James Monroe: The Era of Good Feeling

so hello and welcome to another episode of biographics I'm your interim host Carl Smallwood and today we're talking about James Monroe the Era of Good Feeling and at this point in biographics Geographics and top 10 videos like to know that all the words you're about to hear me say were not written by myself but by the person who wrote the script that person today being Larry holsworth give them a follow on the social media links provided below because these videos are a team effort I'm probably like the fifth or sixth person who gets their hands on the script and I'm by no means the last because we have editors and fact Checkers and thumbnail makers and people working on ads behind the scenes and they all do a very very good job the first four Decades of what canes we called the American experiment were turbulent to say the least first there was a revolution to be won despite the opposition of if you can believe it a third of the population a failed attempt at a national government of the Articles of Confederation led to the creation of a strong federal government creating disputes over the rle of state rights that continue to the present day partis and politics created divide so whyde that at one point a sitting vice president Aon Burr killed a former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in an illegal duel for the cause of their enity were many and their core was a fundamental disagreement over politics at least we've moved on from those days right so there were armed insurrections over taxes over veterans benefits of slavery during the John Adams Administration in the United States for fought an undeclared naval war with France Jefferson sent the US Navy Marines to fight a war along the North African coast and ordered an embargo against trade with Britain that proved ruinous to American Commerce quarrels with Britain over free trade and freedom over the seas led to another nearly disastrous war with the British Empire settlers struggled into the Western lands of the Northwest Territory and the southern lands found hostile tribes opposing them and a federal government completely unable to defend them then came a period of about 8 years of relative Peace during which American Commerce strive the nation's borders expanded through Peaceable means and the United States gained respect on the world stage in the wake of the tumultuous years that followed it became known as quite simply and quite fittingly the Era of Good Feelings it was the period of the administration of James Monroe the fifth president of the United States and the last of the founders to hold the office of President James Monroe was born in colonial Virginia on April 28th 1758 he was schooled at the best available facilities at the time raising a family of some Prestige and privilege yet he knew the hard daily labor required of a farmer at age 16 the orphan Monroe found himself responsible for raising his three younger brothers and Uncle assisted him by opening doors to the influential citizens of a colony but in matters of business he was pretty much on his own his Early Education was rudimentary even for the time but sufficient to allow him to enter the College of William and Mary his studies were frequently interrupted by the unrest that marked the Virginia capital of Williams B in the days leading up to the American Revolution the Monroe met and socialized with men like Patrick Henry George Mason and of course George Washington among others that were leading the protest against perceived tyranny of the British by the time the call to war came in 1775 Monroe was a fent supporter of the Patriots cause driven by a desire for Liberty and a young man's quest for [Music] adventure of the first five presidents of the United States four came from the Commonwealth of Virginia Washington Jefferson Madison and Monroe and I didn't know that this is why I like doing videos on American history and specifically you know influential figures from American history cuz I get to learn about you know our closest neighbor America and I'm often surprised by how little people in America know about their own history actually I probably shouldn't say that's a bit inflammatory but just there's something that has surprised me in my years of writing and researching which has included articles and videos on um aspects of American history is just how little of it is like known in specific detail like people tend to know the broad strokes but the details are often Lost In The Weeds as it were which is why videos like this are I think very important even you know even for me to have just you know a better overview of the history of one of the most like you know powerful Nations on the planet anyway so all were involved in the American Revolution the creation of the Declaration of Independence the Constitution and the Bill of Rights like George Washington James Monroe served in the continent Al army during the war with Washington's Army as a young Lieutenant he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 to attack the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton he was severely wounded at Trenton nearly bleeding to death AED artery he later returned to the unit endured the winter at Valley Forge and witnessed Washington's Furious dressing down of General Charles Lee the Battle of Monmouth during his War service Monroe became friends with several men with hearts of pronounced names these include Marquee D Lafayette the Prussian volunteer Baron von stubin and the baron Johan car who hailed from franconian Enclave in Bavaria from these Europeans and others