I.

Introduction

James Monroe (1758-1831), fifth president of the United States (1817-1825) and the last of the so-called Virginia dynasty of U.S. presidents. He succeeded his lifelong friends Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the nation's highest office. Monroe was a man of good intelligence, sound judgment, and highest integrity. In more than 40 years of public service, he never stinted of his energies in doing what he considered his public duty.

Monroe was president during the “Era of Good Feelings.” It was called that because there were few political battles and his Democratic-Republican Party ruled almost unopposed. It was a transitional period in which the nation's democratic institutions and capitalist economy were taking form. National identity, as opposed to narrow state interest, was growing as evidenced by the westward movement and the construction of roads and canals. People who were leaving their old colonial homes and moving west on the expanding frontier began to think of themselves not as Virginians or New Yorkers, but principally as Americans. The roads and canals, or internal improvements as they were called, were built to tie together the nation's commerce. They were considered a national priority and were often funded by Congress, whose members understood that an improved flow of commerce in any section of the country would also benefit their own constituencies.

Even though one party dominated, political debate did not disappear. Factions developed in the party over questions about tariffs (taxes on imports); the future of slavery; and how to deal with Britain and other European colonial powers. As President, Monroe consistently and successfully pursued a policy that served both to protect the United States from European interference and to foster unhampered growth of the nation and its economy. He was responsible for the Monroe Doctrine, the principle that the United States would not tolerate new colonies in the western hemisphere or interference by outside powers in the internal affairs of nations in the western hemisphere.