ho carried out Eve's sentence was the great uncle of Madison, Thomas Chew. His father related this story to Madison. Although these events may not have had quite an effect on Madison, the efforts of his parents were very influential. During Madison's youth, slavery combined "the personal ease of the master with a life long consideration for the servant," (Brant, 1:44). Clement Eaton, author of A history of the Old South, describes many southerners as having a guilty conscience over slavery. It is uncertain whether Madison suffered from this but he did respect the slaves owned by his family. This respect was carried by Madison throughout his life and is often pointed to in the writings of his personal servant, Paul Jennings. After Madison's death he wrote that, "[Mr. Madison] often told the story, that one day riding home from court with old Tom Barbour (father of Governor James Barbour) they met a colored man who took off his hat. Mr. M replied, "I never allow a Negro to excel me in politeness," (Jennings, p.19-20).Madison would often write home asking about "the family" which to him included the slaves. One of the first direct references to slavery in Madison's writings came in a letter to Joseph Jones. In this letter, Madison responds to Jones' idea of offering slaves as a bonus to those who fight in the war for independence. Madison responds by saying: "I am glad to find the legislature persist in their resolution to recruit their line of the army for the war, though without deciding on the expediency of the mode under their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves as to make them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would certainly be more constant to the principles of liberty which ought never to be loss sight of in a contest for liberty," (Hutchinson, 2:209). Madison's solution offered liberty not only for the white men who enlist...
