Trip Blog: Part 3: James Monroe's Birthplace Walk and History

 This is part 3 of our short visit to the James Monroe Birthplace site, featuring a reconstructed
house (which is still being built), a visitor's center, and a nature walk with history markers identifying Monroe's accomplishments in history. In today's blog you'll read about the Missouri Compromise and the Monroe Doctorine and Monroe Creek!

(Photo: Dash and Rob on the Monroe history walk. Credit: T.W.) 

WHAT WAS PRESIDENT MONROE FAMOUS FOR? James Monroe (1758-1831), the fifth U.S. president, oversaw major westward expansion of the U.S. and strengthened American foreign policy in 1823 with the Monroe Doctrine, a warning to European countries against further colonization and intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

WHAT IS THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE? - On March 6, 1820, President James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise. The Compromise was made up of three parts: it admitted Maine, part of northern Massachusetts, as a free state; it admitted Missouri as a slave state; and it henceforth restricted slavery to territories south of the latitude 36º30' north, and barred slavery north and west of Missouri forever. 

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THE MONROE DOCTORINE - The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas. It argued that any intervention in the politics of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act against the United States. Some 20 years after Monroe died in 1831, this became known as the Monroe Doctrine. 

 (Photo: Tyler was relieved that we made it to the end of the history walk! Credit: R.G.)

(We took a family photo at the Monroe historic site!) 

MONROE CREEK- There is actually a creek with James Monroe's name that runs near the property. Monroe Creek and Monroe Bay are popular tributaries of the Potomac near Colonial Beach, Virginia.  The upper reaches of Monroe Creek are near James Monroe's birthplace.