In March 1825, James Monroe stepped down from the presidency. With his retirement, the last of the founding fathers left the political scene, and leadership passed to a new generation. On balance, the first quarter of the nineteenth century had been a good one for the United States. The young nation's territory had doubled with the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida. The threat to American independence from European interferences had been removed by a second war with England, which had culminated with a brilliant victory at the Battle of New Orleans. Americans were bristling with confidence. In his final message to Congress, President Monroe went out of his way to warn European nations that this new generation of Americans would brook no interferences from Europe in American affairs. “We owe it to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers,” he told Congress, “to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”