Monroe’s Presidency Is Known as “The Era of Good Feelings”

The following sample essay on Monroe’s Presidency Is Known as “The Era of Good Feelings” summarizes the biography of James Monroe, President of the United State of America.

James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County. Virginia, on April 28th, 1758. His father was Spence Monroe. He came from a Scottish family, but settled in Virginia in the mid sixteen hundreds. James was the eldest of four boys and one girl. In 1786, Monroe married a seventeen-year-old girl named Elizabeth Kortright on June 30, 1768.

Together they had two daughters named Eliza and Maria, and a son, but he died at the age of two. James Monroe had a good education. He studied at home with a tutor until he was twelve. Then his father sent him to the school of Parson Archibald Campbell. He had to leave home early in the morning just to reach school on time. Often he would carry a rifle so he could shoot game on his way through the woods.

At the age of sixteen, James entered the college of William and Mary. But soon after enrolling, he would leave college, and join the revolutionary war. Monroe began his political career in 1782, when he won a seat in the Virginia assembly.

In 1783, he was elected to the Congress Of The Confederation, where he served three years.In 1786, Monroe started practicing law in Fredericksburg, Virginia.But soon after, he ran for the Virginia assembly again and remained in the assembly for four years.In 1790, Monroe was elected to the United States Senate.

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He was a democratic republican.In 1794, president George Washington appointed James Monroe, Minister to France.During his talks in France, Monroe criticized Jay’s treaty between United States and Britain, as “The most shameful transaction I have ever known”.In 1799, Monroe was elected governor of Virginia. He played an important part in preserving democratic processes.

In 1817, James Monroe was elected president of the United States of America. Daniel D. Tompkins was his Vice president. Monroe’s presidency was known as “The era of good feeling”.

Few men were equal in James Monroe’s sensibility, fortitude, and reverence to the prosperity of the United States. His administration distinguishes itself as one of the few that was successful in nearly every aspect. But perhaps Monroe’s most valuable attribution to the progression of the American nation was his dominance in regulating foreign affairs: a dominance that has transcended the turbulent times of American history and still remains a firm cornerstone of modern foreign policy. Monroe adamantly believed in not only expanding the U.S. territories, but also in extending the reaches of American foreign relations.

Ultimately, Monroe was prosperous in staying true to these beliefs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. The opportunity arose in the midst of the First Seminole War. Although the atrocities by American troops towards several British citizens residing in Florida temporarily strained relations with Great Britain, Monroe’s potent military action assured Spain that the U.S. was apt and powerful enough to seize Spanish Florida at any moment. Upon this realization and careful maneuvering by Monroe, Spain ceded Florida to the United States and defined, favorable to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onis Treaty negotiated in 1819. The Adams-Onis Treaty was one of the critical events that defined the boundaries of the U.S. territory. The agreement also served as one of the defining moments of James Monroe’s administration.

The challenge that faced Monroe was satiating the zealous American will to expand while keeping healthy Spanish relations intact. But his fastidious conduct of both foreign and domestic policies proved this delicate situation to be of minor concern.