Monroe was recalled in 1796 by George Washington, at the urging of Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, a Federalist, under the shadow that he may have worked against the interests of the U.S. by favoring the French over the British. Monroe was angry because he felt that the never got an explanation for his recall and he was sure that he never did anything improper to deserve recalling.
James Monroe
was elected Governor of Virginia in 1799-1802 and he had to move his family to Richmond,
but the mansion was so dilapidated that they were unable to move in until the
fall of 1800. Despite the repairs, the Governor’s mansion was torn down
eventually and a new one built in 1811.
As Governor, James Monroe had to contend with a constant fear of slave revolt, with the most decisive moment being Gabriel’s Rebellion of August 1800. Slaves from a local plantation were planning on attacking the city, burn it, and seize weapons and powder supplies stored at the penitentiary. The attack was impeded by a thunderstorm during the night and slaves were arrested. Thirty-one were put on trial and executed for their roles in the conspiracy.
In 1803
James Monroe was assigned to diplomatic service again, this time in London. His
assignment in Great Britain was extended several times even though the family
disliked the polluted air and the chilly reception from the city’s high
society. While in London, they lived in three different homes, two of which
still stand today.
Between 1803
and 1807, James Monroe served as extraordinary envoy to France, Spain, and
England at President Thomas Jefferson’s request to restore negotiations with
France. According to the archives, “The American economy was being threatened
by Spain’s refusal to allow free navigation on the Mississippi River and the
use of New Orleans as a port. Spain had then ceded control of the Louisiana
Territory to France. Robert Livingston was Minister to France at the time, and
was having no success in negotiating use of the Mississippi with the French.”
The negotiations
with the French were meant to gain the right to use the Mississippi and perhaps
buy some land around New Orleans for a port. When Monroe arrived, the French
negotiators asked the Americans if they were interested in buying the entire
Louisiana Territory. Taken by surprise, Livingston and Monroe discussed a price
on their own, and the French eventually agreed to $11.2 million for 828,000
square miles, doubling the size of the new nation. In 1803, James Monroe was thus
responsible for the largest land purchase ever made by the United States.
James Monroe
continued to serve Virginia and the United States:
- 1810 Virginia Assembly
-
1811-1817
Governor of Virginia (three months of a 4th term) and then Secretary
of State under the Madison administration (dealt with the British impressment
of Americans into the British military and other issues on the Northwest
Territories; in 1812 U.S. declared war on Great Britain)
When Madison
was appointed Secretary of State in 1811, he moved to Washington but his family
stayed at Highland. In 1812 they were set up in a furnished townhouse at 2017
Eye Street (the exterior of the home is the same but the interior has been
changed). They were still in debt from the time spent in Europe.
In August
1814, Secretary Monroe and President Madison decided that it was best to
evacuate Washington as the British ships were sailing up the Potomac to sack
the city. Monroe’s reconnaissance culminated in the Battle of Bladensburg, a
failed attempt by American forces to slow down the advance of the British
troops towards Washington. Monroe and
Madison returned to Washington and decided to evacuate the city and the
archives state that on August 24, 1814, they were the last cabinet members to
leave the city as the British were arriving. Monroe is said to have spent the
night at Rokeby farm outside Washington.
In 1814 President
Madison appointed James Monroe Secretary of War. Monroe resigned his position
as Secretary of State, however, because President Madison did not appoint a new
secretary, James Monroe served for a short time as both Secretary of State and
Secretary of War.
James Monroe
was elected president in 1816, following his friend, James Madison. The Monroe
family did not move into the White House (called then President’s House) right
away, as it had been burned by the British during the war of 1812. They brought
their own furniture but it was not enough to fill all the large rooms of the
mansion.
Congress
allowed funds and Monroe appointed several buyers to purchase furniture from
Europe. According to the archives, “the oldest furnishings on display in the
White House are those that were placed in the mansion by the Monroes.” Mrs.
Monroe presided over formal visits, state visits, and brought entertaining
customs to the President’s House. She held open houses, when anybody
in Washington could come in and meet the President.
