Mr. Madison was succeeded in the office of president by James Monroe, March 4, 1817. The country was now at peace, but its condition was by no means prosperous. Commerce had not yet revived, and the manufactures which had been carried on during the war were entirely broken down by the influx of foreign merchandise. In 1818, a war broke out between the Seminoles and the United States, occasioned by the removal of some Indians from lands ceded to the United States by the Creeks in 1814. The Indians were entirely subdued by General Jackson. In 1819, another convention was made between Great Britain and the United States, granting to American citizens the right to fish on the banks of Newfoundland; establishing a portion of the northern boundary; and extending for ten years longer the commercial convention concluded four years before.

A treaty was also this year concluded with Spain, by which East and West Florida, with the islands adjacent, were ceded to the United States.

On the 4th of March, 1821, Mr. Monroe was unanimously elected to a second term of office. Much less unanimity, however, was displayed in the deliberations of the next congress. Some important commercial acts were passed; revolutionary soldiers were provided for by pensions; and the ratio of population and representation fixed at one representative to forty thousand inhabitants.

The year 1824 is signalized in the annals of the country by a visit from La Fayette, the friend and companion-in-arms of Washington, to whose services in the dark day of the revolutionary war the nation owed so much. He passed about a year in the country, visiting every part of it, and receiving everywhere the most enthusiastic tokens of homage and gratitude. He returned to his own country in a national frigate prepared for the purpose, and named, in honor of him, the Brandywine—​the name of the battle in which he was wounded nearly fifty years before. During his visit, congress appropriated two hundred thousand dollars, and a township of land in Florida, as an acknowledgment of his eminent services.

Mr. Monroe retired from office with the respect and good will of all parties. His administration of affairs, both foreign and domestic, had been uninfluenced by party spirit, and characterised by uprightness, prudence, and good sense. The country was everywhere peaceful and prosperous. No choice of a successor to Mr. Monroe having been made by the electors, the choice devolved upon the house of representatives.

On the 4th of March, 1825, John Quincy Adams was inaugurated president of the United States.

Among the noticeable events during this administration, the first to be mentioned is a controversy between the general government and the executive of Georgia, in relation to certain lands held by the Cherokees and Creeks of that state. The general government had agreed to extinguish, for the benefit of Georgia, the Indian title to those lands—​‘whenever it could be peaceably done, upon reasonable terms.’ But the Creeks, at a national council, refused to alienate their territory. After the council had broken up, and a majority of the chiefs had departed, a few who remained were induced to make a treaty, ceding the lands in question to the United States. This treaty was repudiated by the Creek nation. But the governor of Georgia determined to act upon it as valid. To prevent a war, the president ordered General Gaines to repair to the Creek country, for the protection of the Indians; and directed Governor Troup of Georgia to suspend his intended measures. Congress approved the course of the president; and at length a treaty was formed with the Creeks, which gave satisfaction to all parties except the state of Georgia.

The most important among the measures which occupied the first session of the twentieth congress, was the revision of the tariff, with a view to afford protection to American manufactures. The principle of a protective tariff was warmly opposed by the south, and by a large portion of the commercial body at the north; while the details of the bill which was passed were far from satisfactory to the friends of protection.

During Mr. Adams’ administration the prosperity of the United States had increased to an unexampled height. Agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, were every where flourishing. The public debt which at the close of the war, amounted to nearly one hundred and fifty millions of dollars, was almost extinguished. The annual revenue largely exceeded the demands of the government; and at the close of Mr. Adams’ term, there was a surplus of more than five millions in the treasury.

On the 4th of March, 1829, Andrew Jackson was inaugurated president of the United States.