he frize with Monro developed a more worldly perspective on the American struggle which to his fellow Virginians was more a battle between Englishmen over their natural rights while Washington and Monroe fought on the fields of battle Jefferson and Madison were largely relegated to the debates in Congress and the state legislature following his War service Monroe returned to Williamsburg Virginia and resumed his studies at the College of William and Mary which had been interrupted by The Call to Arms he then read the law under the to Le of his friend and Mentor Thomas Jefferson yes that Thomas Jefferson before the war Monroe had studied Latin mathematics and philosophy after the war he chose law because he said in a rare moment of cander for a budding lawyer it presented an opportunity for and I quote the most immediate rewards read just that bit of money Monroe kind of needed those rewards though he was then a moderately wealthy planter by contemporary Virginia standards he had little readily available liquid cash his wealth was in the land he owned and the enslave people that work it for him while reading the law under Jefferson he befriended another of Jefferson's friends and allies fellow planter James Madison Madison also a student of the law suggested that Monroe consider Politics as a means of helping build a law practice in 1782 at Jefferson's urging Monroe entered politics and was elected to Virginia's legislature the house of delegates two years later he was elected to the Congress of the Confederation Monroe served in the Congress when he sat anopolis in Trenton and ultimately in New York City in the 1780s during that time he worked and corresponded regularly with Jefferson Madison Washington and other Virginia luminaries creating the core of what will be later known as the Virginia dynasty under the Constitution he like many ambitious politicians fumed at the constraints imposed by the Articles and Confederation which prevented Congress from accomplishing well really anything of substance he also traveled extensively in what was then called the West including Western New York and Pennsylvania the Ohio River Country and the Northwest ter teritories he was one of the principal authors of the Northwest Ordinance which defined the first organized Incorporated territory of the United States which included the future states of Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin and several parts of Minnesota the Northwest Ordinance was one of the few accomplishments of the Confederation Congress to have any real lasting effect on American history while serving in the Congress of the Confederation James Monroe met New York socialite Elizabeth Cor right they were married on February 16th 1786 now some sources claim the wedding took place in Manhattan's Trinity Church while other sites her father's home at the location where the vows were exchanged we don't really know for sure what we do know for sure though is that Monroe was 27 years of age and his bride was all but 17 yeah let's move on eventually they had three children together a son James Spence Monroe who sadly died in infancy and two daughters Eliza and Maria Monroe kept the surviving children close to him for pretty much the rest of his life and when he traveled as he did so extensively he did with his family evidently he remembered the sting of being orphaned as a child in 1786 Monroe's term in Congress ended and he relocated to an Uncle's Farm in Fredericksburg Virginia there Monroe established a law practice and re-entered politics he served in the house of delegates in the Virginia ratifying convention when that body was formed to debate and ratify the draft constitution in the debates over the merits of the Constitution Monroe is most notable at least to Modern Eyes for his stch opposition to the creation of the Electoral College Monroe viewed the college and someone say with a great degree of pressence as being easily corruptible by political interests within the separate states and he instead supported the idea of a direct election of the president by popular vote I.E the guy with the most votes gets to be president his views did not Prevail and I'd make a joke here but in the UK at the time of recording this we are currently you know sitting under our fourth I think on El Ed prime minister in a row so yeah in 1789 Monroe ran for Congress under the newly adopted Constitution his opponent was his friend James Madison in a campaign that would be Unthinkable to Modern Americans the two opposing candidates traveled the district together presenting their views to the elector and seeking their support Madison prevailed in a district which had been drawn to his Advantage by allies within the state legislature the word gerrymandering had not yet been coined to describe such political mations but it is one of the earliest examples of such in American history at least yet Madison and Monroe's personal friendship was unaffected and they remain close confidence and allies for the rest of each men's lives and yeah I'm just all I can think of is that one Simpsons episode just where Kang and Kos take over like Bob D and Bill Clinton just because I get the best line of just Bill Clinton waking up like oh man I don't want to be in a tube anyway Monroe followed his defeat by moving to Alba Mara County near Charlottesville where he purchased large Plantation near Jefferson's Montello he called his new Estates Highlands the following year in 1790 the Virginia legislature selected Monroe to serve out the term of William Grayson who had died while in office Monroe thus had little time to enjoy his new