James Monroe . Fifth President of the United States . He negotiated the purchase of Louisiana and is the author of the doctrine that bears his name, summarized in the formula ” America for the Americans.” He pressured Spain to give up Florida .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Ambassador to Europe
- 2 Other positions in government
- 3 President
- 3.1 Annexation of Cuba
- 4 Monroe Doctrine
- 5 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical synthesis
James Monroe was the son of Spence Monroe, a middle-class wood and tobacco farmer; and Elizabeth Jones Monroe, from a lower-class family who was in charge with her husband of cultivating the land of the family plantation.
He was educated at Campbelltown Academy and later at the College of William and Mary , both located in his home state of Virginia . Upon graduating from law, Monroe enlisted to fight in the Continental Army, serving with distinction in the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder.
He opposed the Constitution of 1787, defender of the autonomy of the States against the power of the federal government, following the line of the Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison .
Ambassador to Europe
Opposed to the administration of George Washington , he was nevertheless appointed by this minister in Paris in 1794 , hoping that there he would facilitate the acceptance by France of the Jay Treaty between the United States and England , which tried to resolve conflicts between the two countries, remnants of the War of Independence. The treaty was disliked in the United States, and Monroe intimated the French that it would not be ratified, that the Washington administration could be overthrown, and that things might improve if Jefferson were elected in 1796 . Unaware of these intrigues, Washington withdrew him from Paris in 1796.
Jefferson appointed him plenipotentiary minister to France and returned to Paris in 1803 . On May 2, 1803 (retroactive to April 30 ) he negotiates an agreement by which France ceded Louisiana to the United States, in exchange for twelve million dollars in cash and three million dollars in forgiveness of claims. The territory acquired totaled more than two and a half million square kilometers, more than England, France, Germany , Italy , Spain and Portugal combined.
In July 1803 Monroe assumed new functions as minister in London and in the autumn of 1804 he moved to Madrid , to assist Pinckney in his efforts to acquire the two Floridas from Spain and to satisfactorily define the limits of Louisiana, recently purchased from France. . After negotiating without success until May 1805 , Monroe returned to London, and in December 1807 to the United States.
Other positions in government
With Madison as president, he was Secretary of State from 1811 and Secretary of War and State from 1814 .
In 1816 he was elected president and re-elected in 1820
President
Under his government , the Missouri Compromise was approved , which in 1820 paralleled 36º 30 as a division for slavery in the country. No state further north would be accepted if it was a slaveholder.
In 1819 he ran Spain in danger of losing also Florida East and John Quincy Adams , Secretary of State of the Monroe administration negotiated with the Spanish foreign minister, Luis de Onis. Adams was able to obtain a border between Louisiana and the territory of Texas , absolutely favorable to his interests, and the border was fixed on the western bank of the Sabine, Red and Arkansas rivers to the continental crest of the Rocky Mountains . The treaty, signed and ratified in 1821, was very well received, given the acquisition price of Florida, five million dollars, paid directly to American citizens who maintained claims against Spain, and it meant for the United States the establishment of the western border and the wide exit to the Pacific .
In the fall of 1822 all of continental America , from the Great Lakes to Cape Horn , was independent and all its nations, except Mexico and Brazil , were republics. Only Belize , Upper Peru (later Bolivia ) and the Guianas were kept under the control of European powers . The North American and British governments took advantage of the existing situation and hastened to draft a joint declaration that would prevent a Spanish expedition from retaking their former possessions in America.
Jefferson considered this situation as the most important since independence, and raised the possibility of annexation of one of the Spanish provinces, which he later ruled out. The reference to Cuba is revealing:
Do we wish to acquire one or more of the provinces of Spain for our own confederation? I candidly confess that I have always regarded Cuba as the most interesting addition that could ever be made to our system of states. The control that, with Punta Florida, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico , and the neighboring countries and isthmus, in addition to those whose waters flow into it, would fill the measure of our political well-being. »
Annexation of Cuba
In mid- 1822, a group of Cuban annexationists decided to propose to President James Monroe the annexation of the Island, putting as a condition its admission as a full state of the Union and its recognition that if the Cubans so wished, they could constitute two states, after division. of the Cuban territory.
The proposal was discussed by the cabinet between September 26 and 30 of that year, at which time John Quincy Adams Secretary of State and next occupant of the presidential chair considered its rejection timely despite being a supporter of annexation, considering that its acceptance would lead to a war with England for which the young American republic was not at that time ready.
Monroe’s cabinet meets on 15,16 and 17 March and 2 of April of 1823 and agreed to support the status quo (Cuba in the hands of Spain), oppose the transfer of the island to another power that was not US and communicate the agreement to Madrid, warning that if the island ceded, the United States would help the Cubans to achieve their independence.
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine ( America for Americans ), was developed by John Quincy Adams and attributed to James Monroe in 1823 and announced on December 2 of the same year. Directed primarily to European powers with the intention that the United States would not tolerate any interference or meddling by European powers in America .
The doctrine was introduced by President James Monroe during his seventh State of the Union address to Congress. It was taken initially with doubts and later with enthusiasm. It was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States. The doctrine was conceived by its authors, especially John Quincy Adams, as a proclamation by the United States of its opposition to colonialism, but has subsequently been reinterpreted in various ways.
The principles of the doctrine originally proclaimed can be summarized in three points:
- Oppose any future European colonization in the New World.
- Abstention of the United States in the political affairs of Europe .
- No to the intervention of Europe in the governments of the American hemisphere.
The end of the Monroe presidency was marked by succession disputes, which blocked the president’s political initiatives.
Death
In 1830 his wife died and Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester. He died on 4 of July of 1831 victim of heart failure and tuberculosis from which he was ill.