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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC00069 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1817 |
| Title | Speech to Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati |
| Date | 4 July 1817 |
| Author | Monroe, James (1758-1831) |
| Document Type | Non-governmental organization document |
| Content Description | President Monroe acknowledges the passing of the Revolutionary generation and movingly recalls their struggle in the "sacred cause of liberty." A signed transcription of Monroe's Independence Day speech to the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. The president's original remarks were made on his 1817 reconciliation tour through New England. Date from later docketing. |
| Subjects | President Society of the Cincinnati Continental Army Fourth of July Presidential Speeches and Proclamations Revolutionary War |
| People | Monroe, James (1758-1831) |
| Place written | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Theme | The Presidency; The American Revolution |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | Early in the summer of 1817, as a conciliatory gesture toward the Federalists who had opposed the War of 1812, President James Monroe embarked on a goodwill tour through the Northeast and what is now the Midwest. Everywhere Monroe went, citizens held parades and banquets in his honor. In Federalist Boston, a crowd of 40,000 welcomed the Republican president. A Federalist newspaper called the times "the era of good feelings." James Monroe was the popular symbol of the era of good feelings. His life embodied much of the history of the young republic. He had joined the Revolutionary army in 1776 and spent the terrible winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. He had been a member of the Confederation Congress and performed double duty as Secretary of State and of War during the War of 1812. The last President to don the fashions of the eighteenth century, Monroe wore his hair in a powdered wig and favored knee breeches, long white stockings, and buckled shoes. His political values, too, were those of an earlier day. Like George Washington, he hoped for a country without political parties, governed by leaders chosen on their merits. So great was his popularity that he won a second presidential term by an electoral college vote of 231 to 1. Here, Monroe replies to an address of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of surviving Revolutionary war officers. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |