Message of President James Monroe at the commencement of the first
session of the 18th Congress The Monroe
Doctrine Excerpts:
. . . At the proposal of the Russian
Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a
full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United
States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective
rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this
continent. A similar proposal has been made by His Imperial Majesty to the
Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government
of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of
manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the
friendship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cultivate the best
understanding with his Government. In the discussions to which this interest has
given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion has
been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and
interests of the United States are involved, that
the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have
assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future
colonization by any European powers. . .
It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a great effort was
then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of
those countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary
moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the results have been so far very
different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the
globe, with which we have so much intercourse and from which we derive our
origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of
the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty
and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of
the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any
part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights
are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for
our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more
immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened
and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is
essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference
proceeds from that which exists in their respective Governments; and to the
defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and
treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and
under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted.
We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between
the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any
attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere
as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies
of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But
with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and
whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles,
acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing
them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in
any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward
the United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain we
declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have
adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in
the judgment of the competent authorities of this Government, shall make a
corresponding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their
security.
The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still unsettled. Of
this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers
should have thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to
have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such
interposition may be carried, on the same principle, is a question in which all
independent powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even
those most remote, and surely none of them more so than the United States. Our
policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars
which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the
same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers;
to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to
cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a
frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting in all instances the just claims of every
power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to those continents
circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that
the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either
continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor can anyone believe
that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own
accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such
interposition in any form with indifference. If we look to the comparative
strength and resources of Spain and those new Governments, and their distance
from each other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still
the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in hope
that other powers will pursue the same course. . . .
James Monroe
5th President of the United States
JAMES MONROE was born on April 28,
1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was one of five children of Spence
Monroe and Elizabeth Jones who were both natives of Virginia. The Monroe’s
lived on a small farm and young James walked several miles each day to attend
the school of Parson Campbell, who taught him the stern moral code that he
followed throughout his life.
When he was 16, Monroe entered the College of William and Mary. During his
first year there, his father died and the cost of his education and his
guardianship was taken over by his uncle, Judge Joseph Jones, who became his
trusted advisor. The year was 1774 and the colonies were moving ever closer to
war with Great Britain. Young Monroe was finding it difficult to concentrate on
his studies and in 1775, he left college to go to war. He became a lieutenant
and during the Battle of Trenton, his captain was wounded and the command was
given to him. However, he too was wounded at that battle and while recovering he
was named aide-de-camp to Major General Lord Stirling. He fought with George
Washington at Valley Forge and in 1779, and now a major, Monroe was commissioned
to lead a militia of Virginia regiment as a lieutenant colonel. However, his
unit was never formed and his military career was at its end. He became an aide
to Thomas Jefferson, who was the Governor of Virginia at this time. He also
became Jefferson’s student in the study of law and with Jefferson’s
guidance, he began to see what course his life would take.
In 1782, at the age of 24, Monroe was elected to the Virginia State
Legislature. He was the youngest member of the Executive Council and in 1783,
was elected to the United States Congress that was meeting in New York City. He
served in Congress for three years and during this time he became interested in
the settlement of the “western” lands between the Allegheny Mountains and
the Mississippi River. He was chairman of two important expansion committees –
one dealing with travel on the Mississippi River and the other involving the
government of the western lands.
Congress was meeting at that time in New York City, and while there Monroe
met Elizabeth Kortright, whom he married on February 16, 1786. The couple had
three children: Eliza Kortright Monroe (1786-1835), James Spence Monroe
(1799-1800), and Maria Hester Monroe (1803-1850).
In October, 1786, Monroe resigned from Congress and settled in
Fredericksburg, Virginia with his new bride. He was elected to the town council
and once again to the Virginia Legislature. He was a delegate to the Virginia
convention to ratify the new Constitution and was strongly opposed, feeling that
it was a threat to fee navigation of the Mississippi. He voted against the
constitution, but once it was ratified he accepted the new government without
any misgivings.
