President James Monroe and His Times Quiz

Answer: All three died on the 4th of July

Jefferson and Adams died on the same day and in the same year - July 4 1826 - the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Monroe died 5 years later on July 4 1831.

Monroe died in New York City at the home of his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur. He was originally buried in the Gouverneur crypt at New York City Marble Cemetery. In 1858, at the request of the Virginia legislature, he was re-interred at the Presidents Circle of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia where now also rest John Tyler, 10th President of the United States, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America.

Answer: "Washington Crossing the Delaware" - Emmanuel Leutze

"Washington Crossing the Delaware" prominently features Lieutenant James Monroe as a flag-bearer allegorically standing in the boat beside the figure of George Washington.

In the ensuing Battle of Trenton, Monroe was critically wounded in his neck and shoulder from a bullet that also sliced his axillary artery. He recovered and was promoted by Washington to Captain and again to Major before resigning his commission in 1779. In 1780 he enrolled in the Virginia Militia and was appointed colonel. It was said that he preferred the title "Colonel" to that of "Mr. President" during his years at the white House.

Answer: Marie Adrienne de Lafayette

Marie Adrienne Francoise, Marquise de Lafayette was the wife of US Revolutionary War ally and General the Marquis de Lafayette. During the French Revolution, the Marquis was imprisoned at Olmütz in Prussia, unable to provide protection for his family.

The Marquise was arrested in 1794 and imprisoned to await trial and execution. James and Elizabeth Monroe became aware of her plight and the ambassador interceded with the French Directory for her release. For her part, Elizabeth ostentatiously traveled to the prison in the ambassador's carriage - openly visiting with the Marquise and leaving little doubt that the United States desired her freedom.

The Marquise (whose mother and grandmother had been guillotined) was released subsequently and joined the Marquis at his prison in Prussia until he was freed in 1797.

Answer: Lexington, Kentucky - with General Andrew Jackson

The description of James Monroe's Presidency as the "Era of Good Feeling" was partially a result of his 2 regional tours undertaken in 1817 (New England) and 1819 (the South and West).

Monroe's insightful "pressing the flesh" - the first president since Washington to travel extensively outside of the capital - assisted in his receiving all but 1 electoral vote in 1820.

Answer: A fatal duel at Bladensburg field

Monroe's daughter Maria Hester Monroe married Samuel L. Gouverneur in a private White House ceremony on March 9 1820. The social elite of Washington planned a series of festive wedding receptions in their homes during the ensuing weeks. One of the receptions was planned for the Lafayette Square home of naval hero Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur.

On March 22 Decatur met Commodore James Barron at the dueling field of Bladensburg, Maryland. Decatur's death at his home after a fatal shot by Barron changed the capital's joyful festivities into national mourning for a fallen hero.

Answer: William Plumer of New Hampshire

It is uncertain why William Plumer voted for John Quincy Adams. He could not have known that all electoral votes nationwide were being cast for James Monroe. The old adage that he voted for John Quincy Adams so that George Washington would have the only unanimous election in US history is likely false.

Former President John Adams did not vote for his son, but for James Monroe.

Answer: $ 5 million

"...To ascertain the full amount and validity of those claims, a commission, to consist of three Commissioners, citizens of the United States, shall be appointed by the President...The payment of such claims as may be admitted and adjusted by the said Commissioners, or the major part of them, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars." "Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits Between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty" Article XI - February 22, 1819

Answer: Maine and Missouri

Maine (1820) and Missouri (1821) were admitted to the United States on the basis of the "Missouri Compromise" of 1820. The compromise, engineered by Henry Clay, was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and ultimately declared unconstitutional by the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court in 1857.

Initial reaction to the passage of the compromise had been "like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union." ...letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Holms April 22 1820.

Answer: The American Colonization Society

The purpose of the American Colonization Society (1816-1964) was to colonize areas of Africa by the repatriation of consenting freed peoples of color from the United States.

Further, by virtue of HR 272 of January 13 1819, Congress allocated $100,000 to President Monroe to repatriate any peoples of color seized aboard vessels interdicted in the process of their importation as slaves into the United States. Officers and crew members of embargoed vessels were paid a bounty of $25 per person for each interdicted person of color. These apprehended persons were transferred to the care of the ACS until they could be repatriated.

Answer: President Warren G. Harding

"Standing in this presence, mindful of the solemnity of this occasion, feeling the emotions which no one may know until he senses the great weight of responsibility for himself, I must utter my belief in the divine inspiration of the founding fathers..." ...Warren G. Harding, Inaugural Address, March 3, 1921.

A former newspaper publisher, Harding had used the term "Founding Fathers" in previous speeches. The term was given national prominence by its inclusion in his inaugural address.