Who was James Madison?
James Madison was raised at Montpelier, the family plantation in Virginia, and went on to help design the American system of government. At the 1787 Convention in Philadelphia he brought the Virginia Plan, which set the terms of the debate. He then wrote part of The Federalist Papers to win support for the new Constitution. Once Congress began meeting, he wrote the first amendments to the Constitution, the ones we call the Bill of Rights. Madison and Thomas Jefferson built the Democratic-Republican opposition to Hamilton and the Federalists. Madison ran foreign policy as Secretary of State for eight years under Jefferson, then served two terms as president, which included the War of 1812.
Political views
- In Federalist No. 10 he said a big republic with many competing interests is better placed to keep faction in check.Source: avalon.law.yale.edu
- He argued for splitting government power into branches that hold each other in check, so that one ambition can balance another.Source: avalon.law.yale.edu
- He drew up the amendments that Congress sent to the states as the Bill of Rights.Source: archives.gov
- He had a hand in the religious liberty wording of the Virginia Declaration of Rights.Source: millercenter.org
- In 1812 he went to Congress and asked for war on Britain, citing disputes over shipping at sea.Source: millercenter.org
- He vetoed a bill to fund roads and canals at the national level, saying Congress lacked the constitutional power.Source: millercenter.org
Legacy
People often call him the Father of the Constitution. His fans credit him with the practical idea of checks and balances, with the Bill of Rights, and with a strong argument for religious freedom. Scholars still study Federalist Nos. 10 and 51. Critics note that his positions shifted. He argued for national power in 1787, turned to states' rights in the Virginia Resolutions of 1798, and as president signed a national bank in 1816. His wartime leadership is also argued over, since British troops burned Washington. All his life Madison enslaved people at Montpelier. According to the Miller Center, he thought slavery wrong yet used little political muscle against it. He headed the American Colonization Society, which linked freedom to resettlement abroad, and he freed no one in his will.
In their own words
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”