Editing James Monroe (section)

=== Member of Continental Congress ===
Monroe resumed studying law under Jefferson and continued until 1783.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=David R. |title=The Faiths of the Founding Fathers |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |year=2006 |location=Oxford |page=104}}</ref><ref name="log-cabin-76">{{cite book |author=Pessen, Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/logcabinmythsoci0000pess/page/79 |title=The Log Cabin Myth: The Social Backgrounds of the Presidents |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-300-03166-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/logcabinmythsoci0000pess/page/79 79] |author-link=Edward Pessen |url-access=registration}}</ref> He was not particularly interested in legal theory or practice, but chose to take it up because he thought it offered "the most immediate rewards" and could ease his path to wealth, social standing, and political influence.<ref name="log-cabin-76" /> In 1782, Monroe was elected to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]]. After serving on Virginia's Executive Council,{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=12–13}} he was elected to the Fourth [[Congress of the Confederation]] in November 1783 and served in Annapolis until Congress convened in Trenton, New Jersey in June 1784. He had served a total of three years when he finally retired from that office by the rule of rotation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=George|title=The Life of James Monroe|url=https://archive.org/details/lifejamesmonroe01morggoog|publisher=Small, Maynard, and Co.|year=1921|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifejamesmonroe01morggoog/page/n90 94]|isbn=9780404005948}}</ref> By that time, the government was meeting in the temporary capital of [[New York City]]. In 1784, Monroe undertook an extensive trip through Western New York and Pennsylvania to inspect the conditions in the Northwest. The tour convinced him that the United States had to pressure Britain to abandon its posts in the region and assert control of the Northwest.<ref>{{harvnb|Ammon|1971|pp=45–47}}</ref> While serving in Congress, Monroe became an advocate for western expansion, and played a key role in the writing and passage of the [[Northwest Ordinance]]. The ordinance created the [[Northwest Territory]], providing for federal administration of the territories west of Pennsylvania and north of the [[Ohio River]]. Another of Monroe's goals in the Confederate Congress was to negotiate American rights to free navigation on the [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hart|2005|pp=12–14}}</ref> During this period, Jefferson continued to serve as a mentor to Monroe, and, at Jefferson's prompting, he befriended another prominent Virginian, [[James Madison]].{{sfn|Hart|2005|pp=13–16}}