Hail to the Chiefs Part IV: If Men Were Angels...
Originally written September 20, 2009
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." - James Madison
I used to think that when this country got started pretty much first we declared independence, George Washington won the war, there was a Constitutional convention and wham, bam, thank you ma'am we had a Federal Government. Reading about James Madison, often called "The Father of the Constitution" I got a much better feel for how the process went...and why while James Madison is a fairly well known name as a president and as a Founding Father...most of us couldn't tell you much about him other than he married a woman named Dolley.
First off, I've found to help get a better feel for how long it took our country to figure out what kind of Federal Government to have....let's look at the Bicentennials. The Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence happened July 4, 1976. It was the day before one of my childhood friends was born, and well over a year before Luke Skywalker and I would make our big debuts.
We celebrated the bicentennial of the Constitutional Convention in 1987, when I was in 5th grade. I participated in a mock constitutional convention. I went as an Anti-Federalist...the party of Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. We also had an assembly where a group of us performed "The Bill of Rights Rap." The group of us were dubbed "Hilarie and the Patriots" as I was in front with a Betsy Ross costume my Grandma had made, and sunglasses. I later went out to do my safety patrol duty dressed like that.
If there had been a bicentennial celebration for when the Constitution actually got RATIFIED, it would have been when I was in middle school. If we had celebrated the bicentennial of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, it would have happened my freshman year of high school. In other words, it took nearly 16 years between the Declaration of Independence, and the Ratification of the Bill of Rights. That is a long time for a country to be in turmoil about what kind of government it is going to have. It makes me feel a little better about how Congress is functioning right now...although Representative Joe Wilson could learn a think or two from Patrick Henry on how to be effective in voicing your opposition.
James Madison was along for the whole ride, although I'm convinced he had an Air Sick bag on his lap the whole time. While I was reading about him there were more letters that went roughly like this:
Dear Fellow Founding Father,
I'm sorry I was unable to attend *insert event here* but I was indisposed with (diarrhea/hemorroids/dysentery/menstrual cramps).
Sincerely,
James Madison
Now granted, the guy probably had some legitimate health problems. But he also lived to his 80's, so it couldn't have been THAT bad. I'm thinking Dolley did a great job of distracting him from his own neuroses.
Little Jemmy had the good fortune of being born in Virginia, birthplace of the most U.S. Presidents (with Ohio a close second.) Also like many a future president, he started his career as a lawyer. In one case he successfully defended a group of Baptist ministers who were fined for not getting the license required by the Anglican Church. Religious freedom became an important cause for him the rest of his life.
His political career began in the Virginia State Legislature. His most interesting accomplishment there was to ensure that we Midwesterners do not live in the state of Virginia. At the time it was the policy for new territories to become apart of existing colonies. Thanks to him Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and part of Minnesota became the Northwest Territory until they started splitting off into states about a half century later.
In this period of his life he became a protege/sidekick of Thomas Jefferson. He was one of the few voices of reason that Jefferson tended to actually listen to. There were a number of instances where Jefferson had some outlandish idea like "Hey! Let's totally change the structure of the government every 20 years!" Madison would respond with some eloquent way of saying "Boss? Baaaaad idea!" and Jefferson would back down.
During the Revolutionary War, he tried to enlist but....see the above excuse note....wound up spending most of it in the Virginia Legislature instead.
After the war the first attempt at a government was the Articles of Confederation. It was heavy on states rights, and light on ways to levy taxes or actually enforce anything nationwide. Technically it was the official United States government from 1781-1788 when it was replaced by the Constitution. Later the seceding states tried a similar form of government in the Confederacy, and it failed for similar reasons. The Founding Fathers caught on pretty quickly that this form of government wasn't working.
In 1787 was the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. One reason we know about the event in such great detail today is because of the thorough notes James Madison took. He also drafted the Virginia Plan which suggested a lot of what our current government has today. The biggest idea that came from it was to have a house in the legislature where the number of representatives per state was determined by population.
