On the Rise of James Madison

James Madison - few men have had a greater impact on the history of our nation, and epitomized the Civic Virtue and spirit of American Republicanism better than the Intellectual, Statesman, and Fourth President of the United States - who can rightly be proclaimed the “Father of the Constitution”. The accomplishments and the civic virtue of James Madison are so expansive, that they can often be hard to grasp in the understanding of any one lifetime, having not only served as one of our nation’s greatest Presidents - triumphing in the War of 1812, Defending the Nation, and securing Economic Stability in office - but having arguably reached the pinnacle of his lifetime accomplishments, surpassing the achievements of any man in his era - over two decades before taking office. Serving as the primary author and craftsman of both the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights; securing checks and balances, the three branches of Government, Separation of Powers, Civic Engagement, Democratic Safeguards, Separation of Church and State, and the Duties and Virtues of Responsible Government in the American Character. Yet, despite playing a pivotal role in the establishment of our Nation’s Institutions and Constitution - one which has permeated throughout the Centuries and secured American Republicanism in the face of innumerable challenges - Madison’s legacy in history, just as in his own time, is so often relegated to the shadow of his larger-than-life predecessor and close friend Thomas Jefferson, who is often attributed with much of the credit behind the sacred ideals and partnership that would come to characterize the early years of our Republic. For this reason, so often, not only are the pivotal achievements and feats of Madison’s life relative to our nation as President and author of the Constitution overlooked, but the very moments, personal experiences, and early convictions that shaped James Madison are almost entirely left to obscurity, alongside the events that characterized his rise to national prominence. Yet without these storied events, we can often fail to properly understand and truly grasp the nature, complexity, background, and character of our Fourth President: the Father of the Constitution.

   For James Madison was born on a reportedly Warm March Day in 1751 - the eldest son of Prominent Virginia Landowner and Aristocrat James Madison Sr. Madison’s father - Madison Sr. had been one of the largest landowners in all of Virginia - owning expansive Tobacco Plantations and having exerted a strong influence upon the Colonial Assembly - rivaled perhaps only by the Randolphs, the Lees’, and a few other royally associated families. The Madison’s had been one of the First Families of Virginia since the colonies’ inception, with James Madison’s fourth-great-grandfather (his grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather), Isaac Madison having been one of the first settlers of Jamestown Virginia in 1608, fleeing poverty and religious conflict in Elizabethan England, traversing and laying claim to vast swathes of the Virginia Wilderness. Notably, Madison’s grandfather Ambrose was the first Colonial Landowner on the record to be killed by his slaves - an incident that would instill a unique paranoia and distrust in Madison’s father towards his family’s slaves. Throughout his adolescence, James Madison was plagued by a debilitating series of illnesses, preventing him from engaging in many outside activities, traveling, socializing, or properly functioning - which would later in his life develop into what we today call epilepsy - hence rendering him predominantly confined to his studies, where he reportedly grew heavily interested in both History and Linguistics. Madison would also be formally and personally tutored in the Medieval fashion of many Southern Aristocrats in nearly all fields of Humanities, Mathematics, the Arts, and Sciences - becoming exceptionally well-versed in Latin and Greek. As a young man, Madison’s devotion to his studies and his search for knowledge developed a uniquely inquisitive and skeptical personality that would later characterize much of his life - especially in his relationship and skepticism shown towards the proclaimed certainty of the clergy from a young age. The highly intelligent Madison would be admitted to Princeton University in New Jersey at the age of eighteen, primarily due to the fact that in his poor health, Madison could not attend the College of William and Mary; where infectious and severe diseases were prevalent in the lowland climate of the Virginia Coast.

