James Monroe |
Birth: 28 April 1758 |
| Died: 4 July 1831 | |
| Party: Democratic-Republican | |
| Presidency: 1817 ~ 1825 | |
| Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins | |
| Nickname: Last of the Cocked Hats Last president who has served as an officer during the Revolutionary War |
● The Era of Good Feelings
The Era of Good Feelings implied the desire of unity and the bond of Americans shared after the 1812 War with Great Britain, Patriotism and Nationalism boomed again during James Monroe’s presidency. As the capital was burned during the 1812 War, James Monroe decided to pursue a Grand Tour around the country.
Starting from Washington D.C. James Monroe proceed North to Portland and west to Detroit and back to Washington. James Monroe was welcomed even in the Federalist New England. The Boston Columbian Centinel described the warm welcomes and the unity of America as the ‘Era of Good Feelings’
● Literature in the United States of America
James Fenimore Cooper incorporated the American wilderness, African, African-American and Native Americans into his work. His most famous work is The Last of the Mohicans which he has input various perspectives of the good and bad of the Native Americans.
His work The Pioneers depicted the early American society of the 19th century where proclamation of property rights wasn’t established.
Washington Irving was also one of the first American author who becomes famous worldwide. His most notable work is ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. Washington Irving specialized in writing short stories.
He made the nickname ‘Gotham’ for New York City and the New York Knickerbockers named their team on Washington Irving’s factionary character Diedrich Knickerbocker.
● John Jacob Astor and the Fur Trade
One of the gossips that people would like most would be ‘who is the richest person in the country?’ During James Monroe’s presidency, John Jacob Astor was known for the richest person in the United States.
Fur trade with the Native Americans was a profitable business.
There was great demand in Europe as beaver fur was a fancy fashion item among the nobles in Europe.
Although the 1812 War nearly annihilated his business, John Jacob Astor and his ‘American Fur Company’ was able to almost monopoly the fur trading business.
With the wealth built from fur trades, John Jacob Astor was a major investor of the New York estates which made him the wealthiest man of the United States. He is memoir in the Astor Library in New York and many streets and regions were named after his contribution.
● Emma Willard
Education wasn’t open for women during the 1800’s. Emma Hart Willard was probably one of the first women activists who has fought for women rights. She spent her whole life to publicly acknowledge education for women.
She attempted to legislate plans for promoting women education in New York in 1819 but the state legislation rejected her plans.
Later on, in 1821, Emma Willard founds the Troy Female Seminary in New York.
The Troy Female Seminary offered the first college-level education for women. In present days, the Troy Female Seminary was renamed after its founder Emma Willard as the Emma Willard School honoring her contribution to the education for women in the United States.
● The American Colonization Society
Robert Finley who was founded the American Colonization Society. The objective of the American Colonization Society was ending slavery of African-Americans and let them resettle back at Africa.
The American Colonization Society failed to establish the idea of equality between black and white ethnicities, but still it was an attempt to free African-American slaves. James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay and many other politicians supported the cause of the ACS.
The ACS tried to establish a colony solely for the purpose of resettle freed African-Americans. The colony that was established by the ACS is current days Liberia. It was first founded as Monrovia which was named after the president James Monroe. Liberia’s capital inherited its initial country name ‘Monrovia’.
Liberia is one of the first republic country established in Africa and the first African republic that has gained its political independence.
● Medicine Practice and Dr. William Beaumont
Dr. William Beaumont was the first American surgeon scientist and one of the first pioneers in gastric physiology. During the 1800’s medicine practice started to slowly develop from folk remedies to more practical and scientific approaches.
Dr. William Beaumont was an army surgeon who published his experimentations and observations of the human digestive system scientifically.
He was one of the first to discover hydrochloric acid (HCl) is present in the gastric juice and even experimented several gastric juice conditions such as setting the temperature as the independent variable. Dr. William Beaumont was also famous for observing the whole process of digestion thanks to(?) Alex St. Martin, a trapper who was wounded by a gun blast.
The gun accident blew a hole in Alex St. Martin which enabled Dr. William Beaumont to see the actual digestive process of Alex.
● Invasion of Florida and purchase of Florida
Florida was still a colony of Spain during James Monroe’s early years. However, the Seminole Native American tribe which had their grounds mostly in Florida have been aggressively attacking the American settlers in the south.
The Seminole tribe also aggressively freed and embraced slaves while setting farms and plantations on fire.
The freed slaves and the Seminole tribe shared their hatred against the white settlers. James Monroe sends general Andrew Jackson to manage the disputes with the Seminole tribe. However, Andrew Jackson was severely aggressive against the Seminole tribe and Native Americans.
Andrew Jackson arsons Seminole tribes and execute numerous Seminole tribe members and he even invades Florida and capture the fort of Pensacola which was located in the north of Florida.
The Spanish minister Onis protests to James Monroe’s government for Andrew Jackson’s campaign in Florida. John Quincy Adams who was the Secretary of State during James Monroe’s presidency opens negotiations with the Spanish minister.
John Quincy Adams demands action for the Seminole while he also softly threatens the Spanish minister with Andrew Jackson’s army.
Spain eventually sells the territories of its colonies to the United States for five million dollars in 1819. This agreement is also known as the Adams-Onis Treaty or the Transcontinental Treaty.
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