In May of 2003 my brother was married at Ashlawn Plantation, and I served as a bridesmaid in the outdoor wedding. I strolled up the curving drive, walked under the tall trees, toured the cheerful house, and lingered under a rose-covered arbor. Then in an elegant garden, I came upon Monroe’s statue. Looking at it, I sensed the great spirit of the man. That exquisite setting inspired me to write this essay.

Introduction

      When James Monroe was sworn in after his second election, the Marine Corps band played a new song called “Hail to the Chief.”1 It was a fitting tribute for the President. His job, he stated, should be as “Chief Magistrate”…of the nation.”2 In all respects, he was an exemplary one. He conciliated two political parties, advanced the nation’s frontier, stabilized its economy, and most important kept Europe off America’s back. In doing so, he became the living embodiment of the “Era of Good Feelings.”3

Election of 1820

      In his inaugural address, delivered on a raw and windy March 5, 1821,4 Monroe struck a celebratory tone. He noted the building of fortifications and naval forces along the Mississippi River, “the acquisition of Florida,” the suppression of piracy on the seas, and the “peculiar felicity to be altogether unconnected” to Europe’s “long and destructive wars.” As proof of the “extraordinary prosperity,” the government was repealing internal taxes and paying off a $67,000,000 public debt. “[T]he present depression prices” would be temporary, and “our system will soon attain the highest degree of perfection.”5

      Inasmuch as the country was reeling from massive debt, his outlook might have struck listeners as over-optimistic. All too soon, the caucus system that had nominated Monroe would disintegrate.6 Three of his own cabinet members would openly quarrel for the next presidency, their feud culminating in a bitterly contested election.7

      Caucuses would perish also because male suffrage, offered without property qualifications and available in ten states,8 would enable more voters a voice in government. Under such forces, the Republican Party was destined to splinter, and. many Americans would follow Andrew Jackson into the new Democratic Party.9 By the1830’s, Presidential elections would transform into raucous nominating conventions, campaign rallies, popular votes, and spoils. Complicating the process would be party factions, sectionalism, and slavery, all looming ahead like a “firebell in the night.”10

      This “general mass of disaffection,”11 however, was yet to come. On this day, Monroe could look back confidently on the “peace and good will”12 that had settled on his land. His commitment to consensus had brought about this result. Not surprisingly, he was reelected with little opposition, collecting all but one of the 235 electoral votes.13 The success of his 1820 election, and in a larger sense of his entire term, was attributed first and foremost to the leader himself.

      Never was a man more fit for the job, Thomas Jefferson once said.14 Monroe had fought heroically in the Revolutionary War, studied law, and had served in the Virginia legislature. He had secured one position after another--senator, governor, foreign minister to France, then England, and secretary of state—until he had won the Presidency.

      Likewise, “few men were his equals in wisdom, firmness and devotion to the country,” according to John Calhoun. “He had a wonderful intellectual patience; and could above all men…hold the subject immovably fixed under his attention until he had mastered it in all of its relations.15 In addition, people “were captivated by his agreeable affability… unassuming manners… and his polite attentions to all orders and ranks,” wrote Abigail Adams.16

Republicanism

      His greatest virtue, however, was his “conduct …directed toward promoting the union of the whole community.”17 In this, he was masterful. The two-party divisions disappeared under him. The Federalists, dismissed as unpatriotic, faded into oblivion.18 “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” Jefferson had said,19 and in that spirit Monroe had incorporated diversity into his cabinet.

      William Crawford, his opponent in1816, became his transportation secretary; John Calhoun, a War Hawk, his war secretary; William Wirt from Baltimore, his attorney general; and three men from the Middle States successively, his navy secretary.20 To placate Northeasterners, Monroe had selected the brilliant John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts for secretary of state and had even conducted a post-election tour of their region. Together, during the first term, all these men had quietly adopted Federalist ideas.21 The War of 1812 had shown them the importance of protecting American interests, and they now authorized a standing army and navy, backed industry with tariffs, and even chartered the Bank of the United States, items originally championed by Alexander Hamilton. This bipartisan unity was Monroe’s triumph.

