Monroe, All Eyes and all Hopes are now Fixed on You | Politics of the Presidency: Washington to Lincoln

Thaddeus Ricotta

Monroe Campaign Video

I decided to open up the video with a portrait of Monroe just to provide a face to all of the quotes and information that would come later in the video. I liked this particular portrait for two main reasons. He is dressed very formally, which gives him a proper and stately appearance, and it seems as though he is looking off into the distance, which gave me the feeling that he was both dignified and always looking to the future. I really liked the quote that accompanies this portrait as well, because it plays on the emotional sentiments American citizens had at that time. The war of 1812 had recently ended, and most of the populace seemed to credit the republicans with victory, while chastising the federalists for not supporting the war. The ending of the war also led to a resurgence in American patriotism, so by saying that Monroe was integral to the republican party, and that the English wished to see him fall, voters of the day would have been inflamed and more likely to side with Monroe than they already were.

From this anti-British and patriotic message in the first two slides, I wanted to transition to show that he was a key figure in not only the war of 1812, but also the revolutionary war. I picked the image of congress, because it would be easily recognized by most people, and again would play on the patriotic sentiment that was so high at the time. The main reason I used the quote with this image was because it said “fulfilled” which gives a sense that he accomplished his job as a statesmen, and more importantly the positive connotation of fulfilled seems to imply that he completed his role commendably. I then transitioned to a slide of the list of delegates to the continental congress with his name highlighted to reinforce the idea of him as statesmen. I also highlighted Virginia because most of the past presidents had come from Virginia, along with his predecessor Madison, who, as stated before, was held in high regard because of the war of 1812.

From here I wanted to transition and show that Monroe is not just a man behind the scenes, but can also be a man of action. The slave uprising, now known as Gabriel’s rebellion, took place during the time Monroe spent as governor of Virginia, and his actions led to the successful termination of the rebellion. The quote is there to remind the public of his victory over the slave rebellion, which the picture of slaves working is supposed to remind them of. The newspaper article further clarifies the “victories” that he has obtained. I highlighted insurrection, Gabriel, and his name to tie all three together, and again remind the public that it was Monroe that helped prevent an alleged total slave uprising.

One of the primary problems that people of the time had with the Federalist Party was that they lacked the vision to see why they should support the war of 1812. To further contrast Monroe against the Federalist Party I wanted to show that he was a man of Vision. To start this off I decided to include a map of the Louisiana territory as drawn from the Lewis and Clark expedition, to remind people of Monroe’s role in the successful Louisiana Purchase. The quote from Jefferson shows both that Jefferson trusts Monroe enough to entrust to him the task of negotiating a deal as huge as the Louisiana Purchase was to the country at the time, and that when faith is placed in him, he yields positive results. The newspaper article again just clarifies the map and the quote by showing Jefferson selected Monroe to head negotiations in France. Then the second map with State and Territory outlines shows the huge effect that Monroe had on the United States by successfully purchasing the Louisiana territory.

I continued this idea of vision by including a painting of a naval battle that took place during the war of 1812, and the quote from Monroe. The battle scene is supposed to invoke patriotic feelings again, while the quote suggests that Monroe does have the vision to see why the war of 1812 was important, unlike the Federalist Party. It also reveals that Monroe is a man of integrity and morals, because in his own words the role of government is to prevent evil, which gives the sense that if elected he would work for the good of the people. The next slide is a picture of the burning of Washington, which represents the lowest point in the war of 1812. The quote that scrolls through the screen simply serves to remind people that Monroe accepted the position of secretary of war when the outlook for the war wasn’t the brightest. The next slide is a picture of some of the reconstruction in Washington, which was meant to give a sense that Washington and the country was “healed” or fixed, and the quote that is included implies that Monroe saved the entire country from “devastation.”

From here I transitioned to reminding people why the Federalist Party had lost the country’s support at large. I started by using a newspaper article that both stated the Federalists were monarchical, and that they taxed at random. This would have been especially unpopular at the time, when they had just completed the war of 1812, against a monarchy, and patriotic spirits were at a high. Also the idea of random taxes would invoke thoughts of a monarchy as well. The next slide is a political cartoon that is supposed to represent a Federalist state trying to drag two other states off of a cliff into the waiting arms of the English monarchy. Obviously the Federalists unwillingness to support the war of 1812 already made it appear that they supported the English Monarchy, and this cartoon simply reinforced that idea.

I decided that since this election wasn’t really contentious, that Monroe wouldn’t have needed to ask people to vote for him. The Federalist Party was in disarray, and he was the clear-cut favorite to succeed Madison. So instead, I repeated the quote from Jefferson. I thought that it would be a powerful way to end the video because in this context I think it comes across as a statement that eyes and hopes are now on the American voters to elect Monroe into office. This way, it’s not explicitly asking for the vote, but it does make it seem as though voting for madison is the right choice.

The song was the hardest thing to choose for this video. I finally decided to go with Violin concerto No. 8 in A minor, because it has a good mixture of serious music, which plays on the seriousness of Monroe’s contributions to this country, and lighter music which I think gives the idea of a positive and peaceful outlook with Monroe as president.

Video Sources for Monroe Presentation

James Monroe Portrait-

http://face2face.si.edu/my_weblog/2010/07/james-monroe-the-era-of-good-feelings.html

Continental Congress painting-

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day–Continental-Congress-Declares-Independence-from-Britain.html

Painting of Slaves-

http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/G.-Bramati/Slaves-Preparing-Tobacco,-Virginia,-America,-C.1790,-From-‘le-Costume-Ancien-Et-Moderne’.html

Lewis and Clark trail map-

http://lewis-clark-trail.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

Map of the US in 1816

http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps9.html

Naval Battle-