home before returning to the federal government at that time the United States Senate met behind closed doors it proceedings closed to public and private eyes senators were appointed by their respective States rather than elected by the populace and felt no real obligation to allow the people to monitor their activities Monroe felt that such Behavior smacked of the medieval star Chambers and in early 1791 he proposed opening the Senate to the public it purport to serve this idea was not popular and it wasn't until 1794 that sufficient number of Senators agreed to allow the Senate to be subject to view by the people the people remember they were elected to serve by then Monroe was on his way out of the Senate and into administration of a fellow Virginia George Washington yes that George Washington who apparently wasn't very good friends with the two men disagreed on quite a lot but that's the story for another day I suppose in 1794 Washington appointed Monroe as his minister to France a position roughly equivalent to that of an ambassador in the present day despite frail Health Elizabeth accompanied her husband to Paris as did the children it was a should we say stressful tenure in the French Capital then under the throws of the reign of terror the Monro learned that again people with hard names like Marie Adrian de mortier Mar de Lafayette the wife of the Franco American hero Lafayette was imprisoned and threatened with beheading on the guillotine largely through Elizabeth's efforts she was freed the mono's young daughter Eliza also accompanied her parents to Paris and became quite good friends with horten de buan the daughter of Josephine dban the stepdaughter of Napoleon yep that Napoleon Elizabeth Monroe and Josephine likewise became quite good friends which no doubt helped shape James Monroe's Pro French views Monroe came to be solidly Pro pro- French and quite anti-british what a legend adopting views that were opposite to those of the emerging Federalist faction in the United States there Jefferson adopted similar views which were opposed by Washington Party politics Federalists in opposition to the Democratic Republicans began to evolve in the American government though Washington famously or I guess infamously depending on which way you look at it warned against the threat posed to a constitution by political parties he proved largely powerless to prevent their forming or to tone down the invective their respective adher presented to public debate however he could deny a Pulpit to those who participated in partisan debate and politics in 1796 he recalled Monroe replacing him as minister to France with William pinky Washington then demonstrated his own political skill by ensuring that the letter relieving Monroe did not arrive in time to allow him to return to the United States in time to participate in that Year's elections Monroe returns to the United States in his Plantation in Virginia until he was elected governor of Virginia by the legislature in 1799 served in that office until 1802 when he returned to France this time at the behest of President Jefferson Monroe was tasked with assisting minister to France Robert Livingston with negotiating a purchase of New Orleans and a license to trade on the Mississippi River he was given a budget of about $9 million to persuade first console Napoleon bonapart to sell instead bonapart through his ministers offered all of Louisiana for about $15 million Livingston hesitated believing he lacked the authority to approve such a sale Monroe on the other hand urg Livingston to make the deal in the end Monroe prevailed Jefferson approved and the Senate somewhat begrudgingly gave their consent the Senate did not disapprove of the value of the deal which quite literally doubled the size of the United States for pennies and acre instead members of both parties objected to the expansion of the powers of the presidency that the deal implied yet in the end it was simply just too good of a deal to pass up all of Louisiana for $15 million Monroe took note of the aggressive use of Presidential Power by Jeff he would return it in due time his next mission was as an ambassador to Great Britain there he negotiated a treaty known as the Monroe pinky treaty which redefine British and American Trade Jefferson after receiving the agreement Monroe had negotiated refused to present it to a senate for them to and I quote advise and consent Madison then Secretary of State supported the president Jefferson's main objection to the treaty was that it did not address the British practice of imprisonment of American Sailors on the high seas Monroe considered this to be a side issue and that the treaty would strengthen the trade relations between English-speaking Nations Jefferson's refusal to accept the treaty led to Monroe resigning his post in Great [Music] Britain Monroe returned to Virginia and private life at Highlands in 1807 then in 1810 he returned to politics again once again elected to the Virginia legislature and in 1811 he answered the call of President James Madison to enter the cabinet of Secretary of State he served as Secretary of State through most of the War of 1812 and as acting Secretary of War during a large portion of it as well holding both posts simultaneously the war did admittedly not go well for Americans at first but by late 1814 Naval victories on the great lakes and the successful defense of Baltimore boosted American morale as well as the bargaining position of Peace negotiators after the abdication of Napoleon in 1814 the newly elevated Duke of Wellington Arthur Welsley was offered command of his Majesty's