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James Monroe April 28, 1758, Westmoreland County, Virginia - July 4, 1831, New York City, New York Political Party: Democratic-Republican Presidential term: March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 (two terms) Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins (1817-1825) Rights and standards of an American are often taken in as prized treasures for many envious foreigners across the universe. However, these rights had been slowly obtained throughout the development of early America. In the meantime, sturdy federal regulations were established in order to retain fundamental norms of civil society and at the same time satisfy the people’s wants and needs.
 * Thematic Context (American Identity) **

One distinguished example is “The American System” projected by Henry Clay. This system, recognized by 1824, was consisted of three components. First it called for a strong banking system to stabilize the currency and to reign over the state and local banks. With the bank in power, protective tariff could be placed to protect American industries and to yield funds for the federal government. With that source of revenue, internal developments could flourish, particularly the network of transportation to improve trade. Although it was frowned upon by tariff opposers, hence only parts of the plan were enacted by Congress, it made perfect sense on how a stable economy should be ran, where the people’s money is deposited back to the infrastructure that they enjoy within the nation.

The case of McCulloch vs Maryland in 1819 was one of the many cases ruled by John Marshall that established laws and orders to support the power of the federal government at the expense of the states. In this particular case, Maryland banks subjected the national bank as a competitor because of its stability, and got the state to levy high taxes on banks not chartered within the state, directed solely at the Bank of the Unites States. James McCulloch, a cashier in the national bank, refused to pay the $15,000 that was imposed by Maryland, and appealed to the Supreme Court, which was reviewed in 1819. The Court ruled in favor of McCulloch with a legitimate argument. First of all, because Congress has the power to tax, borrow, and regulate interstate commerce, it could be implied that it also has the power to pass laws to execute its powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause, such as the creation of the Bank of the United States. Second of all, the states have no power for that would interfere with national supremacy noted that “The power to tax implies the power to destroy”. Consequently, the tax imposed by Maryland was voted unconstitutional. As one of the most important cases in U.S. history, it called for broad interpretation of the Constitution, continuing the expansions of federal power to ensure the people’s rights against radical state’s rights.

James Monroe was the last president who came from the “Virginia Dynasty”- the first five presidents that came from Virginia. Held public careers as a soldier, diplomat, governor, senator, and cabinet official, Monroe became an experienced leader when he entered office in 1817. Although he did not belong in the group of the high intellectual-minded presidents, Monroe was undoubtedly an effective leader for being open-minded to the cabinet members while holding firm control over them. In addition, many of his actions, especially the Monroe Doctrine, drastically boosted nationalism in the American lifestyle by taking pride in defending the stumbling nation. Based on the fact that Monroe's administration had placed an immense assurance on the American beliefs, I would give him an A for his presidency.
 * Thesis **

“National honor is national property of the highest value”, said James Monroe in his inaugural address. Indeed, Monroe tried to promote nationalism, creating a sense of pride and at the same time enlighten the minds of the Americans to make them more aware of federal affairs. Along with that, he pushed the Unites States to be economically independent from other countries. Above all, the republicanism was to be reserved, where the people are heard in governmental decisions through voting. Overall, all of these goals in some ways were accomplished during his presidency; the Era of Good Feelings united every sect of society to work toward a common goal, his commendable relationship with Congress created harmony in office and enjoyed by the people, and his well-recognized Monroe Doctrine called for European powers to halt colonization and intervention on the Americans hemisphere.
 * Goals **

James Monroe formed an exceptionally strong cabinet during his presidency. His diversified personality muchly contributed to this effective collaboration. Not only he was blessed with good administrators, Monroe also encouraged debates and often consulted them for advices, therefore expected his cabinet to support his final decisions. While giving his administrators the freedom to do their job, Monroe also resided firm power over them to show that he was in charge. Furthermore, his annual messages were outlines of concerns seeking legislative attention rather than a report of the major events on the past year, and by getting that attention, he had made numerous personal contacts with congressmen for consultations. This stable relationship could also explain the tranquility during his administration for many of his decisions had avoided major conflicts, notably the Missouri Compromise which temporarily prevented a civil war from erupting.
 * Relationship with Congress **

