James+Monroe

=James Monroe= Angela Ly Name: James Monroe Years of Presidency: 1817-1825 Political Party: Democratic-Republican Party


 * Key Personal Details: **
 * James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758 and died on July 4, 1831. He was the 5th president and also the last president who was a founding father of the United States and the last president from the Virginia Dynasty. James Monroe was born in Westmoreland Country, Virginia and it's just one mile away from Monroe Hall, Virginia. His father, Spencer Monroe was a prosperous planter and his mother was Elizabeth Jones Monroe.
 * Monroe studied at Campbelltown Academy from when he's 11 to 16. When he's 16, he inherited his father's fortune and enrolled in the College of William and Mary.
 * He's married to Elizabeth Kortright on February 6, 1786 in New York City and had three children: Eliza Monroe, James Spence Monroe, and Maria Hester Monroe.
 * James Monroe had fought in the America Revolutionary War and served in the Continental Congress. He had studied law under Thomas Jefferson and later on he became the governor of Virginia. During Thomas Jefferson's presidency, Monroe also served as a diplomat in France to negotiate about the Louisiana Purchase. Later on during War of 1812, he served as the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison.


 * Major Events, Changes, Issues, and Decisions of Presidency: **
 * **"Era of Good Feelings"**
 * During Monroe's Presidency, he produced what was called an "era of good feelings". During this "era of good feelings", it was when the nation barely faced any problems, domestically and internationally. People didn't have any worries, problems, or troubles they had to face. The "era of good feelings" was also referred to the years after the War of 1812. The War of 1812 caused many troubles to people and after this war many were relieved.
 * **Monroe Doctrine**
 * In the Monroe Doctrine, President James Monroe stated that other European nations should no longer try to interfere with America or try to colonize in its nation. If these other European countries were to do so, then America wouldn't hesitate and fight back, thus then causing both nations to be in war with each other. If other countries tried to colonize and intefer with American lands, America wouldn't let this slip by and fight back for their lands.
 * It also states that if other countries doesn't intefer with them, then America, itself, wouldn't intefer with them either. For instance, if Britain didn't come and colonize in America anymore, then America wouldn't go mess with Britain.
 * This doctrine clearly demonstartes that America wasn't just a small weak, new nation that just emerged from the American Revolution. This was to showed to all nations around the world to not underestimate America because it's a new country. America wanted to prove to the world that it's not as weak as the other nations view them to be. And so with this doctrine, it made it seem like America was equals with nations such as Britian, France, and etc. This was a big step that America had taken towards being the strongest, powerful nation in the world. It also produced something called nationalism as well. The Monroe Doctrine demonstrates the nationalism that the people and country had together. The country and the people as a whole didn't want to be viewed as weaklings, together they are strong.
 * **Panic of 1819**
 * After the War of 1812 came the years known as the "era of good feelings" and during this time, America was experiencing an economic boom from the war. Because of this economic boom, it encouraged expansion and more lands were being given out. People who saw this economic boom wanted to continue and enjoy the wealth that it'll bring to them. But in the end it turned into a bust instead of a continuing boom.
 * This was the first financial crisis that happened in America. This happen was mainly due to the failure of the banking systems and the boom-bust economy.
 * Many people saw this economic boom after the War of 1812 and this encouraged expansion. Many people wanted to buy more lands so that they can become wealthier from this economic boom. Instead, all of this turned into an economic bust. Too many people were asking for loans from the banks and these banks were literally handing out money to everyone. Soon this caused the bank to run out of money and went into bankruptcy. Many banks ended up like this because of the poor banking system. These banks shouldn't have lent loans out to just anybody. Some people took these loans and never repaid the bank back. This called for a better banking system for the nation, in which Monroe eventually provided.
 * **Missouri Compromise of 1820**
 * During Monroe's presidency, he also had to face with the troubles of slavery and this is one of his solutions to the slavery issues. He passed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 in hopes that it can finally settle the decision of free and slave states. This was only a temporary solution to the problems at that time, but it became no help to the future problems with slavery.
 * New lands were being added into the nation at that time and Missouri was one of these states. Missouri finally had a decent amount of people living and so it decided to join America as a state. But in doing so, it will upset the balance of free and slave states. And so both sides argued about what to do with the new state. They debated whether Missouri should be a slave state or not. In the end, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created to resolve this issue.
 * In the Missouri Compromise of 1820, it states that Missouri will join the nation as a slave state and Maine (once belonged to Massachusetts) will join the nation as another state, but as a free state. This way, it will keep the balance between free and slave states. To prevent any further more slavery issues, the Missouri Compromise also created a Missouri Compromise Line. This Missouri Compromise Line is just right above Missouri at the 36º 30´ latitude line. Any land above it that becomes a state will be a free state, while any land below that becomes a slave state.


 * Legacies:**
 * Monroe's legacies was mainly based on his "era of good feelings". During this era, he produced a period of time in which people didn't have to worry much. People had more of a relaxing life during this time and had less to worry about. From this era he also produced a great sense of nationalism for the country. Before, the country was in between the lines of nationalism and sectionalism. There were people who favored sectionalism because they wanted more local/state power over federal power. It's because these people just broke free from Britain and its government and they didn't want another government that will overpower them. But during this "era of good feelings", majority of the people favored nationalism over sectionalism. This caused the people and the government to be more united and it caused the nation to be better as a whole.
 * Another one of Monroe's legacies was the Monroe Doctrine. His doctrine displays a lot of nationalism in it. This doctrine of his warned the other European nations to not interfere or colonize in American lands or else America would not hesitate and fight back. This showed and proved that America isn't a small, weak nation that just got out of war. Even though America was a new nation at that time, but it warned other nations not to underestimate it. America speaks to powerful nations such as Britain, France, and etc. as if they're equal in power with one another. This proves that America was strong and just because it's a new nation doesn't mean they would be a push-over. America's determined to be the most powerful nation in the world and this was its starting point to prove its place in the world.


 * Arguments:**
 * James Monroe's presidency was the most important presidency of U.S. history because in his presidency he made changes that affected the future of America. For instance, President Monroe's solution to the Panic of 1819 demonstrates the change that he did to the future of America. Because of the Panic of 1819, it created a better banking system to prevent a financial crisis like that from happening again in the future. If President Monroe never came up with this better banking system, America would probably still be running on its poor banking system and a financial crisis would have happened in the future. Even today, we are still running on this banking system that President Monroe had created for us. Also, the Missouri Comprise was a key event in U.S. history that President Monroe passed. The Missouri Compromise was the first step of the conflicts between the free and slave states which later on developed into a worser condition. Because of his Missouri Compromise, it became the first step in the conflicts between the two regions of America which later on turned into a call for the abolition of slavery. Lastly, James Monroe's presidency was the most important presidency in U.S. history because of the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine proved to the world that even though America was just a new nation emerging from a war, but it's no weakling and it won't be a push-over. It proves that America was equals with the other powerful nations in the world and it will strive to be the most powerful nation in the world. And so, after doing these changes to the nation President James Monroe's presidency was the most important presidency in U.S. history.


 * Sources:**
 * James Monroe
 * "A Survey American Survey" Twelfth Edition by Alan Brinkley