troops in North America Wellington carefully reviewed the Strategic situation in America and declined the command informing the British prime minister that he would do well to negotiate a peace along the lines of status quo and sabum with no territorial gains or losses on either side Wellington believed that the war was unwinable for the British following the signing of the Treaty of against but before it had been received by the Americans a British Army composed of many of Wellington's best troops against Napoleon was Torn to Pieces by an American Force near New Orleans Monroe recommended to Madison that the Americans accept the treaty the Senate concurred and the war of 1812 ended both sides claim victory though neither one accomplished any of their War aims really Monroe had performed well as Secretary of State and as acting Secretary of War and victory at New Orleans had bolstered Americans belief in itself in 1816 Monroe ran for president as a representative of the democratic Republican party the collapse of the Federalist Party which nominated Rufus King me Monroe was virtually unopposed he won in a landslide although it wasn't known at the time he would be the last of the founders and the last of the Virginia dynasty to win the the office of presidency so finally we get to the part that everyone is likely familiar with when James Monroe became president in March 1817 the White House was still in the process of being rebuilt after being burned down by the British in 1814 yes sorry about that the Morro occupied a rented home on I Street until moving into the executive Mansion as it was then known in 1818 when they did occupy the house they brought with them a decidedly oldfashioned appear men wearing their hair tied back in a cood long gone out of style except for footman and servants Monroe preferred that style and continued to display it throughout his presidency likewise knee breaches and stockings had surrendered to pantaloons and Boots many years earlier but James Monroe continued to favor the former long after they' gone out of style in a later day the citizens of Washington would adapt to the Fashions of the White House such as making cowboy boots popular when a Wester was in the white house but not in Monroe's day the president appeared at L's and other official functions clad in a style he had worn some 40 years earlier seemingly oblivious to the changes in Garb and hairstyles he was surrounded by and you know a guy just doggedly refusing to change his style because that's what he feels comfortable in I can see the appeal for some mysterious reason his first Administration dealt with problems along with Southern border which was then the northern border of the East and West Florida so Spanish colonies Spain had been devastated by the Napoleonic Wars and was no longer capable of Defending its territories from either seals within or or raiding pirates from outside of its borders Monroe received the Florida issue by dispatching Andrew Jackson with American troops to occupy Mobile Alabama and Pensacola Florida Jackson's expedition was purportedly to quell the semola raids across the borders into Alabama and Georgia but it also serve as a show of force to Spanish authorities Monroe then made Spain an offer $5 million for Florida the offer was accepted Monroe followed the reasoning used by Jefferson in the purchase of Louisiana which was simply put if the consti of subsequent law did not specifically bar the office of president from doing something in the National interest he could do it so Congress acquiesced it's like yeah he told Jefferson he'd get him back so in 1818 the territory of Missouri applied for Statehood Missouri was at the time a slave state and non-slave States opposed its admission as altering the balance between slave states and free states just this is just a thing you have to deal with when you're talking about history it sucks we know we'll move on quickly so after bitter and rancorous debate Missouri was admitted as a slave state balanced by Main's admission as a free state and future admissions would follow the same Balancing Act we suppose for lack of a better term Monroe endorsed the ACT which was largely the work of Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky the Missouri Compromise of 1820 as it was then called dominated the issue of slavery in the United States for pretty much most of the antibellum period also during the Monro Administration Great Britain of the United States enacted treaties which demilitarized the border between the United States and Canada creating what Remains the the longest demilitarized border between two Nations anywhere in the world Monroe then turned his attention to checking sarus Russia's expansion into North America through the Russo American Treaty of 1824 Russia's expansion into North America was limited to roughly the southern tip of modern Alaskan Panhandle eventually the existing Russian settlements in present day California were abandoned by St Petersburg during his second term as president Monroe faced a crisis in South and Central America as the Spanish colonies one by one declared their independence and fought for freedom from Spain concerned that other European nations would attempt to take advantage of the situation and seize control of the former Spanish Empire LED Monroe to issue his policy of the end of colonization in the Americas by European powers known to posterity as the Monroe Doctrine Monroe announced the policy as part of his State of the Union message in 1823 and the doctrine in essence established United States protection over the North and South Americas