  It was at Princeton however that much of Madison’s rudimentary ideals were molded into the prototypical enlightenment-era doctrine that would characterize our Young Nation. At Princeton, Madison was able to fraternize with much of the Young Elites of New Jersey, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies, a fact that would serve him well later in life - developing a close yet complex and later strained friendship with Aaron Burr - the child prodigy of Princeton and son of University co-founder Aaron Burr Sr. Not only was Madison able to network at Princeton with fellow Future Founding Fathers, but he developed a unique fascination and infatuation with the ideals of the Enlightenment Philosophers, including the Social Contract, Inalienable Rights, Separation of Church and State, Civil Liberties, Consent of the Governed, and especially Montesquieu’s proposed Separation of Powers through Three-Branches of Government (which would later serve as the primary inspiration of Madison’s Constitutional Proposals). During his time at Princeton, Madison would also become noted for his Debating skills and prowess, becoming a leading member of Princeton’s debate society, alongside taking a keen interest in British Parliamentary Politics, becoming interested in the ideals of the Whig’s yet growing a distaste for the inherently Aristocratic, Undemocratic, and Corrupt nature of British Government. Following his graduation after only two years at the college, Madison - uncertain regarding his future and unsatisfied with the prospects of either a career in Law or the Clergy, decided to remain at Princeton under the personal mentorship of John Witherspoon - then President of Princeton, who had taken a strong liking to the eager Madison. Under this personal mentorship, Witherspoon had introduced Madison to the intellectual world and discourse of the growing Colonial Cause for autonomy, which Madison - who had himself grown increasingly frustrated with what he believed to be unjust and illegitimate British taxation - quickly grew to embrace on the grounds of British Policy lacking the Consent of the Governed. Witherspoon also imparted a strong sense of Civic Virtue on Madison, alongside eloquently persuading him to become an ardent defender of the ideal of Republicanism as the form of government with the direct legitimacy of the Popular Will and mandate - which although it may seen commonplace to modern day political thought, was a fairly radical belief at the time, even by Proto-Revolutionary standards. While studying directly under Witherspoon, Madison would grow to know the works of the Enlightenment almost by heart, alongside being taught classical Greco-Roman Ethics, translating Latin works into English, and learning numerous other languages including Hebrew; which would become Madison’s personal favorite not only due to its theological insights but a unique linguistic structure that the young Madison had encountered nowhere else in the Romance and Germanic languages of the day.

 Madison would conclude his additional studies at Princeton in 1772, returning to his family home in Virginia uncertain over his life’s trajectory, where he began to personally tutor his younger siblings and study legal precedent, becoming well-versed and self-taught in the realm of law. Although Madison never became a lawyer, he was noted for his immense knowledge and prowess in the field of Legal philosophy, where he would intertwine both Enlightenment ideals, Analytical Legal precedent, and unique Oratory skills to best even the most prominent Virginia lawyers in Dinner Debates. At this time, Madison’s father - who had grown increasingly involved with the movement for Colonial Autonomy for financial reasons, began to prepare his son for greater political involvement, introducing him to various fellow landowners and Colonial Assemblymen. Madison had began to become a noted local spokesman for the Colonial Cause, yet unlike many of his fellow Patriot Landowners who made a name for themselves through eloquent public editorials in favor of what was quickly emerging as the Revolutionary Cause, Madison had grown to believe that the direct support of the masses was pivotal for any potential success in a would-be revolution, and had began to organize local support from poorer Farmers for the Colonial Cause, using arguments against “Taxation Without Representation”, as lacking the consent of the governed. Madison was also noted for not only opposing Tyrannical British rule, but also the Clergy in the Colonies as an outspoken opponent of any organized Clergy - in part due to the established Anglican Church’s support for the British - but also due to a belief inherited from Witherspoon that an Organized Religious Establishment of any kind would actually impede freedom of religion through it’s domineering influence and therefore in his opinion, ought to be combated. James Madison’s first emergence on the political scene would be in 1774 - when Madison, alongside his father became member’s of the County Committee for Public Safety - the most local branch of Revolutionary government.

  For in the early stages of the American Revolution, as the Colonies’ gradually came under Revolutionary Control, in order to guarantee proper governance at the most local level - the Continental Congress sanctioned the creation of Committees for Public Safety ( also called Committees of Correspondence) at the Local Level in order to oversee local militias, manage local affairs, secure early Republican government, manage everyday affairs in extraordinary circumstances, measure popular approval, and facilitate a stable transition to Revolutionary Government. These committees would become the inspiration for Thomas Jefferson’s later political concept of Ward Republics - essentially government at the most direct, local level within wards, with the greatest knowledge of local affairs - yet in Revolutionary times would consist of unelected, lead influential members of local communities. This position on the local committee enabled Madison to fulfill his sense of duty of aiding the Revolution at the most local level, while also establishing himself in local politics and in the minds of his fellow Virginians as an effective administrator. Madison would then be commissioned by the Virginia Assembly in 1775 as a Colonel in the new Continental Army (which he helped organize on a direct, local level), and briefly served as second-in-command to his father James Sr. who himself answered to the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief George Washington - yet Madison would have to resign from the army and return to his administrative role following several Epileptic attacks, yet would shortly thereafter be elected to represent his family interests in the Virginia Assembly (aided by his reputation in the organization of local government). It was here in the Virginia Assembly where Madison would first rise to prominence - as the Assembly was tasked with writing the Virginia Constitution. It was in this task that Madison truly distinguished himself with his expansive knowledge of political philosophy and his own theories on government in true Enlightenment Tradition - and it was in this task that Madison first became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, who had just returned from the Second Continental Congress as the unofficial voice of the Revolution in having written the Declaration of Independence. The two men, although opposites in demeanor and stature - would quickly become allies in crafting the Virginia Constitution, guaranteeing Civil Liberties, the Inalienable Rights of Man, and a joint effort to ensure the separation of Church and State.

