[Gutenberg 5014] • State of the Union Addresses

James Monroe (1758 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (18171825). Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and served in the Continental Congress. As ambassador to France, Monroe was able to secure the release of Thomas Paine when the latter was arrested for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI. Florida, Maine, and Missouri became states during his term in office. The Monroe Doctrine, which he delivered in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823, proclaimed that Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It stated that the United States' intended to stay neutral in European wars, but to consider any new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States.