In 1789, the Monroe’s moved to Albemarle County, Virginia. Their estate,
Ash Lawn, was very near Jefferson’s estate, Monticello. In 1790, he was
elected to a recently vacated seat in the United States Senate and was named to
a full six-year term the following year. In the spring of 1794, Monroe accepted
the diplomatic position of Minister Plenipotentiary to France. His assignment
was to help maintain friendly relations with France despite efforts to remain on
peaceful terms with France’s enemy, Great Britain. Monroe was recalled in
September 1796 and felt he had been betrayed by his opponents who used him to
appease France while they made great concessions to Britain in Jay’s Treaty
that the United States had signed in 1794. He remained bitter about it for the
rest of his life.
Monroe returned home in June 1797 and after two years of retirement from
public office, he was elected governor of Virginia, a position that he served
from 1799 until 1803. His great friend and mentor, Thomas Jefferson had been
elected President in 1800 and in 1803, Monroe was sent back to France to help
Robert R. Livingston complete the negotiations for the acquisition of New
Orleans and West Florida. The French Emperor, Napoleon I, offered to sell
instead the entire Louisiana colony and although the Americans were not
authorized to make such a large purchase, they began negotiations. In April
1803, the Louisiana Purchase was concluded, more than doubling the size of the
nation. Monroe spent the next two years in useless negotiations with Britain and
Spain and returned to the United States in late 1807.
Monroe returned to Virginia politics and once more served in the legislature
and was elected Governor for a second time. In 1811, Monroe became President
Madison’s Secretary of State and when the War of 1812 was declared, he loyally
supported Madison. He served as Secretary of State throughout the war and
simultaneously served as Secretary of War for the latter part. He was back in
uniform at the time of the British attack on Washington and led the Maryland
militia in an unsuccessful attempt to hold off the British at Bladensburg. On
December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed ending the war. In 1815,
Monroe returned to the normal peacetime duties of Secretary of State.
Monroe was the logical presidential nominee at the end of Madison’s second
term, and he won the election easily. On March 4, 1817 James Monroe took his
oath of office. Some of the notable events of his term were: Congress fixed 13
as the number of stripes on the flag to honor the original colonies; the
boundary between Canada and the United States was fixed at the 49th parallel.;
Spain ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for the cancellation of $5
million in Spanish debt; The Missouri Compromise, admitted Missouri as a slave
state, but forbade slavery in any states carved from the Louisiana Territory
north of 36 degrees 30 minutes latitude. By the end of his first term,
Monroe’s administration had been one of high idealism and integrity and his
personal popularity was at an all time high. Monroe was virtually unopposed for
reelection. He carried every state and received every electoral vote cast with
the exception of one, cast by a New Hampshire elector for John Quincy Adams.
With the exception of the Monroe Doctrine, Monroe’s second term as
president was relatively uneventful. The two principles of the Doctrine,
noncolonization and nonintervention, were not new or original. However, it was
Monroe who explicitly proclaimed them as policy and it was a keystone of foreign
policy for many years.
Monroe had no thought of seeking a third term as the election of 1824 neared.
He was 67 years old when he turned over the presidency to John Quincy Adams. He
retired to Oak Hill, Virginia. He was plagued by financial worries and he was
forced to sell his estate Ash Lawn to meet his debts. After his wife died, he
sold Oak Hill and moved to New York City to live with his youngest daughter,
Maria Hester Gouverneur and her husband. Monroe died there on July 4, 1831, the
fifty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Message of President James Monroe at the commencement of the first
session of the 18th Congress The Monroe Doctrine
Unrestricted. (NWL-46-PRESMESS-18AE1-1)
Message of
President James Monroe nominating John Quincy Adams to be Secretary of
State, William Crawford to be Secretary of the Treasury, and Isaac Shelby to be
Secretary of War. (NWL-46-MCCOOK-1(15))
Franklin
D. Roosevelt Library and Museum - Repository of the records of President
Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt, managed by the National
Archives and Records Administration.
Dwight
D. Eisenhower Presidential Library - preserves and makes available for
research the papers, audiovisual materials, and memorabilia of Dwight and Mamie
D. Eisenhower
The United Colonies 1st
government began in a Philadelphia Tavern
and the United States 1st federal government ended in a
NYC Tavern!
The Founders convened the government in 11 different capitol buildings and
experienced 15 years of challenges that
included war,
hyper-inflation, a failed
constitution, judicial corruption, armed citizen and U.S. Army rebellions.
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