How James Madison Became President
As a young man during the American Revolutionary War, James Madison served in the Virginia state legislature from 1776 to 1779. There he befriended Thomas Jefferson, a relationship that strongly influenced Madison's career. Madison had witnessed the persecution of Baptist preachers in Virginia, who were arrested for preaching without a license from the established Anglican Church. This influenced him to work towards establishing constitutional guarantees for religious liberty in Virginia. This also helped shape his ideas about religious freedom, which he applied to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Madison worked with Jefferson to draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was finally passed in 1786. It disestablished the Church of England and did away with the power of state compulsion in religious matters.
Madison was the youngest delegate to the Continental Congress, where he served from 1780 to 1783. He was a hard worker and became a master of parliamentary procedure. He also forged alliances with delegates from other parts of the country. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving from 1784 to 1786 in the early years of independence.
The first Articles of Confederation established the United States as a confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government. This arrangement was problematic during the war, and was even less successful after the war was over. Congress had no power to tax, and as a result was unable to pay debts left over from the Revolution. Madison and others such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, were very concerned about a break-up of the union, leaving it vulnerable again. Madison wrote: "a crisis had arrived which was to decide whether the American experiment was to be a blessing to the world, or to blast for ever the hopes which the republican cause had inspired."
A national convention was called in 1787 to address these problems. Madison was one of the people urging George Washington to attend. Madison was one of the first delegates to arrive and while waiting for the convention to begin, he wrote what became known as the Virginia Plan. This was the outline of a possible constitution and it is the reason that many historians call Madison the "Father of the Constitution". During the Convention Madison spoke over two hundred times and while he was forced to compromise on many of his positions, he was a key player at the Convention which emerged with a Constitution.
The Constitution was required to be ratified by a special conventions called in each state. To support their position, Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 newspaper articles published in New York to explain how the proposed Constitution would work, and to respond to criticisms from anti-federalists. These were also published in book form and were used by supporters of the Constitution in the ratifying conventions.
The debate over ratification in Virginia was contentious, in part because the most prominent anti-federalist, Patrick Henry, was a delegate. Henry feared that the constitution would trample on the independence of the states and the rights of citizens. Madison was able to convince prominent Virginians such as George Mason and Edmund Randolph to change their position and support the Constitution at the ratifying convention. This helped to change the votes of several more anti-federalists. Madison promised them he would push for a bill of rights. On February 12, 1788, Madison, in the Federalist Letter No. 54, wrote that the Constitutional three-fifths compromise clause regarding the counting of slaves, was the best alternative that could be reached. The Constitution was ratified in Virginia.
Madison had been a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and wanted to be elected senator in the new government. Patrick Henry used his power to keep the Virginia legislature from appointing Madison as one of the state's senators. When Madison decided to run for election to the house instead, opponents gerrymandered Madison's home district, filling it with anti-federalists in an attempt to prevent Madison's election. Henry also steered through a law requiring congressmen to live in the district they represent. He ran against James Monroe, and traveled with Monroe while campaigning. Madison defeated Monroe, but despite this, the two men forged a friendship and a mutual respect.
The absence of a bill of rights became the main argument of the anti-federalists against the constitution. Anti-federalists continued to fight the issue after the constitution had been ratified, and called for another constitutional convention. On June 8, 1789, Madison introduced his bill proposing amendments consisting of Nine Articles. Initially he wanted the amendments to be incorporated into the body of the Constitution. The House passed most of his amendments, but rejected the idea of putting the amendments in the body of the Constitution. The Senate condensed this to eleven amendments and added what became the Ninth Amendment. To Madison's disappointment, the senate refused to pass a proposed amendment guaranteeing national sovereignty over the states.
In 1794, when the British were seizing hundreds of American ships that were trading with French. Madison believed that Britain was weak and the United States was strong, but George Washington avoided a trade war and instead secured friendly trade relations with Britain through the Jay Treaty of 1794. Madison tried unsuccessfully to have the Senate reject the Jay Treaty. Americans divided for and against the Treaty and this led to the creation of the two party system. Supporters for ratification of the Constitution had become known as the Federalist Party. Those opposing the constitution were called Anti-Federalists. Following ratification of the Constitution and formation of the first government in 1789, two new political factions formed. Those like Alexander Hamilton who wanted to strengthen the national government called themselves Federalists. The who opposed Hamilton called themselves "Republicans" (later referred to as the Democratic-Republican party). Madison and Thomas Jefferson were the leaders of this second group.
