MONROE, James, fifth President of the United States: b. in Westmoreland County, Va., 28 April 1758; d. New Yoric, 4 July 1831. His father, Spence Monroe, was descended from Hector Monroe, an officer of Charles I; while his mother, Eliza Jones, of King George County, was of Welsh descent. Monroe at tended William and Mary College, but with the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he became a lieutenant in a Virginia regiment (1776). He was with his troops at the battle of Har lem Heights, White Plains and at Trenton, where he distinguished himself, being wounded in the shoulder. During the campaign of 1777 78 Monroe served on the staff of Lord Stirling with the rank of major, taking part in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Mon mouth. As staff officer Monroe lost his place in the Continental army, and failing to raise a new regiment authorized by the legislature of ,Virginia, Monroe withdrew from active military services, confining himself to volunteer efforts in defense of his State. In this capacity he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in a new regiment to be raised in Virginia. In 1780 his military services were definitely interrupted and concluded by his undertaking the study of law under Thomas Jefferson, then governor of the State. So began the life-long friendship and intimacy between these two representative Virginians. In 1782 he was elected to the Virginia legislature, and although still a very young man, was appointed to the executive council. From 1783 to 1786 he served in the Congress of the Confederation where he played a conspicuous part in endeavoring to strengthen the Confederation's powers for the regulation of commerce, and the favorable report of the special committee appointed as the result of his motion on this topic contributed to the ultimate alteration of the articles. Monroe also disclosed a lively interest in the development and division of the West, on the right of the United States to the navigation of the Missis sippi, on the subject of trade between the States and in the public lands. On retiring from Congress he began the practice of law at Fredericksburg, Va.; but in 1787 he was chosen a member of the Virginia legislature and in 1788 a member of the State convention to ratify the Federal Constitution. In this convention Monroe sided with the opponents of the new draft, and in the two main speeches which he made— characterized as "dull and weighty* he objected to the ratification on account of "the power of direct taxation, absence of a bill of rights, the • lack• of legislative and executive responsibility, and the re-eligibility of the Presi dent.° In 1790 he was. selected by the legisla
ture United States senato to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Grayson. From 1790 to 1794, as United States senator, he was classed as one of the most decided Anti-Federal ists of the administration of Washington. Yet, in 1794 he was appointed Minister to France to succeed Gouverneur Morris, at the same time Jay was sent to England. These were trouble some days for American commerce when, the United States endeavored to preserve its strictly neutral attitude in the death struggle between France and England. Morris had made him self unpopular to the Republican government of France, and undoubtedly one reason for Mon roe's appointment was his well-known opposi tion to England. In other words, Monroe's selection was "forced by the exigencies of the situation? It was hoped that Monroe's well known French inclinations would harmonize the strained relations between France and the United States. He was instructed to assure France of the firm friendship of the govern ment; the determination of the United States to maintain strict neutrality; to help adjust outstanding disputes between the two lands over spoliations, but to refrain from negotiating a treaty of commerce; and to quiet French suspicions regarding the Jay mission. Monroe was not informed of the wide latitude of -Jay's instructions toward negotiating a treaty of com merce with Great Britain. Trouble therefore ensued, due to the fact that Monroe's French sympathies caused him to act indiscreetly on certain occasions; and also to the fact that he was not fully in the confidence of his home gov ernment concerning the Jay negotiations. Ac cordingly, in 1796, he was recalled because the Federalists criticized his republicanism and his failure to appease the French. Nevertheless, he had accomplished almost all the points set forth in his instructions by securing the recall of the French decree injuring American com merce, by protecting the interests of American citizens in France, by securing treaties with Algiers and Spain and by maintaining peace between the United States and France.