After the Constitutional Convention, Madison went home to duke it out with the Virginia legislature over whether to ratify the Constitution. Many Virginians objected to the Constitution unless there was a Bill of Rights included. Madison initially didn't think it was necessary, but later became the champion of the Bill of Rights. In 1792, Secretary of State announced the ratification of the Bill of Rights, almost as a footnote with other news from the Federal Government.
After the draaaamaaa of the Constitution, Madison learned to lighten up a little bit. He fell in love with the young widow Dolley Payne Todd. Too shy to approach her directly, like a good teenager he had his buddy Aaron Burr talk to her on his behalf. They were married in 1794. Dolley liked to call him "my dear little husband." Dolley at the time was a Quaker but was whatever the Quaker equivalent of excommunication is happened to Dolley because she married an Episcopalian.
Dolley became the darling of Washington D.C. While Madison was Secretary of State, Dolley largely served the function of being Jefferson's first lady, as Jefferson had been a widower for some time.
In Madison's first term as president, he once again had the role of cleaning up one of Jefferson's messes. Jefferson in his infinite wisdom thought the U.S. could use without much of a military. The British thought this was a great idea as well, and invaded. Hence the poorly named War of 1812 (which was actually more like the War of 1812-1815.) Dolley's dear little husband somehow managed to hold the country together. Meanwhile while he was off hiding in Maryland, she was rescuing documents and the famous Stuart portrait of Washington from the White House before it was attacked by the British.
Partway through Madison's second term the war ended and the Era of Good Feeling began. Except for some skirmishes here and there, there wouldn't be another American war until 1846.
When Madison's presidency ended he and Dolley hoped to do what my parents are doing as we speak: take a retirement trip to Paris. Sadly, Madison's farm and finances pretty much went down the tubes. He and Dolley struggled with debt for the rest of their lives.
Madison lived to be 85. In June of 1836, his doctor asked him if he wanted measures to be taken so he survive to see the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Madison declined and died on June 28.
As Madison was the Father of the Constitution, I thought this muppet clip suited him. I played it on Constitution Day. :)
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." - James Madison
I used to think that when this country got started pretty much first we declared independence, George Washington won the war, there was a Constitutional convention and wham, bam, thank you ma'am we had a Federal Government. Reading about James Madison, often called "The Father of the Constitution" I got a much better feel for how the process went...and why while James Madison is a fairly well known name as a president and as a Founding Father...most of us couldn't tell you much about him other than he married a woman named Dolley.
First off, I've found to help get a better feel for how long it took our country to figure out what kind of Federal Government to have....let's look at the Bicentennials. The Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence happened July 4, 1976. It was the day before one of my childhood friends was born, and well over a year before Luke Skywalker and I would make our big debuts.
We celebrated the bicentennial of the Constitutional Convention in 1987, when I was in 5th grade. I participated in a mock constitutional convention. I went as an Anti-Federalist...the party of Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. We also had an assembly where a group of us performed "The Bill of Rights Rap." The group of us were dubbed "Hilarie and the Patriots" as I was in front with a Betsy Ross costume my Grandma had made, and sunglasses. I later went out to do my safety patrol duty dressed like that.
If there had been a bicentennial celebration for when the Constitution actually got RATIFIED, it would have been when I was in middle school. If we had celebrated the bicentennial of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, it would have happened my freshman year of high school. In other words, it took nearly 16 years between the Declaration of Independence, and the Ratification of the Bill of Rights. That is a long time for a country to be in turmoil about what kind of government it is going to have. It makes me feel a little better about how Congress is functioning right now...although Representative Joe Wilson could learn a think or two from Patrick Henry on how to be effective in voicing your opposition.
James Madison was along for the whole ride, although I'm convinced he had an Air Sick bag on his lap the whole time. While I was reading about him there were more letters that went roughly like this:
Dear Fellow Founding Father,
I'm sorry I was unable to attend *insert event here* but I was indisposed with (diarrhea/hemorroids/dysentery/menstrual cramps).
