Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/780

 762 JAMES MONROE Virginia convention to decide upon the adop- tion of the federal constitution. He was one of the minority who opposed the instrument as submitted, being apprehensive that without amendment it would confer too much power upon the general government. The course of the minority in convention was approved by the great mass of the people of Virginia, and Monroe was chosen United States senator in 1790. In the senate he became a prominent representative of the anti-federal party, and acted with it till his term expired in 1794. In May of that year he received the appointment of minister plenipotentiary to France, and was received in Paris with enthusiastic demonstra- tions of respect. His marked exhibition of sympathy with the French republic displeased the administration. John Jay had been sent to negotiate a treaty with England, and the course pursued by Monroe was considered inju- dicious and reprehensible, as tending to throw serious obstacles in the way of the proposed negotiations. On the conclusion of the treaty, his alleged failure to present it in its true char- acter to the French government 'excited anew the displeasure of the cabinet ; and in August, 1796, he was recalled, under an informal cen- sure. On his return to America he published a " View of the Conduct of the Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States " (Phila- delphia, 1798), which widened the breach be- tween him and the administration; but Mon- roe remained upon good terms with both Wash- ington and Jay. He was governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802, and at the close of his term was appointed envoy extraordinary to the French government to negotiate, in conjunc- tion with the resident minister, Mr. Livingston, for the purchase of Louisiana, or a right of depot for the United States on the Mississippi. Within a fortnight after his arrival in Paris the ministers secured for $15,000,000 the. en- tire "territory of Orleans" and "district of Louisiana." In the same year he was commis- sioned minister plenipotentiary to England, and endeavored to conclude a convention for the protection of neutral rights, and against the impressment of seamen. In the midst of these negotiations he was directed to proceed to Madrid, as minister extraordinary and pleni- potentiary, to adjust the controversy between the United States and Spain in relation to the boundaries of the new purchase of Louisiana. In this he failed, and in 1806 he was recalled to England to act with Mr. Pinkney in further negotiation for the protection of neutral rights. On the last day of that year a treaty was con- cluded, but because of the omission of any pro- vision against the impressment of seamen, and its ambiguity in relation to the other great points, the president sent it back for revisal. All efforts to attain tins failed, and Monroe re- turned to America. The time was approach- ing for the election of president, and a con- siderable body of the republican party had brought forward Monroe as their candidate ; but the preference of the president for Madi- son was well known. Monroe believed that the rejection of the treaty, and the predilection expressed for his rival, indicated personal hos- tility on the part of Mr. Jefferson, and a cor- respondence on the subject ensued. Jefferson candidly explained his course, and showed that his preference for Madison was solely based upon solicitude for the success of the party, the great majority of which had declared in his favor. The misunderstanding terminated, and Monroe withdrew from the canvass. In 1810 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in 1811 governor of the com- monwealth. In the same year he was appoint- ed by President Madison secretary of state, and after the capture of Washington in 1814 he was appointed to the war department, which he took without relinquishing the former post. He found the treasury exhausted and the public credit at the lowest ebb ; but he set about the task of infusing order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed an increase of 40,000 men in the army, by levying recruits throughout the whole country. His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans; and finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private means as subsidiary to the credit of the gov- ernment, and enabled the city to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential adviser of President Madison in the measures for the reestablishment of public credit and the regulation of the foreign rela- tions of the United States, and continued to serve as secretary of state to the end of Madi- son's administration, in 1817. In that year he succeeded to the presidency, by an electoral vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party then generally known as democratic re- publicans. His cabinet was as follows : John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, secretary of state ; William H. Crawford of Georgia, secre- tary of the treasury; John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, secretary of war; Benjamin W. Crowinshield of Massachusetts, secretary of the navy ; William Wirt of Virginia, attor- ney general. Calhoun and Wirt were not ap- pointed until December, 1817. On Nov. 30, 1818, Secretary Crowinshield was succeeded by Smith Thompson of New York, w r ho on Dec. 9, 1823, was succeeded by Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey. Soon after his in- auguration, President Monroe made a tour through the middle and eastern states, during which he thoroughly inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications, and garrisons; reviewed military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities. On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In every point of view the journey was auspicious. Party lines seemed about to disappear, and the country to return to its long past state of union. The president was not backward in his assurances of a strong de-