Evan+M.+-+JM+-+FA11

 **James Monroe**  Born April 28, 1758 and died on July 4, 1831  Political Party was Democratic-Republican  President from 1817–1825  Vice President was Daniel Tompkins  Rating is an A-  (Theme is culture)

Throughout out his term of presidency Monroe handled many foreign and domestic problems that help the country become stay peaceful. By purposly reducing political tension through the decisions he made allowed himself to become liked by a majority of the country. Not only dealing well with the country it self but other countries while still maintaining his same status as a well liked, political figure. All the well though through decisions made by the last of the Virginia Dynasty presidents allows him to get an A- as his rating.

One of the major goals during Monroe's term as president was to continue the Era of Goodlfeelings. The country had just came from the war of 1812 and felt united with a strong sense of Nationalism due to defeating the British. The Federalist party had started to disappear after the not liked Hartford Convention where the New England states met in secret for two weeks. He purposely made sure that it stayed that was and continued by making tours around the country making frequent stops building up the nations trust. Monroe also wanted to support the current government and stay with that as it was to guide the country further ahead and lead it too success. By making decisions that most people wanted allowed this happen and no plots to succeed or rebel were enacted upon. Securing the nation from other powers was also of importance. He did this through several actions such as signing a treaty with Spanish Florida after Jackson invaded. This secured Georgia from the areas below it. Having this secure meant that the American spirit was growing and now had a new respect not only from the country itself from other nations including but not limited too Europe. These were all goals mentioned in someway in his Inaugural address and were for the most part completed by the end of his presidency.

Monroe got involved with politics from a very young age. He fought in the revolution and served in the continental congress after studying law at William and Mary. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1786 and was appointed as a French Ambassador by Washington 8 years after that. This early start in politics helped him established many relations with important connections and allowed him to gain experience which allowed for him to liked by most people being them citizens or politicians. Since he was so liked he was the Secretary of War for James Madison giving him that head start for his election. Despite all the experience the congress and Monroe did have some rough spots. They disagreed on a few such as the Cumberland road. This was one the first attempts at a federal highway. Congress wanted a bill that would allow for yearly improvements but was vetoed by Monroe saying it was unconstitutional. Aside from a few items such as that, the overall relations appeared to be good. This could be due to Monroe ignoring old party lines in making decisions and did what he thought was right and not being a "one party" nation at the time, even though that's the opinion of some. Others disagree and say there were major splits in political beliefs.

The cabinet during his presidency contained Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of Treasury William H. Crawford, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, two attorney generals and three Secretaries of Navy. One of the best decisions that they made that was the best solution was the Monroe Doctrine. This was from the help of Secretary of State, this settled problems with domestics issues specifically with Florida and Europe. It said that Europe could no longer colonize in the Americas and the free Nations that rebelled against the mother nations were to be left as they were. This was not backed up with any force seeing as the U.S. military was young and weak at the time, especially coming out of the war of 1812. But it was also agreed upon by Britain, although Spain and its' allies disagreed since they were the rulers of the nations that rebelled. That settled that problem and earned more respect for the Young Nation of America. This gave the U.S. more pride and nationalism and gave it that American sense of culture. Showing that it has the potential strength and guts to one day become a prominent world leader. Some decisions made though were bad such as the one mad by the war cabinet. General Jackson got orders from Monroe saying that they should stop incursions happening in Florida. Jackson mistook this as permission to invade Florida. He capture cities even though this was not the intent of the president. This was a major mistake, although Secretary of State managed to once again be the most successful of the cabinets and turn this in to a opportunity to offer to buy Florida from the Spanish and ended up in the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. Ending this peacefully and thus bringing the country closer together.

One of the biggest decision he made was creating the Missouri Compromise. This banned slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30' north. But allowed for it in the boundaries of the State of the Missouri. This was so large because the North was against slavery but it was still needed in the less populated South to run plantations. This was agreed upon by the North because Maine was admitted to the union as a State. This helped calm the abolitionists in the north because Sectionalism was becoming more apparent in the U.S. This major disagreement ultimately ended in the Civil War but was slowed down much by this Compromise. It caused disputed much. Slavery was not thought of as right or wrong at the time, it was all about political power. If there were no slaves, the North would have more power which is why they banned slaves in all States above Maryland. Despite this, the North still got more power since they got the state of Maine and the South with the new slave state.

Looking at everything that happened during his presidency you see that Monroe was not the worst president, and in fact he did a very good job of keeping peace and maintaining the Era of Goodfeelings. He stayed up to date with society and helped the American culture further progress. Abandoning the old party lines was a very smart choice in his part and allowed him to have a healthy relation with many politicians and congress. His American spirit allowed him to be a patriot and see the good in a democratic government and then allow him to end up on the top helping bring the country together. His patients with decision making helped avoid a war for the time being, his cabinet had much success with what was thrown in their path and Monroe was an overall A- president.

Resources "American President: James Monroe." //Miller Center//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. .

"James Monroe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."//Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamesmonroe

"Welcome to JamesMonroe.Org, home of the James Monroe Scholarship Award!." //James Monroe .Org: Home of the James Monroe Scholarship Award and the Premier site for Monroe-related research.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. .