James Monroe

The presidency of James Monroe sits alongside the tenures of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Thomas Jefferson, and arguably Ronald Reagan in that they all were 2-term administrations chaired by popular chief executives lucky enough to lead the United States through periods of economic health, reduced international tensions, and social progress. The presidencies of Jefferson, Monroe, Eisenhower, and (again arguably) Reagan were all happy, unified eras mostly free of internal divisions. In fact, the time Monroe spent living in the White House is labeled by most historians as "the Era of Good Feelings". The Era of Good Feelings really began with the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, but the bulk of its existence coincided with that of the Monroe Administration. Monroe, like Jefferson before him and Eisenhower after him, was a beloved president with almost no real opposition, allowing him to accomplish numerous wonderful things for the American people.

In order to understand the circumstances of Monroe's election and presidency, it is important to understand the War of 1812. Mainly sparked by the forced abduction of American sailors by Britain and the forced enlistment of those soldiers into the Royal Navy, the War of 1812 was declared by Washington DC against London. The target of the war made it very unpopular amongst members of the Federalist Party. The Federalist Party was established by Alexander Hamilton in 1791, while Monroe was working in the Senate. The Federalists were a right-wing political movement advocating increased hierarchy, a strong federal government, protectionism, industrialization, restrictions on immigration, and maintaining education's status as a privilege rather than as a right. Thomas Jefferson responded to the Federalist Party by establishing the Democratic-Republican Party in 1792. Jefferson's party espoused the opposite platform to Hamilton's: Leftism, reduced hierarchy, states' rights, free trade, agrarian economics, lenient immigrant policies, education as a right, etc.

Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party supported the French Revolution and so wanted the US to side with France instead of Britain, two countries locked in an eternal rivalry over who would secure the most international dominance. Hamilton and the Federalists disliked the French Revolution and so desired close ties to Britain. The War of 1812 obviously hampered this goal, so the Federalists despised James Madison for embarking on it. New England proved to be a Federalist stronghold and so when Massachusetts was asked to temporarily cede its state militia to federal control as a war measure, it refused. Madison retaliated by stating that he would refuse to help Massachusetts financially recover from the war. In response, the Federalists, from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, hosted a meeting at Hartford, Connecticut, denouncing the War of 1812.

3 days after the Hartford Convention closed, future President Andrew Jackson began fighting British troops in the Battle of New Orleans, which ended in an American victory on January 26, 1815. The War of 1812 ended in a draw soon after - on February 17, 1815 - but Jackson's success at New Orleans made it a popular endeavor in hindsight. The fact that the Federalist Party had expressed such indignant opposition to the war just before it closed made them look silly and untrustworthy, decimating its support amongst the American people. By the end of 1815, the Democratic-Republican Party was the only serious force left in US politics. The Federalist Party officially disbanded in 1824. With practically the whole country on his side, Monroe was able to easily defeat Federalist candidate Rufus King in the 1816 election. He was inaugurated on March 4, 1817.

Although Monroe supported the War of 1812 as Madison's secretary of state, he did agree with the Federalists in their view that future wars with Britain should be avoided. Monroe spent the first 18 months of his presidency looking at the current causes of tensions between the US and the UK and for solutions to those issues. Britain was happy to work with Monroe, as they bizarrely were interested in securing American support as London tried to revive monarchies abolished by France during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. On October 5, 1818, British and American delegates signed a treaty establishing the previously-disputed US-British Canadian border at the 49th parallel, where it remains to this day. The Treaty of 1818 also set up joint British and American occupation of the Oregon Territory and secured US fishing rights off the coast of all British colonies in North America!

Similar border disputes with Spain had been putting the US at risk of war with Madrid. Just 2 years before Jefferson agreed to the Louisiana Purchase, the Louisiana Territory had been under Spanish control and all territory west of those lands was still Spanish. There was no agreed-upon border. America was also making claims to some Spanish territories, as was Spain making claims to some American territories. On May 24, 1818, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida (a region suffering under anarchy and chaos due to Spanish incompetence) on baseless allegations that Native Americans there were planning to slaughter random white people. On February 22, 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty (named in part after Monroe's Secretary of State John Quincy Adams) was signed, mostly resolving these issues. The document required that:

• The United States relinquish claims to land in Texas (then part of Mexico, a Spanish colony at the time)
• Spain relinquish claims to land in the Oregon Territory
• The Sabine River must be recognized as a clear border between the Louisiana Territory and Spain's remaining colonies
• Florida would be ceded by Spain to the US
• In exchange for receiving Florida, the US would pay off $5,000,000 worth of claims filed by US citizens against Spain

Of these provisions, the only one I actually oppose is the US acquisition of Florida. The people living in Florida had no say in the transaction, rendering it deeply undemocratic. John Locke's view that people deserve a say in how their government operates formed the basis of the American Revolution, so what sense does it make for the US to use its independence to take people's land without their consent? However, this isn't a very offensive instance of US imperialism, as by placing Florida under the more stable rule of the US government, future incidents like Jackson's invasion that could have sparked a war with Spain or against America were less likely. Monroe also did a lot to advance the independence of burgeoning nations, which easily outweighs his encroachments upon Florida.

