]
References[edit]
- ↑ James Monroe Britannica
- ↑ Era of Good Feelings Britannica
- ↑ James Monroe: Campaigns and Elections, Daniel Preston, Miller Center
- ↑ Monroe Almost Receives All Electoral College Votes, Mike Purdy's Presidential History 27 December 2012
- ↑ Founding of Liberia, 1847 Office of the Historian
- ↑ James Monroe Monticello
- ↑ Louisiana Purchase, 1803 Office of the Historian
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Near-Duel Between James Monroe and Alexander Hamilton University of Mary Washington
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Monroe Doctrine (1823) National Archives
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Monroe Doctrine Britannica
- ↑ Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905) National Archives
- ↑ Missouri Compromise (1820) National Archive
- ↑ Missouri Compromise History
- ↑ The Enslaved Households of President James Monroe The White House Historical Association
- ↑ James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity by Harry Ammon
- ↑ Gabriel's Conspiracy Library of Virginia