The fifth president of the United States was a native of the grand Old Dominion, being born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. Like his predecessor, Madison, he was the son of a planter. Another strange incident:--Within sight of Blue Ridge in Virginia, lived three presidents of the United States, whose public career commenced in the revolutionary times and whose political faith was the same throughout a long series of years. These were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.
In early youthhood Monroe received a good education, but left school to join the army and soon after was commissioned a lieutenant. He took an active part in the campaign on the Hudson, and in the attack on Trenton, at the head of a small detachment, he captured one of the British batteries. On this occasion he received a ball in the shoulder, and was promoted to a captaincy. As aide-de-camp to Lord Sterling, with the rank of major, he served in the campaign of 1777 and 1778, and distinguished himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.
Leaving the army, he returned to Virginia and commenced the study of law under Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of the State. When the British appeared soon afterward in the State, Monroe exerted himself to the utmost in organizing the militia of the lower counties; and when the enemy proceeded southward, Jefferson sent him as military commissioner to the army in South Carolina.
In 1782, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia from the county of King George, and was appointed by that body, although but twenty-three years of age, a member of the executive council. In 1783 he was chosen a delegate to congress for a period of three years, and took his seat on December 13th. Convinced that it was impossible to govern the people under the old articles of confederation, he advocated an extension of the powers of congress, and in 1785 moved to invest in that body power to regulate the trade between the States.
The resolution was referred to a committee of which he was chairman, and a report was made in favor of the measure. This led to the convention of Annapolis, and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution. Monroe also exerted himself in devising a system for the settlement of the public lands, and was appointed a member of the committee to decide the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. He strongly opposed the relinquishment of the right to navigate the Mississippi river as demanded by Spain.