James Monroe was not born to live an ordinary life, but an extraordinary one. He was born on April 28, 1758 in his parents' home in a forested area of ​​Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father Spence Monroe (1727-1774) worked as a planter and carpenter. James's mother, Elizabeth Jones (1730-1774), married his father in 1752 and they both had several children together. James grew up with his brothers following the same teachings as his mother. His parents died when he was a teenager. When he came of age, he attended the College of William and Mary and fought in the Continental Army. After being wounded in New York serving in George Washington's army, he met Elizabeth Kortright. They married on 16 February 1786, when he was twenty-seven and Elizabeth was seventeen. When he realized he couldn't become as wealthy as his father, he broadened his horizons, moved, and practiced law along with politics in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The couple had three children together: Eliza, James, Maria. As a young politician he became an Anti-Federalist at the Virginia Convention, which he helped ratify ...