James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, and the last of the founding fathers to become president. He led the country during the “Era of Good Times” almost immediately after the War of 1812. He is responsible for the major westward expansion of the nation and the Monroe Doctrine, which would set our country’s foreign policy for the next 200 years. Though there were some low points in James Monroe’s career, his presidency overall was positive and important to the growth and expansion of the country. James Monroe was born to Spence and Elizabeth Monroe on April 28, 1758 in Westmoreland Virginia. He was the second oldest of his four siblings; Joseph Monroe, Spence Monroe, Jane Monroe, and Andrew Monroe. Monroe married Elizabeth …show more content…
Relations needed to be improved because Britain and France, both trading partner of the United States, were in the middle of war. Neither country wanted anything going in or out of the other country, so they seized American ships. This was costing the United States a lot of money. Monroe had some success in improving the relations, but things got out of hand when Jay’s Treaty was signed. Jay’s Treaty was an agreement between the United States and Britain which regulated commerce. Washington fired Monroe as minister. Monroe shortly became the governor of Virginia. Monroe was chosen to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase along with Robert R. Livingston. They both negotiated with Talleyrand, the French foreign minister to buy New Orleans. At first, Talleyrand was not interested in their offer, but after losing Haiti, Napoleon gave up his plan of taking over the Americas. Napoleon needed money to pay for all the wars in Europe. Though Monroe and Livingston did not have the authority to buy all of Louisiana, they did not have time to get approval from Thomas Jefferson, the president at the time. However, they knew that Jefferson wanted control of the Mississippi, so they decided to buy the land themselves. At first the pair offered $4 million for the entirety of Louisiana, but that was too low for Talleyrand. Instead, they offered $15 million dollars for Louisiana and signed the treaty themselves. This doubled the size of the