Despite his major role in early American history, President James Monroe has been the subject of limited scholarly work, due largely to the difficulty of locating his papers, especially in a published collection. Monroe scholarship is based on only 25 percent of his papers, and a great mass of materialover 25,000 itemshas remained mostly unknown and unused until now. The eight-volume Papers of James Monroe project will fill a major gap in American history and provide access to the massive and widely scattered Monroe Papers, enabling scholars to revisit Monroe's role in the birth and infancy of the United States. This volume covers Monroe's presidential tours in 1817, 1818, and 1819, including his correspondence, newspaper accounts, and eyewitness accounts.

All major founders of the American nation have modern documentary collectionswith the notable exception of James Monroe. Yet Monroe was not a minor figure, having served as Minister to France, Minister to Great Britain, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War.