James Monroe, an Extraordinary American (Part II)

Chair purchased in Europe by the Monroe family 

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2023

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.

James Monroe's desk where he sat to write the Monroe Doctrine 

Photo: Ileana Johnson February 2023

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 4^th 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 36^th 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 20^th century. The letters are found in the Ingrid Westesson Hoes Archives at the museum.

Highland estate - Wikipedia photo

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.

Museum Archives

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.

James Monroe, an Extraordinary American (Part I)

Fifth U.S. President James Monroe (1817-1825) wore many hats in his lifetime: farmer, lawyer, soldier, statesman, ambassador, governor, husband, father, and grandfather. He was active in politics since he was 24 years old and began studying law when he was 16. By the time of his death at the age of 73, he held every public office available at the time, thus participating in some of the most important moments in American history.

Fredericksburg, Virginia, built a small museum commemorating his remarkable life on the property where his law office used to stand. Furniture and memorabilia are original, but the books are editions of similar books that he and his family had owned. A dress, a couple of his outfits, his daughter’s rusted out ice skates and his wife’s gold and precious jewels decorated with large amethysts, aquamarines, and citrine stones, are also part of the exhibit.

Museum grounds

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2023

Museum Archives - parents farm

James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on April 28, 1758, to Spence and Elizabeth Monroe. Spence was a farmer and cabinet maker. James had four siblings, a sister and three brothers, and the family lived in Monroe Hall on the banks of Monroe Creek, a tributary to the Potomac. At the age of 16, after his father died, James inherited the family’s land which he owned until 1780 when he sold it.

Museum interior entrance

Photo: Ileana Johnson February 2023

In the summer of 1774, the revolutionary fever hit Williamsburg and law student James Monroe was entirely preoccupied by his disdain for the British monarchy, his studies taking second place.

On June 24, 1775, the 18-year-old James Monroe and 23 of his fellow students, under the command of Theodorick Bland Jr., raided the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. They seized 200 muskets and 300 swords and turned them over to the Williamsburg militia. There was no bloodshed as the palace had been abandoned and all the vestiges of British rule were gone with Lord Dunmore. A Committee of Safety took control of the city and Monroe and his uncle Joseph Jones who were part of this committee, became the city’s ad hoc government.

James and his friend John Mercer decided to enlist in the spring of 1776 in the third Virginia Infantry, commanded by Colonel Hugh Mercer, a friend and neighbor of Uncle Joseph Jones. According to archives, “James Monroe made the long trip from Williamsburg to his uncle’s home in Fredericksburg in order to enlist.”

Furlough signed by Major James Monroe

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2023

One of the original documents in the museum is a Valley Forge furlough signed by nineteen-year-old Major James Monroe, aide-de-camp to Major General William Alexander (Lord Stirling), on February 23, 1778, to Second Lieutenant John Wallace of the Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment. This infantry unit was encamped at Valley Forge.

During the Battle of Trenton in 1776, James Monroe was wounded in the shoulder and carried the bullet in his body for the rest of his life. There is a famous painting, Capture of the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton, by John Trumbull, which depicts James Monroe lying on the ground wounded in the left center of the painting.

In 1782 James Monroe was selected to represent King George County in the Virginia Assembly.  In 1783 he was appointed to the delegation which represented Virginia at the Confederation Congress in Annapolis. In 1784 he was present during the ratification of the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution and recognized the United States as a nation.

He left Congress in 1786 and set up his law practice in Fredericksburg. He met the 16-year-old Elizabeth Kortright in New York in 1785 and married her in 1786 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Manhattan. She was the daughter of a rich New York merchant, a strong but interesting marriage if you consider his humble upbringing, a farmer’s son.

They settled in Fredericksburg, in a house rented from his uncle, Joseph Jones. Monroe started his law practice in a small building on Charles Street, on the lot which today houses the museum. The home where the Monroes lived is on Caroline Street and still stands today, privately owned.

Mrs. Monroe's private jewelry collection

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2023

Mrs. Monroe, at the age of 18, gave birth to the couple’s first child in Fredericksburg, a daughter named Elizabeth.  The second child, James Spence, was born in May 1799, but the boy died the following September. In April 1802, the Monroes’ last child was born, Maria Hester.