as well as much of the Caribbean in truth the United States lacks the military power to properly enforce the Monroe Doctrine but it found Ally in Britain's royal Navy which enforced anti-piracy and anti-slavery laws throughout the region in their stad the mono Doctrine remains James mon Row's greatest Legacy according to many scholars and historians and has been cited as a justification for American actions by presidents including John F Kennedy uls Grant Ronald Reagan Theodore Roosevelt to name but a few Monroe lobbied Congress hard for action on internal improvements though he stipulated that the federal government could raise money for internal infrastructure it could not build or operate it under the Constitution ution Congress heard his requests for funding for roads for canals for bridges for Harbor improvements and other infrastructure in his annual state of the union messages and largely ignor all of them in response Monroe uses Authority as the commanderin-chief of the US Army to instead just have the US Army Corp of Engineers improved navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers instead so just like he did previously it's like if there's no rule that says I can't specifically do this thing I'mma do the thing James Monroe left office and returned to his Virginia Plantation in 1825 he remained somewhat active in Virginia politics for quite a long time after leaving the presidency including serving at the state constitutional convention in 1829 in 1830 his wife Elizabeth sadly passed away and a grieving Monroe relocated to New York City when he lived in the home of his daughter Maria he died there in 1831 somewhat appropriately for a founder and Veteran of the Revolution he died on July 4th something shared by other presidents but you know can you let us know which ones they are that's a bit trivia for you let us know in the comments below so originally interned in New York his body was later moved to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond Virginia in 1858 like each of the members of the Virginia dynasty who preceded him all of whom served two terms he left office considerably less well off financially than he had when he entered it also in common with the rest of the junior dynasty was his ownership of slaves again just this is one of those like facets of History we kind of have to confront even when talking about you know Heroes of the Revolution and fed American influentials it's just history kind of sucks sometimes so his White House included enslaved peoples of servants housekeepers Cooks waiters Dorman valet and so on to Monroe's credit he did come to oppose the expansion of slavery and even support the creation of colonies in Africa for the support of freed African slaves including Liberia Monrovia the capital of Liberia was named in honor of him despite his wealth measured in land and slaves Monroe was heavily in debt he was forced to sell his Highland estate to satisfy his creditors the included many of the enslaved people who resided there and again that's kind of a heavy topic and to move away quickly from that liberus Capital City being called Monrovia makes James Monroe one of only two presidents to have the capital of a country named after him can you guess who the other one is speaking briefly on his religious beliefs of all the men who've occupied the White House as president less is known about the religious beliefs of James Monroe than pretty much any other president he did not refer to his beliefs in his speeches nor in his writings no letters are known to exist where he discuss them he did not attend church in Washington nor in Virginia he did not explore his beliefs nor doubts in any known discourse we are aware of even the death of his own son at just 16 months of age did not cause him to address his faith if any in his correspondences or in any conversation with his friends again that we are aware of at William and Mary in pre-revolutionary Virginia and even in Washington's continental army attendance at Services was often mandatory yet Monroe never mentioned them in any context we're aware of he is not regarded as one of the greatest American amican presidents though most historians and Scholars ranking such things rank him above the middle tier of Chief Executives when added to his roles in fighting the revolution creating the Constitution acquiring Louisiana of Florida and securing America's future his role as president becomes somewhat more substantial the last of the Revolutionary Founders helped found the America of manifest destiny and The Taming of the continent as well as secure it from European tampering perhaps not one of the greatest presidents but certainly far far from among the worst but you know that's story for another day and thank you to everybody for watching at home I hope you found this video to be entertaining informative and educational I certainly found the script to be all three of those things and although I am British I do have an interest in American history because it's interesting was a lot I know it's a America is a relatively Young country with a rich history that is seldom explored in media and when it is it's often a truncated sanitized version so I do appreciate the author Larry holsworth from not shying away from things such as James Monroe you know owning slaves that's kind of a suck ass thing to do but it was a thing he did and it Bears mentioning cuz history isn't always nice but that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it anyway thank you for watching and as I always like to say go out there and have the day that you deserve [Music] cheers