MONROE 



3895 



MONROE 



again a member of the assembly, a United 

 States Senator, governor of Virginia, minister 

 to France, Great Britain and Spain, Secretary 

 of State and finally President. As President he 

 was responsible for the announcement of the 

 policy which is now known as the Monroe Doc- 

 trine (which see), a principle which for nearly 

 a century remained the basis of the foreign 

 policy of the United States. TVIonroe was Presi- 

 dent during the "era of good feeling" which 

 followed the War of 1812. The credit for the 

 prosperity which accompanied his administra- 

 tion does not belong to him alone, but there is 

 no doubt that he deserves much of it. Mon- 

 roe's administration is noteworthy for the per- 

 manent stamp of independence it left on the 

 nation. Washington and the heroes who fought 

 at Bunker Hill, Brandywine and Yorktown had 

 succeeded in establishing an uncertain inde- 

 pendence for the United States how uncertain 

 the first ten years of the nineteenth century 

 showed clearly. Monroe made that independ- 

 ence permanent, and transformed the United 

 States into a self-respecting, mature nation. As 

 a man he may sometimes have been untactful. 

 As a public servant he was faithful to his coun- 

 try and his party, and as a statesman he was 

 devoted, throughout his life, to his ideal of a 

 greater and better nation. 



His Youth. James Monroe was born in West- 

 moreland County, Virginia, on April 28, 1758. 

 His family was of Scotch origin, although for 

 many generations resident in Virginia. At the 

 age of sixteen he entered the College of William 

 and Mary, at that time without question the 

 most nourishing institution of its kind in the 

 South, if not in the whole country. College 

 studies, however, were cut short by the Revo- 

 lutionary War. With some thirty fellow-stu- 

 dents and three professors Monroe joined the 

 young men who were hurrying to Washington's 

 headquarters from every section. 



His Brief Military Career. Monroe was given 

 a commission as lieutenant in the Third Vir- 

 ginia Regiment, which was stationed near New 

 York City. He took part in the battles of Har- 

 lem Heights, White Plains and Trenton, being 

 wounded during the last. In campaigns of the 

 next two years he was a volunteer aide on Lord 

 Sterling's staff, and with the rank of major 

 fought at Brandywine, Germantown and Mon- 

 mouth. 'As a soldier Monroe was not a success 

 for reasons which are still uncertain. His con- 

 duct was above reproach, and he had been 

 mentioned with favor and praise by General 

 Washington, yet he won no substantial promo- 



tion. In 1778 he was given the rank of lieu- 

 tenant-colonel and was sent to Virginia to raise 

 a new regiment. This was not an important 

 task, but it had an unexpectedly great influence 

 on Monroe's career. It gave him a chance to 

 make the acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson, 

 who was then governor of Virginia, and out of 

 this acquaintance grew an intimacy which had 

 a share in directing Monroe's later career at al- 

 most every turn. 



Monroe as a Legislator. After 1778 Monroe's 

 military services were negligible. In 1782, how- 

 ever, he began his long career as a public serv- 

 ant by winning a seat in the Virginia assembly. 

 In the next year he was transferred to the Con- 

 tinental Congress, in which he was a delegate 

 for three years (fourth, fifth and six Con- 

 gresses). During this period he was particu- 



JAMES MONROE 



He will always be remembered for his state 

 paper, in the form of a message to Congress, in 

 which the "Monroe Doctrine" was announced to 

 the world. 



larly active in the discussion of the territorial 

 and boundary disputes which followed the end 

 of the Revolutionary War. He favored the de- 

 velopment of the West, and merely to inform 

 himself of conditions there, made two trips west 

 of the Alleghanies. It is interesting, however, 

 that he was continually fearful lest the United 

 States become a monarchy, and he fought every 

 move to strengthen the national government. 

 Thus he was naturally an Anti-Federalist first, 

 and later a Democratic-Republican. See PO- 

 LITICAL PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 