  The latter of these goals would initially be unsuccessful (yet Madison would later succeed in independently amending and securing the guarantee of Secular Government in Virginia in 1786) - yet in their joint effort, Jefferson and Madison would begin a heavily fruitful lifelong friendship and political partnership that would not only grow to define the Republic, but to aid Madison’s own political rise. James Madison would earn a fair degree of national prominence for his contribution and championing of the Virginia Constitution and would become a leading voice in the (albeit temporarily unsuccessful) movement for guaranteeing fundamental civil liberties and freedoms, alongside Separation of Church and State, and religious freedoms on the national level, within the new Articles of Confederation (America’s first and ultimately highly ineffective Constitution) in 1777. In the subsequent years, Madison would - alongside his now close friend and confidant Thomas Jefferson - come to dominate the politics of Revolutionary Virginia, serving on the Governor’s Council under both Patrick Henry and later Thomas Jefferson, before being elected to the Virginia Delegation of the Continental Congress by the State Assembly in 1779. As a member of the Continental Congress, Madison would become a leading figure in the Administration of the early American state and in securing her finances through both diplomatic alliances and deals with France, and the attempted introduction of state-economic policy (which was officially prohibited under the Articles of Confederation, greatly weakening any ability by the government to aid the populace or provide order). Within his mission for economic stability, reform, and proper financing of the revolution, Madison would quickly form a close (yet volatile) alliance with the New York Delegate and Protege of George Washington - Alexander Hamilton. The two men, although differing in many regards, found a key alliance becoming some of the earliest critics of the Articles of Confederation on the grounds of their ineffectiveness in implementing policy. Beyond becoming a respected expert on national finance alongside Hamilton, Madison would also remain a key advocate of the inalienable Rights of Man, Separation of Powers, Enlightenment Ideals, and principles that both he and Jefferson believed to be pivotal for the new Republic. Following the resolution of the Revolutionary War in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, Madison would return to the Virginia Assembly in order to secure some of the various principles of a Civil Republic within the state, while spending much of his free time attending the Intellectual Forum’s of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello - where their discourse would rapidly turn towards the subject of the ineffective Articles of Confederation and potential solutions.

  In response to the rising outcry surrounding the Articles, especially following the Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts of disgruntled Revolutionary War Veterans - in which the state governor was forced to hire ineffective private mercenaries to put down the Revolt since the Federal Government was incapable of raising a Standing Army, and legally could not enforce taxes on the states to fund the suppression of any such revolt - Madison was appointed the Virginia Delegate to the Annapolis Convention, which determined the necessity for a Constitutional Convention to assure the future of the nation and Republican government. Madison, by then a leading voice in opposition to the Articles, served as a Virginia Delegate for the Constitutional Convention of 1787, in which he would truly become immortalized as perhaps the most influential voice of the entire Convention. In preparation for the convention, Madison had conducted extensive research on the Ancient Republics’ of Greece and Rome, alongside their shortcomings and potential remedies. Moreover; Madison had, alongside fellow Virginia colleagues prepared by drafting his own proposed system of government on the advice of Thomas Jefferson, incorporating decades of study and political theory into the Virginia plan - incorporating the Separation of Powers, Inalienable rights of man, Congressional/Federal Supremacy over the States, a stronger, more effective government, and the principles of Classical Republicanism. James Madison’s Virginia Plan as a matter of fact was so successful that it would serve as the basis for the entire deliberative process of the Constitutional Convention and as the foundation of what would later become the Constitution as we know it, with Madison serving as the primary author thereof. It was here, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in that historically hot summer in 1787 that James Madison would be immortalized in the annals of history and in the Pantheon of Republicanism as the ‘Father of the Constitution’, having arguably had a greater impact upon the nature of our Republic, the enshrining of Civic Virtue in institutions, and providing an adequate system of government to be paired with the values of an Enlightenment-Republic than any other man in American history. The Constitution would go on to be Ratified in the following years, with Madison serving as one of it’s leading proponents - having been invited by fellow Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to write the Federalist Papers, a series of highly intellectual and thorough essays in favor of ratification of the Constitution, demonstrating the many Republican bona fides and benefits of the new system and earning the document widespread popular support.

