An Overview of James Monroe's Administration

SKC Films Library >> James Monroe's Administration

As President, James Monroe presided quietly during a period known as "the era of good feeling." The frontier was moving rapidly westward, and small cities sprang up west of the Mississippi River. Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson on a military expedition into Florida which resulted in the purchase of Florida from Spain. Rapidly extending frontiers soon caused Americans to consider whether slavery should be permitted in the new territories. The Missouri Compromise "settled" this problem for nearly 30 years by setting definite limits to the extension of slavery in land lying within the Louisiana Purchase area.

His Vice-President and Cabinet
Vice-President	Daniel D. Tompkins
Secretary of State	John Quincy Adams
Secretary of the Treasury	William H. Crawford
Secretary of War	John C. Calhoun
Attorney General	William Wirt (1817)
Secretary of the Navy	Benjamin W. Crowninshield Smith Thompson (1819) Samuel L. Southard (1823)

Domestic Events During His Administration
U.S. Population was 11,300,000 in 1825 States Admitted to Union: Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), Missouri (1821)
1817	The Rush-Bagot Agreement, signed with Great Britain, prohibited fortifications on the Great Lakes.
1818	Great Britain agreed to the 49th parallel as the boundary between the United States and Canada from Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota-Ontario border as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
1818	The White House was reopened after years of rebuilding following the War of 1812.
1819	Florida was purchased from Spain.
1820	The Missouri Compromise temporarily ended the debate over extending slavery into new territories.
1821	The Santa Fe Trail was blazed by William Becknell.
1821	The first public high school in the United States opened its doors in Boston, Massachusetts.
1823	The Monroe Doctrine, guaranteeing independence of the Americas against any European influence, was proclaimed before Congress.

World Events During His Administration
1819	Simon Bolivar became the first President of Colombia.
1819	The Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.
1821	Central American republics separated from Spain.
1821	Napoleon Bonaparte died.
1822	Brazil became independent of Portugal.
1822	Greece became independent of Ottoman Empire.
1824	Mexico became a republic.

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SKC Films Library >> James Monroe's Administration

This page was last updated on August 30, 2018.