**Positive Action** Sectionalism was the cause of division among the states and eventually led to Civil War. Fortunately, the climax of this complication did not break out during Monroe’s presidency. However, one of the early entanglements was the admission of Missouri into the Union. The debate of whether Missouri should be admitted as a slave state or free was heightened when the Tallmadge Amendment was proposed in Congress in 1819. This amendment forbade further introduction of slavery into Missouri and provided gradual emancipation for all children born of slave parents. Another problem associated with the admission was that it would tip the delicate balance of eleven free states and eleven slave states that were already present in the Union. The Congress came to a dead end when the Tallmadge Amendment was accepted through the House of Representative but rejected by the Senate. Ultimately the dilemma was resolved by Henry Clay’s Missouri Compromise of 1820. This compromise maintained the balance between slave and free states by admitting Missouri as slave and adding Maine as free. Moreover, the territory of the Louisiana Purchase was further divided: and imaginary line was drawn at 36°30’- the southern boundary of Missouri, thereby the section north of the line was to be free, and south of the line was to be slave. Even though President Monroe questioned Congress’s ability to determine slavery effectiveness in the territories, he signed it anyway fearing that a civil war might have occurred otherwise. With the Missouri Compromise, President Monroe had effectively avoided a major internal conflict, although it proved to be only a temporary solution as more slavery crisis erupted in the old and new territories.

One of the downturn during Monroe’s presidency was the Panic of 1819. It was the United States’ first financial crisis and lasted until 1821. Many factors contributed to this catastrophe, but the primary cause was the land speculation mishap. With the vast Louisiana Territory purchased from France, land speculators began to buy land in bulk with the loans obtained from western banks. Many of those loans were given out to those who were unable to pay back, and as the “evil” National Bank also calling in its loans, western banks were forced to foreclose mortgages on countless farms. Meanwhile, imports and exports in America were declining sharply, due to the post-War of 1812 effects. As a result, high unemployment and an increase in bankruptcies and foreclosures spread across America, where the West received the hardest hit. Little could be done to fix these short-term effects, and Monroe admitted this was normal for a maturing economy. In fact, he supported the policy proposed by Secretary of Treasury William Crawford to relax payment terms on mortgages for lands purchased from the federal government. Consequently this crisis stirred disunion and later on created another economic crisis during Van Buren’s administration.
 * Negative Action **

The Monroe Doctrine, delivered to Congress in December 2, 1823 as one of Monroe’s annual message, was his most well-known achievement. During this span of time, major European powers were invading the Americans continent to gain, or recapture, territories. One European expansion that posed a threat to the Americans was the southward push of Russia towards California, the US’s path to the Pacific. Spain’s recruitment of power to restore autocratic authority over its former Latin American colonies was happening simultaneously. Adding to that, British foreign secretary George Canning suggested in 1823 the US to a joint declaration to renounce any interest in acquiring Latin American territory. Responding to the chaos, the Monroe Doctrine put an end on the era of colonization in the Americas- aiming at the Russians, the US would henceforth remain isolated from European politics and wars and regard any interference in Western hemispheric affairs as a threat to its security. Although the doctrine was never made into law and did little during Monroe’s presidency, because the US did not have such military power to enforce it at the time, the Monroe Doctrine had became the tenet of American foreign policy in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In 1845 and 1848 President James K. Polk used the doctrine repetitively to discourage Spain and Britain from residing authority over Oregon, California, or on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and President Theodore Roosevelt modified the doctrine by adding the Roosevelt Corollary which gave the US the right to intervene with Latin American internal affairs in 1904 .
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Influential Decision **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The country, without a doubt, was better off at the end of James Monroe’s terms of office than at the beginning. A sense of nationalism spread contagiously all over the nation reaching its peak during the Era of Good Feelings. Wars had been prevented both internally and externally. Despite the fact that the nation was somewhat dis-unified and economic hardships were present, they were inevitable and somewhat natural for a developing nation under immense amount of pressure. James Monroe proved to be an effective leaders with his perceptive point of view, thus earned him an A for his presidential terms.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusion **

Works Cited

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bailey, Cohen, and Kennedy. The American Pageant:Twelfth Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2002.

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Profiles of U.S. Presidents." Monroe as President: The "era of Good Feelings" Begins. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">__http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Washington-Johnson/James-Monroe-Monroe-as-president-the-era-of-good-feelings-begins.html>.__