   In the aftermath of ratification, James Madison was elected to the First United States Congress as a Representative from Virginia, running a famously chivalrous and good-spirited campaign against his close friend and fellow future President James Monroe, with the two running on Enlightenment Values, with Madison and Monroe supporting and opposing the new Constitution respectively (Monroe was one of many Patriots who opposed the document not on grounds against Republicanism, but due to a belief that a Bill of Rights would be necessary to secure the Civil Liberties of the Populace - and shortly thereafter he would support the new document, despite opposing the Electoral College). Following his election to the First Congress, Madison was tasked with authoring the Bill of Rights, in order to appease many of the early Anti-Federalists who had only conditionally supported ratification, provided a new Bill of Rights would be produced to guarantee individual liberty and prevent government overreach. Madison, for his part - had been a vehement supporter of the Constitution in its earliest form - yet was also on account of his firm enlightenment values and principles, equally dedicated to a Bill of Rights. Madison had crafted the Bill of Rights to not only fundamentally incorporate Civil liberties, Due Process, Freedom of Speech, Separation of Church and State, and reinforced Checks and Balances - but also to ensure that rights left out of the Bill would within reason still be valid, and acts not addressed by the Federal Government fell to the States and the General Populace. It was here where James Madison once again reaffirmed the national character as one of liberty and the inalienable rights of man at the highest level, and it was here where Madison was reaffirmed as a leading figure in the political dynamic of the new nation, and he would serve as a key advisor to then-President George Washington on Constitutional matters. As Washington’s administration, however, grew to be increasingly dominated by Treasury Secretary Hamilton, Madison - initially a reputed Federalist (on account of the fact that he was the primary author of the Constitution), began to grow estranged from his old partner, opposing many of his proposed Economic plans and the Centralization of Power which he believed to be highly risky, especially given the new and uncertain nature of the Republic and fears of Tyranny - rather aligning with his close friend and proponent of limited government, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

 The two men would organize the opposition to Hamilton’s agenda, championing the belief in “man’s right to govern himself”, in what would rapidly coalesce into the Democratic-Republican Party, centered around an opposition to the Bank, a devotion to the principles of Republicanism and the Popular Mandate, a Limited Federal Government, an Agrarian Gentleman’s Republic, and an alignment with France in foreign affairs. Madison would organize the new Democratic-Republican party in Congress and played a pivotal role as de facto leader of the new party alongside Jefferson, actively campaigning for his friend in the 1796 Presidential Election against the Incumbent Vice President John Adams, in what was ultimately a highly close, divisive election in which Adams narrowly prevailed and the two-party system was embedded in American politics - against the wishes of Washington. During the Adams presidency, Madison would remain a leading opponent of the Federalists, now epitomized by Adams, and had taken a delicate balance regarding the highly controversial Alien and Sedition Acts (Adams’ greatest blunder) - believing them to be unconstitutional, yet having discouraged Jefferson and fellow members of the opposition away from endorsing the highly dangerous Nullifier Doctrine (the belief that a state could refuse to enact Federal law if they believed it to be Unconstitutional, a doctrine that fundamentally destroys the principle of One-Nation, and a job in my opinion best left to Constitutional Experts and a Fair, Responsible Judiciary rather than a Tyranny of the States). James Madison would then play an archetypal role in the landmark victory of the Democratic-Republicans in 1800, yet due to a tie in the electoral college between Thomas Jefferson and fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr, the election was sent to the House of Representatives (the tie dilemma would be resolved through the 12th Amendment which officially established Party-Tickets in Presidential Elections, with the distinction between President and Vice President in the Electoral Vote). In the house, the election was deadlocked between Jefferson and Burr, with either candidate forced to rely upon the support of the Federalists, now headed once again by Hamilton, to emerge as the victor. Madison, fiercely loyal to Jefferson - would actively work to help persuade Hamilton to throw his support behind Jefferson - in part by inciting a longstanding feud between the twin families of the Hamilton’s and the Burr’s. For it was this unique moment, in which Hamilton was convinced to throw his support behind his most vehement political rival to grant him the Presidency, and when he reignited an old feud that would eventually cost him his life - that both Jefferson and Madison would be immortalized in their victory for the fate of the nation.

 Madison would then be appointed as Jefferson’s Secretary of State - a position he would serve faithfully under Jefferson for two terms, before himself becoming President and ushering in the Era of Good Feelings across the nation (alongside ironically adopting various moderated Hamiltonian proposals). It was then, in 1800, when Madison’s intellectual battle for the Republic against tyranny and both domestic and external foes had culminated, a battle fought more by the pen and spoken word than by any artifact of war. Like all battles, they were often paled in comparison with their aftermath - with Madison having described Jefferson’s triumphant inauguration in 1801 as the happiest day of his life - in which both men were solidified in the annals of history as champions of Republicanism and titans of the Enlightenment - imparting their vision of a Republic upon the nation and changing the course of human history altogether, with an impact echoing into the present day. Madison would die in 1836, having spent the last decade of his life in isolation at his Family Estate, nearly half a century after he delivered us our Constitution, which to this day has prevailed as the defining document of modern Republicanism - one derived from the principles of the Enlightenment and Civic Virtue, and toned through the wisdom of the Ages. For Madison’s life was one characterized by rigorous action, intellectual enrichment, and duty to ones’ republic - yet in order to properly understand any of these deeds - we must not forget the personal experiences, the search for wisdom, and the convictions of justice that shaped our Fourth President - and our One Nation.