Presidents and Faith: James Madison
From ages 11 to 16, young "Jemmy" Madison studied under Donald Robertson, an instructor at the Innes plantation in King and Queen County, Virginia. There, Madison learned mathematics, geography, and modern and ancient languages. He became especially proficient in Latin. At age 16, he returned to Montpelier, where he began a two-year course of study under the Reverend Thomas Martin in preparation for college. Unlike most college-bound Virginians of his day, Madison did not attend the College of William and Mary, because Williamsburg was a place where mosquitoes transmitted fevers and other infectious diseases during the summer, and Madison had delicate health. Instead, in 1769, he enrolled at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. His studies included Latin, Greek, science, geography, mathematics, rhetoric, and philosophy. After graduation, Madison remained at Princeton to study Hebrew and political philosophy under the university president, John Witherspoon, before returning to Montpelier in the spring of 1772. He became quite fluent in Hebrew.
Although he was educated by Presbyterian clergymen, young Madison was an avid reader of English deist writings. As an adult Madison paid little attention to religious matters and according to historian James Hutson, "there is no trace, no clue as to his personal religious convictions." Some historians say he leaned toward deism while others maintain that Madison was a Christian.
On one aspect of religion, Madison's views were crystal clear, that being on freedom of religion. As a young man during the Revolutionary War, Madison served in the Virginia state legislature from 1776 to 1779. When the colony was under English rule, Madison had witnessed the persecution of Baptist preachers in Virginia, who were arrested for preaching without a license from the established Anglican Church. He worked with the Baptist preacher Elijah Craig on constitutional guarantees for religious liberty in Virginia. This helped him to form his ideas about religious freedom, which he applied to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Madison worked with Thomas Jefferson to draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This statute which was finally passed in 1786. It disestablished the Church of England and did away with the power of state compulsion in religious matters. He rejected Patrick Henry's plan to compel citizens to pay taxes that would go to a congregation of their choice.
In 1777 Madison's cousin, the Right Reverend James Madison became president of The College of William & Mary. Working closely with Madison and Jefferson, Bishop Madison helped lead the College through the changes involving separation from both Great Britain and the Church of England. This resulted in the formation of the new Episcopal Diocese of Virginia after the Revolution.
When the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia in 1787, Madison served as the architect of the Constitution. The Constitution followed Virginia's example and gave the federal government no authority over religion. The original draft of the Constitution did not contain any written guarantee of religious liberty. Madison thought it was unnecessary and unwise, arguing that any attempt to list certain rights risked leaving other rights unprotected. In addition, he said, there were so many sects and denominations competing for allegiance, it seemed improbable that any one of them could dominate the rest. In Federalist 51, Madison wrote, "society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority."
But Thomas Jefferson disagreed, and he was able to change Madison's mind on the subject. Madison helped to secure the passage of the Bill of Rights, including the guarantees of religious liberty contained in the First Amendment.
In the final paragraph of his first inaugural address, Madison followed precedent and acknowledged a Higher Power in the affairs of the nation. He said:
" But the source to which I look or the aids which alone can supply my deficiencies is in the well-tried intelligence and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the counsels of those representing them in the other departments associated in the care of the national interests. In these my confidence will under every difficulty be best placed, next to that which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future."
Madison's second inaugural address primarily addresses the war that the nation was in the midst of. It did not reference the Almighty, and, to his credit, Madison did not suggest that "God is on our side" in the war.
Because Madison kept silent on his personal beliefs, debate continues to this day about what his religious beliefs were. He was consistent in his distrust of religion in the hands of government. Madison wrote, "The religion, then, of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man: and that it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate."
Madison did clearly express a belief in God. He said, "Belief in a God All Powerful wise and good is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources." Beyond that, Madison was careful to keep the full nature of his belief private, likely in order that he would never be seen as some part of government influence into each person's right of religious freedom.
Although he was educated by Presbyterian clergymen, young Madison was an avid reader of English deist writings. As an adult Madison paid little attention to religious matters and according to historian James Hutson, "there is no trace, no clue as to his personal religious convictions." Some historians say he leaned toward deism while others maintain that Madison was a Christian.
On one aspect of religion, Madison's views were crystal clear, that being on freedom of religion. As a young man during the Revolutionary War, Madison served in the Virginia state legislature from 1776 to 1779. When the colony was under English rule, Madison had witnessed the persecution of Baptist preachers in Virginia, who were arrested for preaching without a license from the established Anglican Church. He worked with the Baptist preacher Elijah Craig on constitutional guarantees for religious liberty in Virginia. This helped him to form his ideas about religious freedom, which he applied to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Madison worked with Thomas Jefferson to draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. This statute which was finally passed in 1786. It disestablished the Church of England and did away with the power of state compulsion in religious matters. He rejected Patrick Henry's plan to compel citizens to pay taxes that would go to a congregation of their choice.
In 1777 Madison's cousin, the Right Reverend James Madison became president of The College of William & Mary. Working closely with Madison and Jefferson, Bishop Madison helped lead the College through the changes involving separation from both Great Britain and the Church of England. This resulted in the formation of the new Episcopal Diocese of Virginia after the Revolution.
When the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia in 1787, Madison served as the architect of the Constitution. The Constitution followed Virginia's example and gave the federal government no authority over religion. The original draft of the Constitution did not contain any written guarantee of religious liberty. Madison thought it was unnecessary and unwise, arguing that any attempt to list certain rights risked leaving other rights unprotected. In addition, he said, there were so many sects and denominations competing for allegiance, it seemed improbable that any one of them could dominate the rest. In Federalist 51, Madison wrote, "society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority."
But Thomas Jefferson disagreed, and he was able to change Madison's mind on the subject. Madison helped to secure the passage of the Bill of Rights, including the guarantees of religious liberty contained in the First Amendment.
In the final paragraph of his first inaugural address, Madison followed precedent and acknowledged a Higher Power in the affairs of the nation. He said:
" But the source to which I look or the aids which alone can supply my deficiencies is in the well-tried intelligence and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the counsels of those representing them in the other departments associated in the care of the national interests. In these my confidence will under every difficulty be best placed, next to that which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future."
Madison's second inaugural address primarily addresses the war that the nation was in the midst of. It did not reference the Almighty, and, to his credit, Madison did not suggest that "God is on our side" in the war.
Because Madison kept silent on his personal beliefs, debate continues to this day about what his religious beliefs were. He was consistent in his distrust of religion in the hands of government. Madison wrote, "The religion, then, of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man: and that it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate."
Madison did clearly express a belief in God. He said, "Belief in a God All Powerful wise and good is so essential to the moral order of the World and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources." Beyond that, Madison was careful to keep the full nature of his belief private, likely in order that he would never be seen as some part of government influence into each person's right of religious freedom.