When Hamilton created the Bank of the United States, Madison led the unsuccessful attempt in Congress to block Hamilton's proposal, arguing that the new Constitution did not explicitly allow the federal government to form a bank.
In 1798 during the administration of President John Adams, the U.S. and France unofficially went to war (in what became known as the Quasi War), with naval warships and commercial vessels battling in the Caribbean. The Federalists created a standing army and passed laws the Alien and Sedition Acts to censor Republican editors. Madison and Jefferson secretly drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions declaring the Alien and Sedition Acts to be unconstitutional.
When Jefferson became president in 1801, he named Madison as his secretary of state. The main challenge to the Jefferson Administration was maintaining neutrality during the Napoleonic Wars. Much of Europe was at war at this time, with the major combatants being France (led by Napoleon) and Britain. In 1802, Napoleon sent more than 20,000 troops to try to restore slavery on the island of Haiti (then called Sainte Dominique), where its colonial sugar cane plantations had been the chief revenue producer for France in the western hemisphere. The war went badly for the French, whose troops were decimated by yellow fever. Napoleon gave up on thoughts of restoring the empire and sold the Louisiana territory to Madison and Jefferson in 1803.
Madison and Jefferson had decided on an embargo to punish Britain which would not allow American trade with any foreign nation. The embargo failed in the United States, causing hardships along the America seaboard. The embargo was allowed to expire just as Jefferson was leaving office.
With Jefferson's second term coming to an end, Madison was the party choice for president in 1808. His only credible opponent was John Randolph. The Republican Party Congressional caucus chose Madison as their candidate. As the Federalist party by this time had largely collapsed outside New England, Madison easily defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
As president for two terms, Madison led the nation into the War of 1812. He found the war to be an administrative nightmare, as the United States had neither a strong army nor financial system. The experience caused him to once again support a stronger national government and a strong military, as well as the national bank, which he had previously long opposed.
Madison worked with Jefferson to draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was finally passed in 1786. It disestablished the Church of England and did away with the power of state compulsion in religious matters.
Madison was the youngest delegate to the Continental Congress, where he served from 1780 to 1783. He was a hard worker and became a master of parliamentary procedure. He also forged alliances with delegates from other parts of the country. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving from 1784 to 1786 in the early years of independence.
The first Articles of Confederation established the United States as a confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government. This arrangement was problematic during the war, and was even less successful after the war was over. Congress had no power to tax, and as a result was unable to pay debts left over from the Revolution. Madison and others such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, were very concerned about a break-up of the union, leaving it vulnerable again. Madison wrote: "a crisis had arrived which was to decide whether the American experiment was to be a blessing to the world, or to blast for ever the hopes which the republican cause had inspired."
A national convention was called in 1787 to address these problems. Madison was one of the people urging George Washington to attend. Madison was one of the first delegates to arrive and while waiting for the convention to begin, he wrote what became known as the Virginia Plan. This was the outline of a possible constitution and it is the reason that many historians call Madison the "Father of the Constitution". During the Convention Madison spoke over two hundred times and while he was forced to compromise on many of his positions, he was a key player at the Convention which emerged with a Constitution.
The Constitution was required to be ratified by a special conventions called in each state. To support their position, Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 newspaper articles published in New York to explain how the proposed Constitution would work, and to respond to criticisms from anti-federalists. These were also published in book form and were used by supporters of the Constitution in the ratifying conventions.