Nationalism

      On Inaugural Day, the popular President, could survey other things with pride: America’s social progress, economic gains, and extraordinary growth. Most of the difficulties under which the republic had labored since the Revolution of 1776 had dropped out of sight. The founders; Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton; had guided her brilliantly through the rough passage.22 America was becoming largely a classless society. European historian Alexis de Tocqueville noted the effects of this “deliberate egalitarianism.” Men and women ate together at common tables. Rich and poor sat together in trains. Etiquette was so loosened that Andrew Jackson even addressed an English judge as “Charlie.”23

      In general, life grew better for Americans. The arts soared. Noah Webster and Emma Willard championed education,24 cities adopted gas street lights, and imported Hereford cattle thrived on American soil.25 The U.S. Supreme Court enshrined this nationalistic spirit as well. Under Monroe’s long-time friend Justice John Marshall, it delivered doctrines that put a permanent Federalist imprint on government. Marshall’s interpretations of the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause and “implied powers” strengthened federal prestige and stability.26

      The economy also flourished, if temporarily. With one sweep, the War of 1812 institutionalized permanent taxes, something which the Republicans had previously opposed.27 Representative Henry Clay also announced a policy called the “American System,” in response to cheap English goods that were flooding American markets and threatening domestic industries.28

      To reduce reliance on British manufacture, his plan levied a protective tariff in 1816. The result was to spur Northeast factories to buy Southern cotton, and in return, to produce clothes for the rest of the country.29 His plan also provided federal money to improve transportation between farms and markets. With Representative Calhoun imploring, “Let us conquer space;”30 the Erie Canal, the Cumberland Road, Pennsylvania turnpikes, wider roads, and steam-assisted boats, and stagecoaches were rapidly built.

Expansion

      The nation was buoyed, likewise, by diplomatic victories. On the seas, Stephen Decatur routed the Barbary Coast pirates.31 Monroe, furthermore, scored a great triumph in his relations with Canada. The 1817 Rush Bagot Agreement disarmed the two countries’ naval forces on the Great Lakes,32 and later, another treaty in 1818, shrewdly drawn by Monroe, Adams, and Lord Castlereagh, settled the border along 49th parallel and gave the two nations fishing rights and joint occupation of Oregon. The border was to become the longest unfortified boundary in the world, contributing to a prolonged peace America had never experienced before.33

      The acquisition of Florida was not as easy or expected. Lawlessness on the borders, followed by Jackson’s controversial raids on slaves and Seminole Indians, prompted Adams and Monroe to argue that Spain could no longer police its territory.34 Under pressure, Spain eventually ceded her lands, together with her claim to Oregon. In one stroke, America boosted its size from the farthest Florida Key to the Mississippi River.35 Lessons gleaned from this episode would surface in the future Monroe Doctrine.36

      Meanwhile, settlers were pushing out the frontiers, thanks to improved transportation and roads. Abandoning the tired farmland of the South, migrants sought land that was cheap and rich and abundant. So robust was this expansion that six new states joined the Union in the years betweem1812 and 1820,37 and the population doubled between 1810-1820 to 9.6 million. Despite an economic Panic in 1819 caused by speculation, shaky loans, foreclosed properties, and the banks’ “absentee ownership” of western property; intense anger in the West38 was deflected. Congress lowered land prices and gave extensions for installment payments, while Monroe reduced internal improvements to slow down the Westward movement.39

Sectionalism and Slavery

      Even the grim specter of slavery was held in check. Though the East harbored grievances against the population gains of the West, an uneasy balance was maintained through the practice of slave and free states entering in pairs. The equation nearly unraveled, however, when Missouri lobbied to come in alone as a slave state. A bloodbath was averted by an 1820 compromise that permitted Maine to enter simultaneously as a free state. The solution of “pairing off” was feeble, but it forestalled a worse crisis.40

Conclusion

      Monroe believed that where “war is felt, its pressure tends evidently to unite our people, to draw out our resources, to invigorate our means, and to make us more truly an independent nation.”41 For Americans, his Presidency was the port after stormy seas. He expertly piloted the young nation across the bumpy waves of “commerce, manufacture, navigation, agriculture, national character, the respect of nations, …and confidence in republican institutions.”42 His re-election in 1820 was an affirmation of wise, honest, and dedicated leadership. As the last “Chief Magistrate” of the Revolutionary generation, he united his people through an Era of Good Feelings that magnified his many achievements and called attention to America’s future as a power to be reckoned with.

NOTES

1 Stefoff, Rebecca. James Monroe: the 5th President of the U.S.(Ada, Oklahoma: Garrett Educational Publications, 1988), 90.

2 Monroe, James. Letter to Andrew Jackson. 14 Dec. 1816. Excerpted in Harry Ammon’s James Monroe: The Quest of National Identity (Charlottesvville, University of Virginia Press, 1990) 642 n.

3 Ammon 643 n. The phrase was coined on July 12, 1817, by a normally hostile Federalist newspaper, the Columbian Centinel, in Boston.

