However, the ill feelings between the two men did not last. In 1808, still angry about how his treaty was handled by Jefferson and Madison, Monroe ran for president against Madison. Monroe was upset by Jefferson’s actions and his friendship with both Jefferson and his secretary of state, Madison, soured. Jefferson, however, did not approve the treaty because it did not stem Britain’s practice of capturing American sailors for its own navy. Monroe, who garnered acclaim for the Louisiana Purchase, then became the minister to Great Britain and drafted a treaty that would help strengthen the bonds between Britain and the U.S. Instead, they approved and signed the Louisiana Purchase agreement themselves in 1803 and effectively doubled the size of the United States. Livingston, did not have time to gain presidential approval for such a large purchase. In France, Monroe learned that French leader Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) wanted to sell the entire Louisiana Territory (the land extending between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada), not only New Orleans, for $15 million. He held this office for three years until President Thomas Jefferson requested that Monroe return to France to help negotiate the purchase of the port of New Orleans. Monroe resumed his political career in 1799 when he became governor of Virginia. Monroe, who was critical of the treaty, was released from his post by Washington in 1796. and Britain that regulated commerce and navigation. Monroe had some initial success in strengthening Franco-American ties however, relations soured with the November 1794 signing of the controversial Jay’s Treaty, an agreement between the U.S. At the time, France and Great Britain were at war. In 1794, President George Washington (1732-99) appointed Monroe as minister to France, in an effort to help improve relations with that nation. In 1792, Monroe joined forces with the two men to found the Democratic-Republican Party, which opposed Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) and the Federalists who were fighting for increased federal power. secretary of state, both of whom were against greater federal control at the cost of state and individual rights. congressman, and Jefferson, then the U.S.
Senate, representing Virginia.Īs a senator, Monroe sided with Madison, then a U.S.
Despite Monroe’s opposition, the Constitution was ratified in 1789, and in 1790 he took a seat in the U.S. However, once written, Monroe felt the document gave too much power to the government and did not sufficiently protect individual rights. president) James Madison (1751-1836) to create a new U.S. While in Congress, Monroe supported the efforts of fellow Virginia politician (and the future fourth U.S. The couple had two daughters and a son who died as an infant. In 1786, Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright (1768-1830), the teenage daughter of a New York merchant. In 1782, he became a delegate in the Virginia Assembly and the following year was chosen as a Virginia representative to the Congress of the Confederation, America’s governing body from 1781 to 1789. (Over a decade later, in 1793, Monroe bought a farm, named Highland, located next to Monticello, Jefferson’s Charlottesville, Virginia, estate.) The Virginia Politicianįollowing his military service, Monroe embarked on a career in politics. In 1780, Monroe began studying law under Jefferson, who would become his political mentor and friend. He was wounded at the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, in 1776, and was with General George Washington (1732-99) and his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the difficult winter of 1777 to 1778.ĭuring his time with the army, Monroe became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, then the governor of Virginia. As president, Monroe supported the work of the American Colonization Society to create a home for freed African slaves in Liberia.ĭuring the war, Monroe saw action in battles in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He cut his college studies short in 1776 to join the Continental Army and fight for independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775-83).ĭid you know? Monrovia, the capital of the West African country Liberia, is named after James Monroe. In 1774, at age 16, Monroe entered the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to Spence Monroe (1727-74), a farmer and carpenter, and Elizabeth Jones Monroe (1730-74).
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