During the Napoleonic Wars, France became frustrated with Spain's incompetence as an ally of Paris. For this reason, Napoleon's forces invaded Spain in 1808, technically making Spanish colonies in the Americas - such as Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia - French territory. The Americas were already growing tired of Spanish rule, and so used this as an excuse to secede from the Spanish Empire: These colonies were not betraying Spain, the newly-independent governments claimed. They were actually very loyal to Madrid and so couldn't stand the idea of living under French rule, forcing them to secede. Spain didn't buy into this explanation, causing Monroe to fear for the sovereignty of Latin America. Additionally, when he refused to appoint Henry Clay (one of the original proponents of the War of 1812) secretary of state, Clay retaliated by denouncing the president for not taking adequate action toward protecting Latin American independence. In his correspondence with Jefferson, Monroe was also encouraged to help ensure the US didn't become entangled in European conflicts.

In response to these 3 factors, Monroe sent a message to Congress on December 2, 1823, outlining the Monroe Doctrine: Through this foreign policy proclamation, Monroe claimed that the world was divided into 2 separate geopolitical realms, or "hemispheres" as he termed them. The first was the Eastern Hemisphere, composed of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The second was the Western Hemisphere, composed of North and South America. Monroe then pledged that the US would abstain from interfering in the affairs of the Eastern Hemisphere. In exchange, he expected the powers of the Eastern Hemisphere to respect the sovereignty of the Western Hemisphere. Any attempt by Eastern Hemisphere powers to alter the internal affairs of the Western Hemisphere would be met with a declaration of war from the US.

Many claim that the Monroe Doctrine was merely Monroe trying to assert US hegemony over the Americas. The amount of US imperialism and influence affecting countries like Ecuador, Brazil, and Uruguay in the modern day has led most people to think that Monroe was merely trying to scare Europe away from making colonies in the Americas before the US could control those same nations. However, this viewpoint is largely ahistorical. In the original text of the Monroe Doctrine, Monroe called on the US government to respect Latin American sovereignty as a way of setting an example for Europe to follow. It could be said that this was merely Monroe trying to further enforce the Monroe Doctrine's expectations of the Eastern Hemisphere until the United States gathered the strength to oppress the Americas. While there's no way of debunking this, there's also no way of proving this, so it feels like a cop-out. When John Tyler expanded the Monroe Doctrine to include Hawaii in the Western Hemisphere, the policy was used by Millard Fillmore to prevent a French annexation of these lands. Andrew Johnson also invoked the Monroe Doctrine when he had France withdraw a puppet government from Mexico.

Regarding domestic policy, Monroe had a bit more mixed record. A severe recession known as the Panic of 1819 broke out during his watch and Monroe did basically nothing to address the crisis. He believed that since the United States was a new country with a new economy, intense economic booms and equally-miserable economic lows were healthy parts of financial development. In all fairness, when the Panic of 1819 took place, the federal government (let alone the president) had very little power over the economy. Most of those abilities were vested within state banks. Still, Monroe deserves criticism for not using what little economic power he actually had to help Americans amidst this crisis. However, the rest of Monroe's domestic policy was very good. For instance, he increased spending on infrastructure and extended the National Road - initially commissioned by Jefferson - into Ohio, when it originally ended in what is now West Virginia.

Civil rights was also a field where Monroe excelled. He signed the Steerage Act of 1819, which made life better for those immigrating to the US. The law sought to end overcrowding on ships carrying migrants to the US; it said that such ships could never carry more than 2 passengers for every 5 tons of ship cargo it possessed. For every 1 passenger exceeding that limit, the ship had to pay a $150 fine. Furthermore, it required that the ships provide water, salt, bread, and vinegar for those on board. It also helped immigration experts access better data regarding entry into the US, as it required these ships to produce reports on the race, gender, age, and national origin of people on the vessel. By far, Monroe's greatest achievement - both in domestic policy generally and civil rights respectively - was his response to the Missouri Crisis.

On December 18, 1818, Missouri became the first area obtained by the US in the Louisiana Purchase to apply for statehood. Prior to this, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states, which created a balance of free-state and slave-state representation in the Senate. Missouri's entry into the Union threatened to upset this. As a result, people from across the slavery debate were adamant about ensuring Missouri joined the Union on their side. This amount of division and fury put the country on the brink of civil war. As abolitionists became determined to create a free Missouri and as pro-slavery factions became determined to preserve a slave Missouri, Monroe became determined to keep the country together. Henry Clay, sharing Monroe's desire to maintain the stability of the Union, proposed the Missouri Compromise. Clay's bill admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state and preserved the Senatorial balance by admitting Maine into the Union as a free state. It also banned slavery in any area of the Louisiana Purchase located north of Missouri's southern border (except Missouri itself).

The Missouri Crisis ended on March 6, 1820, when Monroe signed the legislation Clay had sponsored. In doing this, Monroe both delayed the civil war, giving his beloved country more time to prepare for the inevitable crisis, and banned slavery in almost half of the United States. That is an astonishing accomplishment that few other presidents can rival. But Monroe did many other wonderful things. He prevented wars with Britain and Spain, preserved Latin American independence, improved infrastructure, and protected people immigrating to the United States. Although the War of 1812 shot a cannonball through the heart of the Federalist Party and thus caused a massive exodus of Hamiltonians to Jefferson's political movement, Monroe maintained his dedication toward preserving the program of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The left-wing, progressive views held by those two men that sought greater opportunity and freedom for the common worker did not die when Monroe sat in the White House, even as Hamiltonian Federalists swarmed Washington DC under the mask of Jeffersonianism.