The debate over ratification in Virginia was contentious, in part because the most prominent anti-federalist, Patrick Henry, was a delegate. Henry feared that the constitution would trample on the independence of the states and the rights of citizens. Madison was able to convince prominent Virginians such as George Mason and Edmund Randolph to change their position and support the Constitution at the ratifying convention. This helped to change the votes of several more anti-federalists. Madison promised them he would push for a bill of rights. On February 12, 1788, Madison, in the Federalist Letter No. 54, wrote that the Constitutional three-fifths compromise clause regarding the counting of slaves, was the best alternative that could be reached. The Constitution was ratified in Virginia.
Madison had been a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and wanted to be elected senator in the new government. Patrick Henry used his power to keep the Virginia legislature from appointing Madison as one of the state's senators. When Madison decided to run for election to the house instead, opponents gerrymandered Madison's home district, filling it with anti-federalists in an attempt to prevent Madison's election. Henry also steered through a law requiring congressmen to live in the district they represent. He ran against James Monroe, and traveled with Monroe while campaigning. Madison defeated Monroe, but despite this, the two men forged a friendship and a mutual respect.
The absence of a bill of rights became the main argument of the anti-federalists against the constitution. Anti-federalists continued to fight the issue after the constitution had been ratified, and called for another constitutional convention. On June 8, 1789, Madison introduced his bill proposing amendments consisting of Nine Articles. Initially he wanted the amendments to be incorporated into the body of the Constitution. The House passed most of his amendments, but rejected the idea of putting the amendments in the body of the Constitution. The Senate condensed this to eleven amendments and added what became the Ninth Amendment. To Madison's disappointment, the senate refused to pass a proposed amendment guaranteeing national sovereignty over the states.
In 1794, when the British were seizing hundreds of American ships that were trading with French. Madison believed that Britain was weak and the United States was strong, but George Washington avoided a trade war and instead secured friendly trade relations with Britain through the Jay Treaty of 1794. Madison tried unsuccessfully to have the Senate reject the Jay Treaty. Americans divided for and against the Treaty and this led to the creation of the two party system. Supporters for ratification of the Constitution had become known as the Federalist Party. Those opposing the constitution were called Anti-Federalists. Following ratification of the Constitution and formation of the first government in 1789, two new political factions formed. Those like Alexander Hamilton who wanted to strengthen the national government called themselves Federalists. The who opposed Hamilton called themselves "Republicans" (later referred to as the Democratic-Republican party). Madison and Thomas Jefferson were the leaders of this second group.
When Hamilton created the Bank of the United States, Madison led the unsuccessful attempt in Congress to block Hamilton's proposal, arguing that the new Constitution did not explicitly allow the federal government to form a bank.
In 1798 during the administration of President John Adams, the U.S. and France unofficially went to war (in what became known as the Quasi War), with naval warships and commercial vessels battling in the Caribbean. The Federalists created a standing army and passed laws the Alien and Sedition Acts to censor Republican editors. Madison and Jefferson secretly drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions declaring the Alien and Sedition Acts to be unconstitutional.
When Jefferson became president in 1801, he named Madison as his secretary of state. The main challenge to the Jefferson Administration was maintaining neutrality during the Napoleonic Wars. Much of Europe was at war at this time, with the major combatants being France (led by Napoleon) and Britain. In 1802, Napoleon sent more than 20,000 troops to try to restore slavery on the island of Haiti (then called Sainte Dominique), where its colonial sugar cane plantations had been the chief revenue producer for France in the western hemisphere. The war went badly for the French, whose troops were decimated by yellow fever. Napoleon gave up on thoughts of restoring the empire and sold the Louisiana territory to Madison and Jefferson in 1803.
Madison and Jefferson had decided on an embargo to punish Britain which would not allow American trade with any foreign nation. The embargo failed in the United States, causing hardships along the America seaboard. The embargo was allowed to expire just as Jefferson was leaving office.
With Jefferson's second term coming to an end, Madison was the party choice for president in 1808. His only credible opponent was John Randolph. The Republican Party Congressional caucus chose Madison as their candidate. As the Federalist party by this time had largely collapsed outside New England, Madison easily defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
As president for two terms, Madison led the nation into the War of 1812. He found the war to be an administrative nightmare, as the United States had neither a strong army nor financial system. The experience caused him to once again support a stronger national government and a strong military, as well as the national bank, which he had previously long opposed.