James Monroe while expanding the United States at the expense of the Spanish Empire, from which he obtained Florida and the recognition of a border across the continent. Faced with the breakdown of the expansionist consensus over the question of slavery, the president tried to provide both North and South with guarantees that future expansion would not tip the balance of power between slave and free states, a system that, Weeks remarks, did indeed allow the continuation of American expansion for the best of four decades. Monroe pursued warmer relations with Britain in the aftermath of the War of 1812. In 1817
Monroe, Michigan of Monroe in honor of President James Monroe. He visited the Michigan Territory in 1817. In the same year, the city of Monroe was named as the county seat of the newly created Monroe County. Monroe was re-incorporated as a city in 1837. Settled mostly by American migrants from New York and New England, Monroe later became associated with events in the West in the later 19th century, particularly the Indian Wars. It is known as the childhood home of George Armstrong Custer (1839–1876), who had a military career in which he reached the rank of Major General. His family