Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Cobblestone American History and Current Events for Kids and Children

During James Monroe’s lifetime, the 13 American Colonies broke away from England and fought and won the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). When their first effort at self-government—the Articles of Confederation—proved too weak to unify them, the colonists drafted the Constitution in 1787. In the new nation’s first decades of independence, the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, which doubled the size of the country. Americans then fought a second war with England in the War of 1812 (1812–1815) before beginning a westward expansion that would result in the nation’s claiming land that extended its boundaries from coast to coast. Monroe had an active role in just about every one of those events. He was an officer in the Continental Army. He served as a delegate in…

Throughout President James Monroe’s administration from 1817 to 1825, water transportation played a key role in the settlement of America. Overland routes relied on stagecoaches or wagons traveling over bumpy, slow paths. Rivers and canals allowed people to transport more goods in less time. On the Erie Canal, boats were pulled by mules that walked along a towpath beside the canal. But travel on rivers posed special challenges. The current and width of many rivers made towing impossible. Rowing, poling, or paddling boats took a tremendous amount of human power. How could people put machines to work for them? Inventors such as Robert Fulton, Henry Miller Shreve, and Oliver Evans combined paddle power with steam power to create commercially successful steamboats. Using steam to drive pistons that then turned the…

In 1821, President James Monroe signed into law the controversial Missouri Compromise. That act allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state. It also prevented the creation of any other slaveholding states north of latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes. That line corresponds to Missouri’s southern border. Monroe knew that the law would not solve the problem of slavery. But he realized that compromise was necessary until a more permanent solution could be found. Disagreements between the North and the South over the issue of slavery were long-standing. During the early days of the slavery debate, one proposal involved sending Black people back to Africa. In 1815, Paul Cuffe, a successful Black merchant, hoped to help establish a “prosperous colony in Africa.” He transported 38 African Americans to Sierra…

Entertaining History In 1923, a man named Harry Chandler constructed an enormous sign to promote a new real-estate development in the Los Angeles area of California. The name of the new development was “Hollywoodland”—and that’s what the sign read. At night, the sign would light up and boldly flash its name for the world below to see. The sign was only supposed to stay up for 18 months. In the 1940s, the sign became city property. The city was going to destroy the sign, but the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce put a stop to that. At several different times in history, letters from the sign were missing and had to be replaced. The “land” section of the sign was removed in 1949. At one point, the whole sign was renovated,…

For most of his life, James Monroe lived a life of public service. That dedication to the future of the United States began when Monroe was a teenager. Monroe was born on April 28, 1758. He spent his childhood in Westmoreland County, Virginia, near the southern banks of the Potomac River. His parents—Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones Monroe—owned a 500-acre plantation they called Monroe Hall. James was one of five children. He had an older sister and three younger brothers. Both his father and his mother’s brother, Joseph Jones, were friendly with other Virginia patriots. They joined together to resist growing British oppression in the 1760s and early 1770s. The Monroes owned a modest but comfortable home and provided their children with an education. By 1774, when James was 16…

When President James Monroe took office in 1817, he gave his inaugural address in a scarred capital. The United States still was recovering from the War of 1812 (1812–1815), during which the British had set fire to the city. Yet Monroe spoke with pride about American accomplishments in his address. He also stressed the importance of international relations. He warned of dangers from abroad. He believed that European countries secretly hoped that the young democracy would fail. Then they could move in and carve up the rich territory. Monroe argued that the United States needed strong defenses and a ready military in case of attack. In addition, the country had to keep growing. It had to prove itself a powerful nation worthy of respect. “National honor is national property of…

James Monroe was granted more than 5,000 acres of land on the Virginia frontier (present-day Kentucky) for his military service during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He sold some of that acreage to purchase land near Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia. It later became part of the University of Virginia. Monroe was the U.S. minister to France during the French Revolution (1789–1799). Word reached the Monroes that the Marquis de Lafayette’s wife had been imprisoned. After Elizabeth Monroe’s January 1795 visit to the prison where Adrienne Lafayette was held, the French noblewoman was released. During the War of 1812, President James Madison lost confidence in his secretary of War, John Armstrong. Monroe resigned as secretary of State to take charge of the War Department. But Madison never appointed someone else to…

SPOTLIGHT ON... Fort Monroe (also known as Fortress Monroe) is located in Hampton, Virginia, on the tip of the Virginia Peninsula. It was named for President James Monroe. It was identified as a strategic location for a fort as early as 1609. Construction began shortly after the War of 1812 and the British occupation of Washington, D.C. It was built by enslaved people and military convicts and took 15 years to complete. After it was completed in 1834, it protected the waterways around the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River until 1946, when it was disarmed as a military installation. The 600-acre site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. To learn more about Fort Monroe National Monument, go to nps.gov/fomr/index.htm.…

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina addressed his fellow legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 1817 with these words: “Let us . . . bind the Republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals. Let us conquer space.” The sentiments Calhoun expressed were popular throughout the country. Traveling on American roads and turnpikes in the early 19th century was difficult, time-consuming, and costly. Roads and turnpikes often were no more than unpaved paths carved through the wilderness. If they were paved at all, it was usually with crushed stone packed down by the weight of the wagons that passed over them. Water transportation was more popular and less expensive. Initially, boats were powered by wind (sail) or manpower (manned oars). In 1807, Robert Fulton introduced…

In New Year’s Day 1818, President James Monroe and First Lady Elizabeth Monroe hosted a large public reception at the White House. It signified the home’s official reopening. The magnificently redecorated residence impressed foreign diplomats and Americans alike. Three and a half years earlier, during the War of 1812, invading British troops had entered the capital city and had set fire to nearly all the government buildings. It had been a hot summer without any rain for weeks. The burning glow was visible from nearly 50 miles away. Among the buildings that the British set fire to was the President’s House. Only a thunderstorm prevented it from being destroyed. An observer wrote, “The rooms . . . exhibited nothing but unroofed, naked walls, cracked, defaced and blackened.” After the British…

Can you solve this crossword puzzle about James Monroe’s life and times? All the answers can be found in this issue. The solution is on page 49. ACROSS 2. The Monroe family home in Virginia, _____, today is a museum. 7. The Monroes helped furnish the restored _____ _____, which the British had set on fire during the War of 1812. 8. James Monroe was injured during the Battle of _____ during the Revolutionary War. 9. Monroe was elected _____ of Virginia for four terms. 11. During Monroe’s presidency, the nation experienced rapid growth of faster and cheaper methods of _____. 13. Monroe was the fourth president from the state of _____. 14. During Monroe’s presidency, the United States acquired _____ from Spain. 15. Under President George Washington, Monroe served…

President James Monroe was not the first U.S. leader to be concerned over the rise of divisive political parties. President George Washington warned about the harm that political parties could bring to the young nation in his Farewell Address in 1796. He cautioned Americans about allowing the interests of a party to win over the interests of the nation. The first political factions formed almost immediately—in the fight for ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The Constitution was crafted to replace the weak Articles of Confederation (1781). Men who supported ratification of the Constitution initially were referred to as Federalists. Federal derives from the Latin foedus, which means “compact” or “treaty.” The concept dates to the friendly, permanent alliances established between ancient Rome and other states. Some Americans were…