How Slavery Changed My Life

I was born in 1758 on a Virginia farm on April 28th. My family and I weren't a very rich family but we made do. We lived in a small house and I had two sisters with 5 brothers. My dad worked as a carpenter and planter. We didn’t go to school because we were tutored at home. We liked being home schooled but it wasn’t a very good education though. At the age of sixteen I attended a better college for a better education the college was called the college of William and Mary. Although I soon dropped out to attend the English war. I served for general George Washington. I was wounded in the war at the battle of Trenton. I was left with shrapnel in my shoulder for the rest of my life. I was also wintered at Valley Forge until I finally reached the
rank of Colonel in Virginia. I didn’t return to William and Mary but I continued to finish my legal training with Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson. I joined the anti federalist to try and make the government create a new constitution. I did this because the document needed a bill of right. On February 16,1786 I married my wife Elizabeth Monroe. I soon ran for house seat but was beat by James Madison. Although soon after I was voted for Governor of Virginia and I was a U.S senator.
I ran for presidency against Rufus King and won!
I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me and I got to work. I made many accomplishments during presidency. I bought Florida for Four Million dollars and this caused a downfall called the Panic of 1819. This panic lasted for four years but it was soon solved. Slavery was also another problem during my presidency. I wasn’t able to stop slavery but I did help stop a fight about it. The state of Missouri wanted to join the union. This caused a problem because the south wanted it to be a slave state and the north wanted it to be a free state. I solved this problem by letting Missouri join as a free state and Maine joining as a slave state. This was called the Missouri Compromise. By this time my term was up and went for president again in 1820. In this time I wanted to help make america a free government. I was helped greatly to achieve this goal by John Quincy Adams. I addressed congress in 1823 and with John Quincy Adams help I issued the Monroe Doctrine. My document stated to end all european colonization in the Western Hemisphere. It also said that the US, Central America, South America, and the United states would assist with military conventions, that the US would not interfere with battles in England and England from intervening in american continents. I also helped the US expand westward by helping Thomas Jefferson create the Louisiana Purchase. This expanded the United States further west. I also helped build the foundation of America to become a world
power.
After my term of presidency John Quincy Adams was elected as president but he had to wait an extra three weeks to move in mainly because my wife was too ill to move out. Once she was feeling better we both retired to our estate Oak Hill, in Loudoun County,Virginia. I was glad to be out of the hands of the exhausting work as president. At our house on oakhill I enjoyed overseeing life on our farm and being able to spend time with my family. During my later life I worked out my financial difficulties because when I left the white house I was in debt. During those years I pressed the government for all the money they owed me. They owed me tens of thousands of dollars of which I was going to get. Once I got the desired amount of money I payed off all my bills so it left my kids with a decent inheritance. Then in 1826 I accepted an appointment to the Board Of Visitors University of Virginia. The university founded by my old friend Thomas Jefferson. I stayed on the board until I was to ill to continue. After I left the board I became president of the Virginia Constitutional Convention. I then started To write a book about the comparison of the US government and other governments before that. I struggled to finish the book and then abandoned it. To start working on my auto biography. It was my major focus but following the death of my wife in 1830 I moved to New York and lived with my daughter and son-in-law.
In the early spring of 1831 I died in New York, on July 4th.