Fanny Mlawer

My goal with the video was to portray Monroe as a man who had followed in the footsteps of leaders before him, who was non-partisan and who had followed through on the promises he made to the American people.

I started off with a quote predicting the outcome of the election of 1816 in silence[1]. Confirming this prediction is the entrance of “Hail to the Chief”[2] with a portrait of Monroe looking presidential with the Capital in the background[3]. The next slide contains a picture of an American flag[4] from 1818 with a quote from Monroe’s first inaugural address, “we must support our rights or lose our character.”[5] The combination of the flag and the quote show Monroe’s commitment to the continuation of the American democracy – the flag was made upon the admission of Mississippi to the Union, showing Monroe’s dedication to spreading democracy, and is a reminder that Monroe followed through on his promise to maintain the character of America.

The next slide contains a quote from a sarcastic and satirical piece[6] on why the “Era of Good Feelings” was a farce. I included it because it is exactly the sentiment that those supporting Monroe would have wanted to spread. Although the entirety of the article does not support Monroe, the quote itself represents general public opinion of the impact of Monroe’s first term.

The next slide is a quote from an article about the Presidential Tour that Monroe went on to spread goodwill among the political factions of the United States[7].  That he participated in this tour was considered a testament to his desire to spread the “good feelings,” part of the reason why I chose to quote this particular article. The quote itself, however, highlights President Monroe’s past service to the country; his supporters frequently characterized him as the last of the revolutionary generation. I chose to emphasize the words “Monroe,” “wounded” and “revolution” to draw the viewer’s attention to how much of a commitment he made to the country.

The next two slides contain pictures of the plans for the Second Bank of the United States[8] [9]. The first picture is accompanied by a quote from the 1816 “Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury,” explaining the benefits of the creation of a National Bank. The report is from the administration before Monroe, and in combination with the picture of the 2^nd National Bank, it demonstrates Monroe’s commitment to maintaining the progress of previous leaders, and his ability to incorporate his ideas with the ideas of others in the interest of the common good.

Following those slides is another quote from Monroe’s first inaugural address. The quote demonstrates his commitment to preserving peace.[10] The next slide is a continuation of this idea of preserving peace and using the ideas of his predecessors to support American rights. It features two sets of quotes and pictures. The first set looks at his preservation of peace with England. The image is a representation of the treaty signed following the War of 1812.[11] Then the viewer sees a quote regarding another treaty between the United States and the British, one that President Monroe was responsible for – the Rush-Bagot Treaty.[12] The second set examines the peace with the Native Americans. Both the image (of Lewis and Clark holding a council with Native Americans) and the quote (about treaties signed with various Native American peoples) precede Monroe’s presidency, however they jointly represent his dedication to maintaining and furthering peace. As Secretary of State, Monroe was heavily involved in the creation of the treaties with Native Americans, furthering the peace that Lewis and Clark helped to bring about. These two pieces of evidence work to demonstrate that Monroe achieved the continuity of peace that he promised in his inaugural address.

The video ends with Monroe’s official presidential portrait,[13] reminding the viewer that Monroe was running for a second term in office, and of the successes of his first term.