4 Morgan, George. The Life of James Monroe (New York: AMS Press, 1969) 385.

5 Monroe, James. Second Inaugural Address. Washington, D.C. 5 March 1821 (<www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/monroe2.htm >).

6 Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition (New York: Vintage Books) 62. In the caucus system, Congressmen chose from their party the future Presidential candidate. This procedure had installed an unbroken line of magnificent presidents. But party caucuses did not reflect the will of the people, and critics called the procedures a flagrant usupation of rights. Voters would abolish them.

7 Jackson, Andrew. Quoted from Elections and Voting (<www.smithsonianeducation.org/spotlight/elect.html >). Four candidates of the Republican party ran for the presidency in 1824: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Jackson. The latter won the popular vote, but because of the 4-way split, he lacked a majority of electoral votes. The House of Representatives broke the impasse; led by Clay they threw their weight with Adams. When Adams later appointed Clay his secretary of state, Jackson accused the two of making a “corrupt bargain.”

8 Hofstadter 62-63.

9 Newman, John J. and John Schmalbach. United States History (New York: AMSCO School Publications, 2002) 191. Supporters of Jackson called themselves Democrats and resembled the old Republican party of Jefferson.

10 “[T]his momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror.” Letter by Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes. 22 Apr. 1820. Reproduced in Joy Hakim’s A History of Us: The New Nation 1789-1850 ( New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) 178-9. Jefferson in writing to the Maine congressman expressed his concerns about slavery.

11 “[An] immense revolution of fortunes in every part of the Union, enormous multitudes in deep distress, and a general mass of disaffection to the Government not concentrated in any particular direction, but ready to seize upon any event and looking out anywhere for a leader.” John C. Calhoun’s letter to John Quincy Adams. Spring 1820. Excerpted in Hostadter 65.

12 Monroe. Second Inaugural Address.

13 Morgan 383-4. With the absence of a rival party and any incentive, only 40 Congressmen attended the caucus to submit the nomination. In the electoral vote, one dissenter, William Plumer of New Hampshire, claimed that Washington alone should have the distinction of a unanimous vote.

14 𠇋ut some men are born for the public. Nature by fitting them for the service on a broad scale, has stamped them with the evidence of her destination and their duty.” Excerpt of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Monroe. 13 Jan.1803. Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826 (<http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl149.htm >).

15 Letter to Monroe’s son-in-law shortly after Monroe’s death in 1817. Excerpted in Harry Ammon 369.

16 Letter to Richard Rush. 14 Jul.1817. Adams met Monroe during his post-inaugural tour of New England. Excerpted in Ammon 373.

17 Monroe, James. Writings VI, 29n. Ed. Stanislaus Hamilton. (New York, 1898-1903) Quoted in George Dangerfield’s The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815-1828 (New York: Harper and Row, 1965) 34.

18 Rubel, David. The Federalists: The United States in the 19th Century (New York: Agincourt Press, 1996) 23. Federalists had not only disliked the War of 1812, they had threatened at the Hartford Convention to secede. When Andrew Jackson trounced the British at New Orleans, however, they were accused of disloyalty. The party was crushed in the 1816 election.

19 First Inaugural Address. 4 Mar. 1801. Great American Speeches (<www.federalobserver.com/speeches.php?speech=1052 >).

20 Ammon 364. Benjamin Crowninshield of Massachusetts was the first to serve from 1817-1818. Then Smith Thompson of New York served from 1818-1823, and finally Samuel Southard of New Jersey from 1823-1825.

21 Newman143. Only a few members, like John Randolph, clung to the old Republican ideals of limited government and strict interpretation of the Constitution.

22 Morison, Samuel Eliot; Henry Steele Commager; and William Leuchtenburg. A Concise History of the American Republic (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983) 172.

23 Cunliffe, Marcus. The Nation Takes Shape: 1789-1837 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959) 155-156. Observations made during a tour of America in 1831 and 1832. Tocqueville mentioned other things that conspired against aristocracy. Domestic servants preferred being called “help.” Young women socialized without chaperones. The image of Washington’s head was not allowed on coins. The Constitution prohibited titles to people. Large estates and land grants changed hands, not always staying in families. Money was not a birthright. Even Madison and Monroe could not stave off debt, and when old, sold off their homes.

24 Newman 141. Webster published blue-backed spellers for the public schools. Emma Willard lobbied for education for women.

25 Rubel 24. In 1813, Baltimore became the first city to use gas street lights. The cows were imported by Henry Clay and became an instant hit.

