For most of his life, James Monroe lived a life of public service. That dedication to the future of the United States began when Monroe was a teenager.
Monroe was born on April 28, 1758. He spent his childhood in Westmoreland County, Virginia, near the southern banks of the Potomac River. His parents—Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones Monroe—owned a 500-acre plantation they called Monroe Hall.
James was one of five children. He had an older sister and