Museum archives photo

The Monroes’ first born, Eliza Monroe Hay (1787-1840), was educated at a boarding school in Paris where she met Hortense de Beauharnais, Josephine's daughter and Napoleon’s stepdaughter, and eventually Queen of Holland. They became life-long friends and Eliza named her daughter Hortensia, in her honor. Eliza had married George Hay, a successful lawyer and James Monroe’s confidant.

Eliza’s formal education was superior to most women in Washington society. She provided the supporting role of hostess at the President’s House when her mother was not well. Eliza and George lived in the executive house during Monroe’s two terms as president. Eliza planned her younger sister’s wedding in 1820 and was criticized for not making it into a lavish public event. When Eliza lost her husband and mother in 1830 and then her father in 1831, she traveled a lot to Europe. She settled in France at a convent and died there in 1840. She is buried in Pere La Chaise cemetery in Paris.

Maria Hester Monroe Governeur (1802-1850) was sixteen years younger than her sister Eliza. When Monroe became president, she was 14 years old. She decided to attend boarding school in Philadelphia until 1819 rather than live in the President’s House with her family.

Maria married her first cousin, Samuel Governeur, in 1820 and they had four children, two daughters and two sons. The first child, a daughter, died in infancy. The second child, a son, was born deaf. Most of the Monroe memorabilia in the museum in Fredericksburg came from Maria and Samuel’s children.

There were strained relations between Maria and Eliza, and Samuel and George did not get along either. During an extended visit with his daughter’s family in New York, following his wife’s death, James Monroe fell ill and died soon after.  Maria passed away at Oak Hill’s family estate in 1850.

In 1787 James Monroe was elected to the House of Delegates for Spotsylvania County and in 1788 he was nominated to the Virginia Convention to ratify the new Constitution. Monroe and “antifederalists” were able to win two concessions – a Bill of Rights and 20 amendments to be included in the Constitution.

The Monroes left Fredericksburg in 1789. James bought 800 acres of land near Charlottesville, near Albemarle County, and a townhouse one block away from the courthouse in the city. The plantation house, eventually known as Monroe Hall, began receiving guests by the summer of 1793. Monroe sold these 800 acres eventually and the land became the site of the University of Virginia.

Monroe became a U.S. Senator (1790-1794) at the age of 32, backed by Thomas Jefferson and George Mason.

James Monroe was appointed ambassador to France in 1794 by George Washington. The family lived in Paris for three years in a very opulent villa called Folie de la Bouexiere on the fashionable Rue de Clichy. This French home was lavishly decorated in order to keep up appearances at the French court. The furniture purchased was brought back to the U.S. in 1797 and was used in the White House. Unfortunately, the house in Paris no longer stands today.

The ambassadorship was demanding - he had to walk a difficult path during the strained Franco-American relations. He reassured France of American support but kept the U.S. neutrality and out of any involvement with France’s war with England. During the French bloody revolution, many Americans and French aristocrats were imprisoned in harsh conditions. Monroe was able to secure the release of Thomas Paine. Ill from his imprisonment, Monroe brought Paine to his home where he recovered for more than a year. Thomas Paine had radical revolutionary views and a lot of disdain for the administration in Washington.

While in France, James Monroe’s diplomatic endeavors managed to free Madame de Lafayette, the Marquis de Lafayette’s wife, from prison. The Marquis was imprisoned in Austria while his wife was in Paris, awaiting beheading. Monroe sent his wife in the brightly colored carriage that everyone in Paris recognized as belonging to the American ambassador, to the jail where Madame de Lafayette was held. Crowds gathered to see his gracious and beautiful wife Elizabeth who spent time with the prisoner and assured her that she would be released. The French government was embarrassed that the much admired “La Belle Americaine,” Mrs. Monroe, had to visit such an awful place to see an old friend whose husband was a hero of the American Revolution. The eventual public clamor resulted in negotiations with Ambassador Monroe. The French government released Madame de Lafayette in short order and she and their children joined the Marquis in Austria.

TO BE CONTINUED

Note: Did you know that Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is named after James Monroe? He supported the American Colonization Society's work to create a home for freed African slaves in Liberia.