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James Madison

James Madison He was a small man at 5 feet 4 inches tall, less than 100 pounds with penetrating eyes, a charming smile, and parchment skin. "James Madison Jr. born into a large Episcopalian family on March 16,1751 in Port Conway, Virginia, made a large political impact on the United States of America" (The Federalist 1). "He was frequently referred to as the father of the Constitution, for he made many provisions to it’s making" (The Federalist 1). "His father James Madison Sr. one of the wealthiest landowner’s of the area managed a large Piedmont farm, and married late to Nelly Conway in 1749." "There were eleven children born in all to the Madison family, only seven survived to adulthood" (Rakove 1). "The first born son James Madison Jr. was to be the heir of the plantation located in Orange County, Virginia" (Ketcham 12). "During his childhood years life centered on the farm." "The building of the new family home became the main interest of young Madison Jr. who was noted to spend time lifting small boards to help build the home." "He would help to furnish it by carrying small pieces of furniture from the old to the new" (Ketcham 13). "During the stressful building of the mansion there was the fright of the Indian War, and the terrible drought that had taken effect on Orange County." "Thought to be one of the hardest times that young Madison endured throughout life was the severe epidemic of smallpox" (Ketcham 14). "It is thought that young Madison and his siblings were isolated from contact with outside humans, or sent away for fear they would contract the disease" (Ketcham 17). Only part of James Madison’s early education is known. "His early schooling amounted only to reading, writing, and arithmetic" (Ketcham 17). "The mansion was filled with books ranging from grammar to horses, the books were bought and ordered for James two years after he was born" (Ketcham 17). "For five years, at the age of eleven his studies included Logic, Math, Philosophy, Astronomy, and French at a school kept by the family preacher Donald Robertson." "The last two years of his schooling were spent at the plantation being tutored by Reverend Thomas Martin" (Rakove 2). "In 1769 he was accepted to the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton)." "Completing a four-year degree in two years he graduated in 1771, and remained at Princeton where his health became delicate" (Rakove 2). "After recovering he began to study law" (Ketcham 51). "In 1776 at the age of 23 Madison’s public career began when he became a member of the King George County Committee for Public Safety in Virginia." "For the rest of his life, he would be of service to the nation" (The Federalist 1). "Madison’s future wife Dolley Payne Todd grew up in a small Quaker community in Virginia." "Shortly after moving to Philadelphia in 1783, she married a wealthy Quaker by the name of John Todd" (Ketcham 376). "The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 took the life of Dolley's husband and infant son" (Ketcham 378). "After being introduced by a mutual friend Aaron Burr, Dolley and James began dating." "They were married on September 15, 1794" (Ketcham 379). "The young couple spent three winters in Philadelphia, living in the abandoned Monroe house, and then in a lavish home off Spruce street" (Ketcham 383). "After moving back to Orange County, Virginia in 1797, and living in the Montpelier mansion, Dolley assumed the role of plantation hostesses" (Ketcham 387). "Dolley and James had not had any children between them." "Their infertility did seem to cause some amount of psychological damage to the marriage, but Madison claimed no political influence" (Ketcham 387). "James Madison made his first constitutional contribution to law by his defense of free religion as a right, not a privilege" (Blanco 1). "In October of 1776, he made the longtime friendship of Thomas Jefferson at the new Virginia House of Delegates" (Blanco 1). "After running in the election session of 1777, Mr. Madison lost for the reason that he would not provide liquor for the voters." "That same year he was selected to the Council of State, and elected as a delegate in 1779 to Philadelphia's Continental Congress." "Madison served there from 1780-1783, and had a strong commitment to being a leader" (Blanco 1). "In support of a federal government, Washington and Madison organized the Alexandria Conference to settle a dispute between Virginia and Maryland over the Potomac River" (The Federalist 1). "Only five states attended the convention, which hailed little result." "Hamilton and Madison later persuaded congress to endorse the conference, but only in an attempt to modify the article of the confederation" (The Federalist 1). Madison set the tone for the confederation by introducing the Virginia Plan. This plan called for a strong central government, consisting of a Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branch. The Legislative would consist of two houses--the people, and the body of nominees would elect the other. Representation for each state would be proportional to the state population. Lastly, an executive was to be elected by a national legislature. It also defined a national judiciary & a "Council of Revision" that would review the constitutionality of legislation. The plan quickly passed into law, but a