Editing James Monroe (section)

==Governor of Virginia and diplomat (1799–1802, 1811)==

===Governor of Virginia===
On a party-line vote, the Virginia legislature elected Monroe as [[Governor of Virginia]] in 1799. He would serve as governor until 1802.{{sfn|Cunningham|1996|p=7}} The constitution of Virginia endowed the governor with very few powers aside from commanding the militia when the Assembly called it into action, but Monroe used his stature to convince legislators to enhance state involvement in transportation and education and to increase training for the militia. Monroe also began to give [[State of the State address|State of the Commonwealth addresses]] to the legislature, in which he highlighted areas in which he believed the legislature should act. Monroe also led an effort to create the state's first [[penitentiary]], and imprisonment replaced other, often harsher, punishments. In 1800, Monroe called out the state militia to suppress [[Gabriel's Rebellion]], a [[slave rebellion]] originating on a plantation six miles from the capital of Richmond. Gabriel and 27 other enslaved people who participated were all hanged for treason.<ref name=":3">{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=138–141}}</ref> The executions sparked compassionate feelings among the people of Virginia, and Monroe worked with the [[Virginia General Assembly|legislature]] to secure a location where free and enslaved African Americans suspected of "conspiracy, insurgency, Treason, and rebellion" would be permanently banished outside the United States.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ammon|1971|pp=198–199}}</ref>

Monroe thought that foreign and Federalist elements had created the [[Quasi War]] of 1798–1800, and he strongly supported [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s candidacy for president in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]]. Federalists were likewise suspicious of Monroe, some viewing him at best as a French dupe and at worst a traitor.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Arthur|last=Scherr|title=James Monroe on the Presidency and 'Foreign Influence;: from the Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788) to Jefferson's Election 1801|journal=Mid-America|year=2002|volume=84|issue=1–3|pages=145–206}}</ref> With the power to appoint election officials in Virginia, Monroe exercised his influence to help Jefferson win Virginia's [[Electoral College (United States)|presidential electors]].{{sfn|Cunningham|1996|pp=7–8}} He also considered using the Virginia militia to force the outcome in favor of Jefferson.<ref>{{harvnb|Ammon|1971|page=193}}.</ref> Jefferson won the 1800 election, and he appointed Madison as his Secretary of State. As a member of Jefferson's party and the leader of the largest state in the country, Monroe emerged as one of Jefferson's two most likely successors, alongside Madison.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=144–146}}</ref>

===Louisiana Purchase and Minister to Great Britain===
Shortly after the end of Monroe's gubernatorial tenure, President Jefferson sent Monroe back to France to assist Ambassador Robert Livingston in negotiating the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. In the 1800 [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso|Treaty of San Ildefonso]], France had acquired the territory of [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Louisiana]] from Spain; at the time, many in the U.S. believed that France had also acquired [[West Florida]] in the same treaty. The American delegation originally sought to acquire West Florida and the city of [[New Orleans]], which controlled the trade of the [[Mississippi River]]. Determined to acquire New Orleans even if it meant war with France, Jefferson also authorized Monroe to form an alliance with the British if the French refused to sell the city.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=152–154, 158}}</ref>

Meeting with [[François Barbé-Marbois]], the French foreign minister, Monroe and Livingston agreed to purchase the entire territory of Louisiana for $15&nbsp;million; the purchase became known as the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. In agreeing to the purchase, Monroe violated his instructions, which had only allowed $9&nbsp;million for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida. The French did not acknowledge that West Florida remained in Spanish possession, and the United States would claim that France had sold West Florida to the United States for several years to come. Though he had not ordered the purchase of the entire territory, Jefferson strongly supported Monroe's actions, which ensured that the United States would continue to expand to the West. Overcoming doubts about whether the Constitution authorized the purchase of foreign territory, Jefferson won congressional approval for the Louisiana Purchase, and the acquisition doubled the size of the United States. Monroe would travel to Spain in 1805 to try to win the cession of West Florida, but found that the American ambassador to Spain, [[Charles Pinckney (governor)|Charles Pinckney]], had alienated the Spanish government with crude threats of violence. In the negotiations on the outstanding territorial issues concerning New Orleans, West Florida and the Rio Grande, Monroe made no progress and was treated condescendingly, and with the support of France, Spain refused to consider relinquishing the territory.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=163–169, 181–183}}</ref>