26 Morison 174-175. The case of Marbury vs Madison (1803) gave the power of the court to review Congressional laws. The case of McCulloch vs Maryland (1817) gave “implied powers” to the federal government over the states through the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause.

27 Watts, Steven. The Republic Reborn: War and the Making of Liberal America, 1790-1820 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987) 316. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin praised the effect of the war in laying the foundation of permanent taxes.

28 Morison 173. Cries for protection came from New England cotton mills, Pittsburgh iron smelters, Kentucky weavers, and New York granaries.

29 “To be independent for the comforts of life, we must fabricate them ourselves. We must now place the manufacturer by the side of the agriculturist.” Excerpt of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Benjamin Austin. 9 Jan 1816. Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826 (<http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl123.htm>) .

30 “Let us bind the republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals…Let us conquer space.” Speech made in Congress in 1817 to create a fund for internal improvements. Excerpted in Arnold Rice, John Krout, and C. M. Harris’s United States History to 1877 (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991) 126.

31 Monroe, James. Fourth State of Nation Address. Washington, DC.14 Nov 1820 (<http://odu.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/jm5/speeches/jmoson4.htm >) .

32 𠇎xchange of Notes Relative to Naval Forces on the American Lakes: 1817.” Treaty. 28 Apr.1818 ( <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/britain/br/1817p.htm >).

33 𠇌onvention of 1818 Between the United States and Great Britain” Article II. Treaty. 20 Oct. 1818( <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/britain/conv1818.htm> ).

34 Rice125.

35 Morison180. America agreed in 1819 to assume $5 million in claims against Spain. The actual treaty was ratified by Spain two years later.

36 Monroe, James. Monroe Doctrine. 2 Dec. 1823 (<www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/monroe.htm >). The Doctrine warned all Europe against attempting to interfere with or to colonize nations in the Western Hemisphere.

37 Morison 173. Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), and Missouri (1820) entered the Union. Settlers were aided by several treaties that had evicted the Indians to west of the Mississippi

38 Hofstadter 64. Senator Thomas Hart Benton complained in 1819 of the Eastern banks, 𠇊ll the flourishing cities of the West are mortgaged to this money power. They may be devoured by it at any moment. They are in the jaw of the monster!”

39 Rice 128.

40 Cunliffe 45. Thus Vermont and Kentucky came in together as did Indiana and Mississippi.

41 Watts 316.

42 Ingersoll, Charles. Comment by Pennsylvania congressman after the War of 1812. Quoted in Watts 316.

Bibliography

Ammon, Harry. James Monroe: the Quest for National Identity. Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 1990.

“Convention of 1818 Between the United States and Great Britain” Article II. Treaty. 20 Oct. 1818. <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/britain/conv/1818.htm >.

Cunliffe, Marcus. The Nation Takes Shape: 1789-1837. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1959

Dangerfield, George. The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815-1828. New York: Harper and Row, 1965.

Great American Speeches <www.federalobserver.com/speeches.php?speech=1052 >. Elections and Voting <www.smithsonianeducation.org/spotlight/elect.html>.

“Exchange of Notes Relative to Naval Forces on the American Lakes: 1817.” Treaty. 28 Apr.1818. <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/br1817p.htm>.

Hakim, Joy. The History of Us: The New Nation 1789-1850. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition. New York: Vintage Books, 1974.

Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826. Letter to Benjamin Austin. 9 Jan 1816. <www.odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl123.htm>.

Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826. Letter to James Monroe. 13 Jan.1803 <http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl149.htm >.

Monroe, James. Monroe Doctrine. 2 Dec.1823. <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/monroe.htm.>.

Monroe, James. Fourth State of Nation Speech to Congress. 14 Nov. 1820. <http://odu.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/jm5/speeches/jmoson4.htm >.

Monroe, James. Second Inaugural Address to the Nation. 5 Mar 1821. <www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/monroe2.htm>

Morgan, George. The Life of James Monroe. New York: AMS Press, 1969.

Morison, Samuel Eliot; Henry Steele Commager; and William Leuchtenburg. A Concise History of the American Republic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Newman, John J. and John Schmalbach. United States History. New York: AMSCO School Publications, 2002.

Rice, Arnold S., John Krout, and C. M. Harris. United States History to 1877. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.

Rubel, David. The Federalists: The United States in the 19th Century. New York: Agincourt Press, 1996.

Stefoff, Rebecca. James Monroe: the 5th President of the U.S. Ada, Oklahoma: Garrett Educational Publications, 1988.

Watts, Steven. The Republic Reborn: War and the Making of Liberal America, 1790-1820. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987.