proposal brought against it by William Patterson, a New Jersey Lawyer would later strike it down. This plan referred to as the New Jersey Plan. The plan's proposal would help to protect the smaller states by stating that one state equals one vote. The plan would also give congress the power to tax and regulate trade. The New Jersey Plan would be voted down, and instead the Great Compromise came into function. This gave equal representation of small states proportional to large states, and both chambers would approve all legislatures. This also stated that slaves would now count as three-fifths a person. Madison took great detailed notes during the convention that were not published until nearly forty years later. (The Federalist 2) "James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton wrote articles for a federalist paper that outlined the benefits of the new constitution" (Blanco 2). "These papers later became known as the Federalist papers" (Blanco 2). "Madison was elected to the House of Representatives as a Federalist" (The Federalist 2). "During this time, he promoted the bill of Rights as the first ten amendments" (The Federalist 3). After Adams was elected to president Madison wrote the Alien & Sedition Acts, which was to be a challenge for personal liberties. * A naturalization act requiring residence of 14 years before becoming a citizen. * An Alien Act allowing deportation of a non-citizen if found dangerous to the safety of the United States. * Alien Enemies of enemy nation may be deported or imprisoned in wartime. * A Sedition Act, criminal prosecution for conspiracy against government. (The Federalist 3) "Until these laws were adopted, citizenship was the business of each state" (The Federalist 3). "In 1801, Jefferson is elected president, and Madison becomes Secretary of State." "Madison then succeeded Jefferson as President in 1808, and became a delegate that was widely loved, and respected" (The Federalist 3). "During the running for presidency in 1808, Madison's running opponents were Vice President George Clinton, southerner James Monroe, and Charles C. Pickney" (Ketcham 466). "George Clinton had been described to be a willing cooperative with the Federalists in order to gain ends." "James Monroe portrayed himself as a "true republican" while claiming that Madison was a Federalist’ (Ketcham 466). "During the campaign, newspaper editorials were published on Madison's behalf and the release of the diplomatic correspondences on his years as Secretary of State" (Ketcham 467). "After the electoral votes were in it was apparent that Madison was winning on a landslide with 122 votes" (Ketcham 468). "He was the highest praised running public official, and entered the presidency with strong public support" (Ketcham 468-469). "Clinton entered as Madison's Vice President" (Ketcham 466). "Madison's administrators of office formed one of the weakest cabinets ever." "Madison had multiple problems with his incompetent Secretary of State Robert B. Smith." "Smith was found to be leaking confidential information to the public and press" (Ketcham 483). "In 1811, Madison fired Robert Smith from office" (Ketcham 487). "Madison's hesitation on firing him was partly due to wanting James Monroe to take over the position" (Ketcham 485). The long dispute from the election had caused the friendship to fizzle." "The reconciliation of the two men's forty year friendship was the only way for Madison to ask Monroe to join him in office." "Monroe was elected in to office as Secretary of State in 1811" (Ketcham 485). "During his presidency, France & Britain had long been in the struggle of domination." "They had been preying on merchant citizen ships, by impounding the ships and their men" (The Federalist 4). "For fear that this nation had design on the interior of the U.S., it in turn led to the War of 1812" (The Federalist 4). "Not a very successful war president Madison was still elected to a second term a few months after war was declared" (The Federalist 4). "The many American land defeats, and the burning of the Capitol building, caused Madison's presidency to become known as a disaster" (The Federalist 4). "In 1814, the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent, but the fighting continued" (The Federalist 4). "During his final years in office president Madison turned his attention to domestic issues, and proposed measures that he strongly opposed years earlier" (Blanco 5). "He proposed the re-charter of a national bank, a limited protective tariff, and a constitutional amendment to allow federal government to undertake internal improvements" (Blanco 5). "With the second bank established, a proposal on funds for federal railroads and canals was vetoed by Madison."(Blanco 5). "In the end of Madison's second term, he retired to Montpelier." "After his longtime friend Jefferson passed, Madison spent his years tending to his legacy" (The Federalist 4). "He did attend conventions, like the one of Virginia in 1829; but did not contribute much to the proceedings" (The Federalist 4). "In his retirement, he managed a large plantation that funded scientific farming." "He also took component in the Board of Visitors for the planning, and creation of the University of Virginia" (The Federalist 4). "Madison died on the morning of June 28th 1836 at his home in Montpelier" (The Federalist 4). Bibliography:

Word Count: 1740