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//James Monroe // //April 28, 1758- July 4, 1831 // //Political Party: Democratic-Republican // //Term: March 4, 1817- March 4, 1825 Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins // James Monroe, being the most qualified man to ever assume office had a lot to live up to. Therefore, as a whole he deserves a **"B" ** average for both of his presidential terms, due to his domestic affairs, foreign policy, and for his overall national unity.    The main goal of James Monroe as president was to restore the previous state of nationalism. The union began to split over the idea of slavery and whether or not it should be abolished. Monroe did unite the union (if only momentarily), but he did avoid conflict by passing the Missouri Compromise. Along with his goal of restoring nationalism in a nation of sectionalism he also wanted to reach out to the people. He achieved this by going on three tours across the nation. The tours allowed the citizens to familiarize themselves with the president and in turn allowed Monroe to win many converts. Along with his goal of restoring the much needed nationalism Monroe also wanted to become a more independent nation. This is apparent in his First Inaugural address, “…to adopt such arrangements as are indispensable to the support of our independence, our rights, and liberties…”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> President Monroe's relationship with Congress was an overall mediocre affiliation. Due to the overall divide in both the union and the legislature he tried not to get too involved with any Congressional issues unless it was an absolute must. One thing that made the bond with congress that somewhat easier was because he served in Congress as a Senator from 1790-1794. One major problem with Congress was their demanded for various types of internal improvements, but Monroe denied it because he felt that it was unconstitutional for them to receive that much power in civic bills that were for state legislatures to take care of. In 1822 Congress passed a bill allowing federal construction and maintenance of toll booths on Cumberland Road. The proceeds would then go towards the westward extension of the highway. Monroe only vetoed this one bill during his entire presidency. Other things passed during his presidency included the Rush-Bagot Agreement, which was a disarmament agreement between America and Britain, and the Adams-Onis Treaty stating that Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

The most important decision made my Monroe and his administration would have to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. The doctrine was a response to Spain possibly trying to recapture their former colonies in Latin America along with Russia trying to extend its claims to include the Oregon territory. Monroe later sent a message to congress forewarning the European powers from intervening in the western hemisphere. Despite the overall want for a joint declaration in Britain, with the advice of John Quincy Adams, Monroe decided not to pass a unilateral statement to avoid working with Britain. Even though the issued a unilateral statement they still relied on the British sea power to assert that the American continents are no longer considered open to further colonization by European powers. This doctrine became the cornerstone of American foreign policy for the remainder of the nineteenth century and continues to play a role in our foreign policy today after various modifications.

Monroe's worst decision would have to be his decision to allow General Andrew Jackson to deal with the problem in Spanish Florida known as the First Seminole War. During the war Seminole Indians were invading Georgia and massacring residents. When Spain didn't try and stop the conflict Jackson invaded the area defeated the Seminoles, destroyed their villages, and overthrew the governor. Jackson also captured and killed Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister; two British citizens who were involved in making the Indians harm the Americans. This led to brief strained relations with Britain and it also persuaded the Spanish to believe that the Americans would take the land at will and they later sold the territory. Along with these issues Jackson also took action without the authorization from Monroe and many people such as Calhoun the Secretary of War believed that he should be reprimanded, but in fact nothing ever happened to him. This showed that Presidents power could be challenged without consequence.

James Monroe's most influential and long lasting decision would have to be the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This law ended the deadlock in Washington regarding whether or not Missouri should be made a slave state or not. The north feared that it would give the slave labor south too much power in the fight against slavery. The compromise resulted in Missouri becoming a slave state and then Maine being admitted to the union as a northern state. After Missouri was added to the union as a slave state no other territories could become slave states leaving the north and south with 12 states each. Even though neither the north nor the south, were very happy with the outcome of the compromise, but it avoided conflict between the two. This agreement lasted for 34 years before rift between the north and south over slave states continued. Overall it wasn't a permanent fix for the divide, but it did allow the north and south to coexist for an extended period of time.

In brief, James Monroe was a good President who despite the division between the North and South strived to restore much need nationalism and in turn bettered the country. In order to attempt to solve the divide in the union he needed to avoid as much conflict as possible, which is what he did with the Missouri Compromise. Along with the Missouri Compromise, he also established "the cornerstone" of foreign policy in the nineteenth century through the Monroe Doctrine. As evidenced by President Monroe's overall domestic affairs, foreign policy, and his strive for national unity he most definitely deserves a **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">"B" ** for his presidency. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 121%;">__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Works Cited: __

"American President an Online Reference Source: James Monroe." //American President: James Monroe//. Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 21 Feb. 2010. <http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/monroe>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 32px; text-align: left;">DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. 7th ed. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2009. Print // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 89.1%;">"James Monroe." //The American Revolution//. Google. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 99%;"><http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/peopleDetail.aspx?people=5>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 146.41%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 133.1%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 146.41%;">