James Monroe: The Last Founding Father

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Script:

On December 26, 1776, 18-year-old James Monroe lay dying outside of Trenton, New Jersey. A musket ball had penetrated his left shoulder, severing a major artery.

The opening months of the Revolutionary War had been a disaster for the American side.

General George Washington desperately needed a victory. He launched a surprise attack against British mercenaries camped at Trenton.

Monroe led the vanguard to secure the roads in and out of town. If the fate of the Revolution rested on the Battle of Trenton, the Battle of Trenton rested on Monroe’s success.

Monroe accomplished his mission. Washington and the Americans had their victory. But it looked like it was going to cost Monroe his life.

Fortunately, a local doctor got to him and stopped the bleeding. That doctor saved the life of a man who went on to play a critical role in the first fifty years of the new American nation.

James Monroe had humbler beginnings than many of the other Founders. Both parents died by the time he was sixteen, leaving him responsible for four siblings and the family farm. He was only able to attend the College of William and Mary with help from an uncle. He didn’t stay long, however, joining Washington’s army at the outset of the revolution.

After his time in the army, Monroe returned to Virginia to study law, but soon turned his attention to politics. He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress, where he met his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of a prominent New York City merchant. They married after a short courtship. It was a genuine love match and one of the great romances of the founding era.

During this time, Monroe also developed a close friendship with fellow Virginian