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Elected fifth president of the United States, Monroe transformed a fragile little nation - "a savage wilderness," as Edmund Burke put it - into "a glorious empire." Although George Washington had won the nation's independence, he bequeathed a relatively small country, rent by political factions, beset by foreign enemies, populated by a largely unskilled, unpropertied people, and ruled by oligarchs who controlled most of the nation's land an..
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He believed the future of the nation was at stake, and he returned day after day to fight his war against the "slaveocracy." And Quincy voters sent him back to Congress again and again. Louisa fretted about his health and safety, but she had lost all influence over him and could do nothing to restrain him. He was unstoppable--a meteor spiraling out of control in the political firmament."
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Contrary to the writings of some historians, Monroe's proclamation was entirely his own creation-not Adam's. The assertion that Adams authored the "Monroe Doctrine" is not only untrue, it borders on the ludicrous by implying that President Monroe was little more than a puppet manipulated by another's hand. Such assertions show little insight into the presidency itself and the type of man who aspires to and assumes that office; indeed, they ..
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Fathers--dressed
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Everyone that is not a noble," he lamented, "is a slave."
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Lafayette was a splendid man...with a marvelous, self-depreciating sense of humor. He was, for example, balding noticeably when he reached an Indian outpost...and he calmed his wife's anxieties by noting that "I cannot lose what I do not have."
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Now he recognized that protection of national interests was the raison d'etre of all governments, whether born of revolution or not. Expansion of individual liberties had simply been a by-product of the American Revolution because it was essential for uniting the American people and, therefore, in the national interest. Tyranny--indeed, Napoleon--had been the by-product of the French Revolution, because it was essential for maintaining the ..
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Monroe's presidency made poor men rich, turned political allies into friends, and united a divided people as no president had done since Washington.
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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Napoleon Bonaparte--proclaimed an end to private property. "The earth belongs to no one; its fruits belong to every one," declared Francois Noel Babeuf. "There is but one sun, one air for all to breath. Let us end the disgusting distinctions between rich and poor . . . masters and servants, governor and governed."1 As the poor rose in rebellion and joined equally deprived soldiers in rioting, Napoleon rallied them to his banner, assuaging t..
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Monroe
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Daniel Shays, a farmer struggling to keep his property, convinced neighbors that Boston legislators were colluding with judges and lawyers to raise property taxes and foreclose when farmers found it impossible to pay.
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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He supported Jefferson's proposed Land Ordinance of 1784,22 ceding Virginia's western territory to Congress for division into fourteen future states in which "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude." Congress defeated the Ordinance by one vote."
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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America is on the point of bursting into flames,
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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By March 1766, colonist boycotts had proved so costly to British merchants that Parliament repealed the stamp tax without having collected a single penny.
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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which are plainly adapted to that end,
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At the end of June 1783, Monroe's first year of government service came to an end. Although he had accomplished nothing, he had done no less than his colleagues - which is exactly what Virginia planters had elected them to do.
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Harlow Giles Unger |
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He was curious, courteous, open - never arrogant or condescending - and generous to a fault. Abigail Adams later noted his "agreeable affability," "unassuming manner," and "polite attentions to all orders and ranks"..."
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history informs us that the passage of dethroned monarchs is short from prison to the grave."18"
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Monroe also saved Tom Paine, whose revolutionary fervor had inspired him to become a French citizen and win a seat in the Convention. When Paine voted against executing King Louis XVI, however, Robespierre sent him to prison, where he languished in ever-deteriorating health until Monroe rescued him in November 1794, and brought him to La Folie to recuperate.
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obligations to the United States, ladies and gentlemen, far surpass the services I was able to render. These date back to the time when I had the good fortune to be adopted by the United States as one of her young soldiers, as a beloved son. The approbation of the American people . . . is the greatest reward I can receive. I have stood strong and held my head high whenever, in their name, I have proclaimed the American principles of liberty..
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Respect," he declared, "forms the basis of every negotiation with these powers. The respect which one power has for another, is in the exact proportion of the means which they respectively have of injuring each other with the least detriment to themselves."
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And to Virginia governor Edmund Randolph, who also favored a bill of rights, he explained, "The human race is too apt to rush from one extreme to another.... For now, the cry is power; give Congress power, without reflecting that every free nation that hath ever existed has lost its liberty by the same rash impatience and want of necessary caution."
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