50 Fun Facts About James Monroe

Which number president of the United States was James Monroe?

Monroe followed Madison and was the last of the so-called Virginia dynasty of presidents.

Monroe's presidency coincided with which famously named political period?

The phrase was coined around his 1817 inauguration, the first to come during general peace and economic stability.

Which political party did Monroe belong to?

He became one of the fledgling party's leaders in the Senate in the early 1790s.

Monroe studied law from 1780 to 1783 under which future president?

Jefferson opened his library to his protégé, where the works of Epictetus made a lasting impression.

Monrovia, a national capital named after Monroe, is the capital of which country?

It is the only national capital besides Washington, D.C. named after a U.S. president.

In which Virginia county was Monroe born in 1758?

The birthplace sits a mile from the community now known as Monroe Hall, and the site joined the National Register in 1979.

Monroe suffered a severed artery and nearly died in which 1776 engagement?

Washington cited him for bravery after the surprise attack on the Hessian camp and promoted him to captain.

Monroe shared a log hut at Valley Forge in 1777–78 with which future chief justice?

The two had been classmates at Campbelltown Academy, the only school in their county.

Which painter's 1851 canvas memorialised Monroe's part in the 1776 river crossing?

Trumbull painted Monroe too, in his canvas of the Hessians' capture at Trenton.

As Jefferson's special envoy, Monroe helped negotiate which 1803 land deal?

The deal nearly doubled the size of the United States.

How much did Monroe and Livingston agree to pay France for all of Louisiana?

Monroe violated his instructions to close the deal, and Jefferson backed him anyway.

Monroe's instructions in 1803 had authorised how much for New Orleans and West Florida?

He ended up spending far more than authorised, but on a far bigger prize.

Who was Monroe's Federalist opponent in the 1816 presidential election?

The Federalists offered little resistance after opposing a war the public regarded as a victory.

How many of the 217 electoral votes did Monroe win in 1816?

He lost only Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware.

Which New Hampshire elector denied Monroe a unanimous Electoral College in 1820?

The tale that he did it to preserve Washington's unique honour came later; he simply thought Monroe incompetent.

Who served as vice president for both of Monroe's terms?

He was the only 19th-century vice president to serve two full terms.

Which Massachusetts man did Monroe choose as his Secretary of State?

The choice acknowledged Northern discontent with the Virginia dynasty and made him the early favourite to succeed Monroe.

Which South Carolina congressman became Monroe's Secretary of War?

Monroe turned to him only after Andrew Jackson declined the post.

Which general seized the Spanish capital of Pensacola during Monroe's 1818 Seminole campaign?

Many in Congress called it an undeclared war, but Monroe and Adams defended him.

Which Spanish ambassador co-signed the 1819 treaty ceding the Floridas?

The treaty also drew a border from the Sabine River all the way to the Pacific along the 42nd parallel.

Under the 1819 treaty with Spain, the US assumed citizens' claims up to what sum?

In return the United States renounced its claims to Texas and the lands west of the new line.

On what date did Monroe deliver the annual message that became the Monroe Doctrine?

It began by restating neutrality toward European wars before warning against recolonisation.

The Monroe Doctrine's line against new colonisation was aimed primarily at which power?

St Petersburg had closed the Pacific coast north of 51° to foreign ships in 1821.

Which British foreign secretary sought a joint Anglo-American statement in 1823?

Adams argued against a bilateral statement, and two months later it became a unilateral American declaration.

Which 1817 agreement with Britain regulated naval armaments on the Great Lakes?

It helped avoid an expensive naval arms race on the lakes.

The Treaty of 1818 fixed the border from Minnesota to the Rockies along which parallel?

The same accords set up a joint occupation of Oregon Country for ten years.

The 1824 treaty with the Tsar set the southern limit of his Pacific claims at which line?

That line is the present southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle.

Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise into law in which year?

He opposed any limit on slavery's expansion but signed it as the least bad option for southern slaveholders.

The Missouri Compromise excluded slavery from Louisiana Territory north of which line?

The line is the southern boundary of Missouri itself, which was exempted.

Which New York congressman's 1819 amendment touched off the Missouri crisis?

His amendment would have freed children of enslaved parents in Missouri at age 25.

Monroe vetoed an 1822 bill to collect tolls on which route?

He argued Congress could appropriate money but not build or run national works itself.

What economic crisis struck at the end of Monroe's first term?

It was the first major depression since the Constitution was ratified.

In 1800 Monroe called out the Virginia militia to suppress which slave uprising?

Jefferson wrote urging mercy, and only seven executions followed that letter.

Which president recalled Monroe from his Paris diplomatic post in 1796?

The dismissal letter was deliberately delayed so he could not return before the election.

Whose release from a French prison did Monroe secure in July 1794?

Monroe took him in, but they parted in 1796 after Paine wrote a diatribe against Washington.

In which 1777 clash did Monroe befriend the Marquis de Lafayette?

Lafayette encouraged him to see the war as part of a wider fight against tyranny.

Who beat Monroe 1,308 votes to 972 in the 1789 race for Virginia's Fifth District?

The two travelled together during the campaign and stayed friends.

Which 1806 agreement with Britain did Jefferson refuse to send to the Senate?

It said nothing about impressment, and its rejection pushed Monroe into a feud with Madison.

Whom did Monroe marry at Trinity Church in Manhattan in 1786?

She came from New York high society; they had three children, Eliza, James and Maria.

Under which pseudonym did Monroe write essays backing the French Revolution?

His pro-French sympathies later made Federalists view him as a dupe at best.

Monroe's old-fashioned wig, tricorne and knee-breeches earned him what nickname?

He was also the last president never to be photographed.

Where did Monroe die on July 4, 1831?

He had moved in with his daughter Maria after his wife's death the previous year.

What did Monroe name the estate he bought near Monticello?

He later had to sell it to the Second Bank of the United States; William & Mary now runs it as a historic site.

Monroe is regarded as the last president who was a veteran of which war?

Andrew Jackson was a 13-year-old militia courier, but Monroe was a Continental Army officer who saw combat.

Monroe left which school in 1776 to join the Continental Army?

He had enrolled in June 1774, introduced to Williamsburg by his uncle Joseph Jones.

What was the title of the political-theory book Monroe abandoned in 1829?

George Hay's unfavourable reaction led Monroe to start an autobiography instead, which he never finished.

Which faction of 'Old Republicans' tried to enlist Monroe for the 1808 election?

Led by John Randolph of Roanoke, they hoped to run him in cooperation with the Federalists.

At what age was Monroe initiated as a Freemason in Williamsburg in 1775?

He remained active as a Freemason until at least 1786.

Monroe was one of only five southern senators to vote against whose national bank plan?

Hamilton never forgave Monroe's later role in exposing the Reynolds affair, and the pair nearly duelled.

In 1799 the Virginia legislature elected Monroe to which office?

He used the weak office to push a first state penitentiary and more militia training.