Remembering James Monroe
Three of the first five Presidents of the United States died on the 4th of July. The last in this set was James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, who died at the home of his daughter Maria in New York City on July 4, 1831 (193 years ago today.) Monroe is one of my favorite Presidents, because he was so accomplished, and yet so underrated.
Monroe was the last president to be considered a Founding Father and the last president from the Virginia dynasty. He was born on April 28, 1758 in Monroe Hall, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father Spencer Monroe died when James was 16 and young James became the man of the house at an early age. He attended the College of William and Mary, but left school to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He served under George Washington and was wounded in the Battle of Trenton by a musket ball to his shoulder.
After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He was defeated by his friend James Madison, but the two men exemplify how to have a political disagreement without taking it personally. Monroe took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, as well as the release of the Marquis de Lafayette from a French prison. During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison. He predicted that the British would attack Washington, but was over-ruled by Madison's previous Secretary of War John Armstrong.
Monroe faced little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party when he ran for President in 1816 and he was easily elected, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote. As president, he bought Florida from Spain and sought to ease partisan tensions by embarking on a tour of the country that was generally well received. Under the successful diplomacy of his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, giving America harbor and fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Britain jointly occupied the Oregon Country. In addition to the acquisition of Florida, the landmark Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 secured the border of the United States along the 42nd Parallel to the Pacific Ocean. As nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" ensued. In spite of the Panic of 1819, and a dispute over the admission of Missouri which resulted in the compromise of 1820, Monroe won near-unanimous reelection in 1820.
Monroe supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia. That country's capital, Monrovia, is named in his honor. In 1823, Monroe announced that the United States would oppose any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas in what had become known as the Monroe Doctrine, a landmark in American foreign policy.
Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He had operated the family farm from 1788 to 1817, but sold it in the first year of his presidency to the University of Virginia. He served on the university's Board of Visitors almost until his death.
Monroe had racked up many debts during his years of public life. He sold off his Highland Plantation. It is now owned by his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as an historic site. He and his wife lived in Oak Hill, Virginia, until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there.
When Elizabeth died in 1830, Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who had married Samuel L. Gouverneur in the White House. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s and John Quincy Adams visited him there in April 1831. Adams found him alert and eager to discuss the situation in Europe, but in ill health. Adams cut the visit short when he thought he was tiring Monroe.
Monroe died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, thus becoming 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 to the President's Circle at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Monroe is the subject of a very thorough 2020 biography by Tim McGrath, reviewed here in this community.
Monroe was the last president to be considered a Founding Father and the last president from the Virginia dynasty. He was born on April 28, 1758 in Monroe Hall, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father Spencer Monroe died when James was 16 and young James became the man of the house at an early age. He attended the College of William and Mary, but left school to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He served under George Washington and was wounded in the Battle of Trenton by a musket ball to his shoulder.
After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He was defeated by his friend James Madison, but the two men exemplify how to have a political disagreement without taking it personally. Monroe took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, as well as the release of the Marquis de Lafayette from a French prison. During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison. He predicted that the British would attack Washington, but was over-ruled by Madison's previous Secretary of War John Armstrong.
Monroe faced little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party when he ran for President in 1816 and he was easily elected, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote. As president, he bought Florida from Spain and sought to ease partisan tensions by embarking on a tour of the country that was generally well received. Under the successful diplomacy of his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, giving America harbor and fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Britain jointly occupied the Oregon Country. In addition to the acquisition of Florida, the landmark Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 secured the border of the United States along the 42nd Parallel to the Pacific Ocean. As nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" ensued. In spite of the Panic of 1819, and a dispute over the admission of Missouri which resulted in the compromise of 1820, Monroe won near-unanimous reelection in 1820.
Monroe supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia. That country's capital, Monrovia, is named in his honor. In 1823, Monroe announced that the United States would oppose any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas in what had become known as the Monroe Doctrine, a landmark in American foreign policy.
Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He had operated the family farm from 1788 to 1817, but sold it in the first year of his presidency to the University of Virginia. He served on the university's Board of Visitors almost until his death.
Monroe had racked up many debts during his years of public life. He sold off his Highland Plantation. It is now owned by his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as an historic site. He and his wife lived in Oak Hill, Virginia, until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there.
When Elizabeth died in 1830, Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur who had married Samuel L. Gouverneur in the White House. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s and John Quincy Adams visited him there in April 1831. Adams found him alert and eager to discuss the situation in Europe, but in ill health. Adams cut the visit short when he thought he was tiring Monroe.
Monroe died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, thus becoming 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 to the President's Circle at the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Monroe is the subject of a very thorough 2020 biography by Tim McGrath, reviewed here in this community.