Sincerely,
James Madison
Now granted, the guy probably had some legitimate health problems. But he also lived to his 80's, so it couldn't have been THAT bad. I'm thinking Dolley did a great job of distracting him from his own neuroses.
Little Jemmy had the good fortune of being born in Virginia, birthplace of the most U.S. Presidents (with Ohio a close second.) Also like many a future president, he started his career as a lawyer. In one case he successfully defended a group of Baptist ministers who were fined for not getting the license required by the Anglican Church. Religious freedom became an important cause for him the rest of his life.
His political career began in the Virginia State Legislature. His most interesting accomplishment there was to ensure that we Midwesterners do not live in the state of Virginia. At the time it was the policy for new territories to become apart of existing colonies. Thanks to him Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and part of Minnesota became the Northwest Territory until they started splitting off into states about a half century later.
In this period of his life he became a protege/sidekick of Thomas Jefferson. He was one of the few voices of reason that Jefferson tended to actually listen to. There were a number of instances where Jefferson had some outlandish idea like "Hey! Let's totally change the structure of the government every 20 years!" Madison would respond with some eloquent way of saying "Boss? Baaaaad idea!" and Jefferson would back down.
During the Revolutionary War, he tried to enlist but....see the above excuse note....wound up spending most of it in the Virginia Legislature instead.
After the war the first attempt at a government was the Articles of Confederation. It was heavy on states rights, and light on ways to levy taxes or actually enforce anything nationwide. Technically it was the official United States government from 1781-1788 when it was replaced by the Constitution. Later the seceding states tried a similar form of government in the Confederacy, and it failed for similar reasons. The Founding Fathers caught on pretty quickly that this form of government wasn't working.
In 1787 was the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. One reason we know about the event in such great detail today is because of the thorough notes James Madison took. He also drafted the Virginia Plan which suggested a lot of what our current government has today. The biggest idea that came from it was to have a house in the legislature where the number of representatives per state was determined by population.
After the Constitutional Convention, Madison went home to duke it out with the Virginia legislature over whether to ratify the Constitution. Many Virginians objected to the Constitution unless there was a Bill of Rights included. Madison initially didn't think it was necessary, but later became the champion of the Bill of Rights. In 1792, Secretary of State announced the ratification of the Bill of Rights, almost as a footnote with other news from the Federal Government.
After the draaaamaaa of the Constitution, Madison learned to lighten up a little bit. He fell in love with the young widow Dolley Payne Todd. Too shy to approach her directly, like a good teenager he had his buddy Aaron Burr talk to her on his behalf. They were married in 1794. Dolley liked to call him "my dear little husband." Dolley at the time was a Quaker but was whatever the Quaker equivalent of excommunication is happened to Dolley because she married an Episcopalian.
Dolley became the darling of Washington D.C. While Madison was Secretary of State, Dolley largely served the function of being Jefferson's first lady, as Jefferson had been a widower for some time.
In Madison's first term as president, he once again had the role of cleaning up one of Jefferson's messes. Jefferson in his infinite wisdom thought the U.S. could use without much of a military. The British thought this was a great idea as well, and invaded. Hence the poorly named War of 1812 (which was actually more like the War of 1812-1815.) Dolley's dear little husband somehow managed to hold the country together. Meanwhile while he was off hiding in Maryland, she was rescuing documents and the famous Stuart portrait of Washington from the White House before it was attacked by the British.
Partway through Madison's second term the war ended and the Era of Good Feeling began. Except for some skirmishes here and there, there wouldn't be another American war until 1846.
When Madison's presidency ended he and Dolley hoped to do what my parents are doing as we speak: take a retirement trip to Paris. Sadly, Madison's farm and finances pretty much went down the tubes. He and Dolley struggled with debt for the rest of their lives.
Madison lived to be 85. In June of 1836, his doctor asked him if he wanted measures to be taken so he survive to see the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Madison declined and died on June 28.
As Madison was the Father of the Constitution, I thought this muppet clip suited him. I played it on Constitution Day. :)