His two
terms, 1817-1825, are known as the Era of Good Feeling. There were few conflicts
during that time. His presidency is recognized for the Missouri Compromise and
the statement called the Monroe Doctrine.
The Missouri
Compromise which he signed into law on March 5, 1820, allowed Missouri, a slave
holding state, and the free state of Maine, to join the Union, and established
the 36th parallel as the dividing line between northern free states
and southern slave states.
Monroe himself
had slaves but advocated for “eventually ending the slave trade.” A New York
representative had proposed to free all slaves over the age of 21 as a
condition to join the union. The country was in turmoil debating the issue. “Senator
Barbour of Virginia worked a plan that would admit Missouri as a slave state
and Maine as a new free state.” Forty years later the issue would erupt again
into a Civil War.
On December
2, 1823, during his annual message to Congress, now called the State of the
Union, President Monroe made a statement in support of the people of South America
who had gained their independence from Spain. This statement, known now as the
Monroe Doctrine, established three things:
1. The Americas were no longer going to
be colonized.
2. The U.S. had no interest in interfering
in the European internal affairs and therefore European nations should stay out
of the affairs of American nations.
3. Any attempt by a European nation to
control an American nation would be seen as a hostile act against the United
States.
The Monroe
doctrine reaffirmed George Washington’s policy but “it also asserted that, if
provoked, the United States would retaliate.”
The Monroe Doctrine
has been invoked several times:
-
1836
to protest the alliance between Great Britain and the Republic of Texas
-
1864
to protest Napoleon III’s invasion of Mexico.
-
1870,
interpreted that U.S. had the authority to mediate border disputes in South
America
-
1904,
Roosevelt Corollary, he extended the doctrine to include Central America and
Caribbean nations when they could not pay their international debt
-
1962,
J. F. Kennedy used the Monroe Doctrine to “isolate the communist menace in Cuba.”
-
1980s,
the Monroe Doctrine was used to justify U.S. involvement in civil wars in El
Salvador and Nicaragua; the new interpretation resulted in public outcry of the
Iran-Contra Affair
-
2003,
George W. Bush used the Monroe Doctrine to justify the invasion of Iraq, the
Bush Corollary
The Monroe Museum
in Fredericksburg contains a piece of furniture bought in Paris, ca. 1795,
which the family legend calls the Monroe Doctrine desk, brought back to the
U.S. in 1817. The desk has a secret compartment in which a cache of letters written
between Monroe, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and others, was discovered in
the 20th century. The letters are found in the Ingrid Westesson Hoes
Archives at the museum.
James Monroe bought another farm in Albemarle County in 1793 which he named Highland. The family owned this farm from 1793 to 1825 and they used it as official residence from 1799-1823. Monroe called Highland his “cabin castle” because it was rustic and remote with a beautiful view of the mountains. Highland was close to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate. Highland is now known as Ash Lawn-Highland, and it is open to the public.
The Monroes
spent time between Highland estate near Charlottesville, Virginia and the
plantation outside Washington, D.C. called Oak Hill. After 25 years at
Highland, James Monroe decided that going back and forth was too stressful for
his wife, so he sold Highland in 1825.
Oak Hill still stands today but it is not open to the public.
Elizabeth Monroe was often ill throughout her entire life, allegedly suffering from epilepsy. She had a seizure in front of an open fireplace, was burnt terribly, and died three years later, in 1830, having suffered constantly from those burns. Her husband lived one more year without his beloved Elizabeth. He died on July 4, 1831.
James Monroe was one of the most remarkable American Presidents and statesman, a man of integrity and honor, who served his country in so many ways, with intelligence, wisdom, courage and dedication. He left behind a rich historical legacy that Americans should be proud of, admire, and emulate.
NOTE: It is truly sad that so few Americans care about their history, good or bad, and the remarkable men who built our nation. It takes foreigners like me who are American citizens by choice to appreciate history and the events and men who shaped who we are today.
If Americans would spend as much energy, time, and money to watch football and other sports, collegiate and professional, our country would be in so much better shape and communists would not take over our country as they are currently doing.
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