After the resignation of [[Rufus King]], Monroe was appointed as the [[United States Ambassador to Great Britain|ambassador to Great Britain]] in 1803. The greatest issue of contention between the United States and Britain was that of the [[impressment]] of U.S. sailors. Many U.S. merchant ships employed British seamen who had deserted or dodged conscription, and the British frequently impressed sailors on U.S. ships in hopes of quelling their manpower issues. Many of the sailors they impressed had never been British subjects, and Monroe was tasked with persuading the British to stop their practice of impressment. Monroe found little success in this endeavor, partly due to Jefferson's alienation of the British minister to the United States, [[Anthony Merry]]. Rejecting Jefferson's offer to serve as the first governor of [[Louisiana Territory]], Monroe continued to serve as ambassador to Britain until 1807.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=170–176, 193}}</ref>

In 1806 he negotiated the [[Monroe–Pinkney Treaty]] with Great Britain. It would have extended the Jay Treaty of 1794 which had expired after ten years. Jefferson had fought the Jay Treaty intensely in 1794–95 because he felt it would allow the British to subvert [[Republicanism in the United States|American republicanism]]. The treaty had produced ten years of peace and highly lucrative trade for American merchants, but Jefferson was still opposed. When Monroe and the British signed the new treaty in December 1806, Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification. Although the treaty called for ten more years of trade between the United States and the British Empire and gave American merchants guarantees that would have been good for business, Jefferson was unhappy that it did not end the hated British practice of impressment and refused to give up the potential weapon of commercial warfare against Britain. The president made no attempt to obtain another treaty, and as a result, the two nations drifted from peace toward the [[War of 1812]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Alan|last=Axelrod|title=Profiles in Folly: History's Worst Decisions and Why They Went Wrong|url=https://archive.org/details/profilesinfollyh00axel|url-access=registration|publisher=Sterling Publishing|year=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/profilesinfollyh00axel/page/154 154]|isbn=9781402747687}}</ref> Monroe was severely pained by the administration's repudiation of the treaty, and he fell out with Secretary of State James Madison.<ref name=leibiger>{{cite book|last1=Leibiger|first1=Stuart|title=A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe|date=July 31, 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=489–491|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSftIw3YSTQC&pg=PA517|access-date=October 12, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704142341/https://books.google.com/books?id=eSftIw3YSTQC&pg=PA517|archive-date=July 4, 2016|isbn=978-1-118-28143-7}}</ref>

===1808 election and the Quids===
On his return to Virginia in 1807, Monroe received a warm reception, and many urged him to run in the [[1808 United States presidential election|1808 presidential election]].<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=195–197}}</ref> After Jefferson refused to submit the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty, Monroe had come to believe that Jefferson had snubbed the treaty out of the desire to avoid elevating Monroe above Madison in 1808.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=191–192}}</ref> Out of deference to Jefferson, Monroe agreed to avoid actively campaigning for the presidency, but he did not rule out accepting a draft effort.<ref name="Unger 2009 200–201">{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=200–201}}</ref> The Democratic-Republican Party was increasingly factionalized, with "[[Old Republicans]]" or "Quids" denouncing the Jefferson administration for abandoning what they considered to be true republican principles. The Quids, led by [[John Randolph of Roanoke]], tried to enlist Monroe in their cause. The plan was to run Monroe for president in the 1808 election in cooperation with the [[Federalist Party]], which had a strong base in New England. Monroe decided to run against Madison in the 1808 presidential election in order to demonstrate the strength of his political position in Virginia. The regular Democratic-Republicans overcame the Quids in the nominating caucus, kept control of the party in Virginia, and protected Madison's base.<ref>David A. Carson, "Quiddism and the Reluctant Candidacy of James Monroe in the Election of 1808", ''Mid-America'' 1988 70(2): 79–89</ref> Monroe did not publicly criticize Jefferson or Madison during Madison's campaign against Federalist [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]], but he refused to support Madison.{{sfn|Cunningham|1996|pp=10–11}} Madison defeated Pinckney by a large margin, carrying all but one state outside of New England. Monroe won 3,400 votes in Virginia, but received little support elsewhere.<ref name="Unger 2009 200–201"/>

Monroe, who had fallen out of favor with the majority of Republicans because of his candidacy, withdrew into private life for the next few years. The plan to sell his second house in [[Oak Hill (James Monroe house)|Loudon County, Oak Hill]], in order to renovate and expand Highland with the proceeds, failed due to the low real estate prices.<ref name=":6">{{Harvnb|Hart|2005|pp=47–49}}</ref> After the election Monroe quickly reconciled with Jefferson, but their friendship endured further strains when Jefferson did not promote Monroe's candidacy to Congress in 1809.<ref>{{harvnb|Ammon|1971|pages=280–281}}</ref> Monroe did not speak with Madison until 1810.<ref name="leibiger" /> Monroe devoted his attentions to farming at his Charlottesville estate, experimenting with new horticultural techniques in order to switch from tobacco, whose value was steadily declining, to wheat.<ref>{{harvnb|Unger|2009|pp=200–202}}</ref>