Sophia Wiest

Ms. Yanelli

History 11

5/5/17

James Madison

James Madison was born to the parents of James Madison Sr. and Nellie Conway

Madison. James Madison was born in Virginia on March 16th 1751. James Madison was raised

on a family plantation in Orange County, Virginia and was the oldest of twelve children.

Madison attended the College of New Jersey at the age of eighteen. After Madison graduated his

interest was the American colonies and the Britain colonies. In 1775, when the Revolutionary

War was about to start, Madison was named colonel of Orange County.

James Madison ran against Charles C. Pinckney for the election of 1808. Madison

stepped in, because Thomas Jefferson refused to run for a third term. George Clinton was

Madisons running mate. Madison ended up receiving one hundred twenty-two electoral votes,

and had 124,732 for the popular vote, and Madison won 64.7% of the states. Compared to

Pinckney, Madison was the clear winner, it was not close.

While Madison was colonel he met his friend Thomas Jefferson. James Madison was

Thomas Jeffersons secretary of state. As a politician Madison fought for religious freedom and

the induvial rights at birth. Madison left the 1783 and became a delegate in Virginia. After

Jeffersons presidency, on March 4th 1809 James Madison became the 4th President of the

United States. Madison wanted to create a new constitution, and in 1776 the Articles of
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Confederation were created as the first constitution of the United States. The Articles of

Confederation were ratified in 1781, this is what gave individual states power to act more as a

union than individual states. This left Congress weak, could not mange federal debt, and could

not maintain an army.

After the Articles of Confederation failed, Madison came to a conclusion. Madison said

that America needs a strong government to help regulate state legislatures for a better system to

make money. Madison said the government should be set up by a system that contains checks

and balances, so that all the branches of government were equal with equal power. Madison

suggested that all governors and judges have higher power roles in the government in order to

help manage and maintain the state legislature. In 1787, Madison presented his Virginia Plan

which said that a government had three branches of government, which are the legislative,

executive, and judicial. This plan is what created the basics of the U.S. Constitution and gave the

government its power. This created two groups those who were for the Constitution were the

Federalists and those who were not were the anti-federalists.

Madison played a strong role in the ratification of the Constitution. Madison wrote essays

outlining his support in the Constitution. The document was ratified by the states in 1788 and the

new government took its form. Madison elected to be a part of the newly formed United States

House of Representatives. Madison served nine years there, where he worked on the rough draft

of the Bill of Right. The Bill of Rights was created for the Anti-federalists, it was the ten

amendments to the Constitution such as freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The Bill of

Rights were ratified by the states in 1791.

In the newly formed more powerful government, Madison and Jefferson found

themselves disagreeing with the Federalists. The Democratic - Republican Party was founded in
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1792 by Jefferson and Madison. This was known as Americas first political party. Madison also

had new development in his personal life. Madison married Dolley Payne Todd in 1794,

Madison was 43 years old while Dolley was 26 years old. When the couple was married they

were almost always together.

In 1812, Madison issued a war proclamation against Britain. America was unprepared for

war. Congress did not fund or prepare an army for war, this put major setbacks on America.

These setbacks did not stop American forces, they fought off British forces. The U.S. was

defeated on land and on sea, and there improved ships proved to be formidable foes.

Madison ran for re-election against candidate DeWitt Clinton, who was supported by the

anti-war faction. The Democratic-Republican Party won again. Madison was criticized and

blamed for starting the war. Because the start of war this caused trade to stop between Europe

and U.S. This hurt impacted American merchants, and hurt them once again. Madison was forced

to leave Washington D.C. in 1814, and British forces invaded and burned buildings down,

including the White House.

In the end the U.S. and Britain agreed to end war, they signed the treaty of Ghent which

was signed in 1814 in Europe. Before the peace agreement reached America, the Battle of New

Orleans broke out. Madison was originally blamed for his errors in the war, and was

congratulated for his victories.

After Madisons two terms in office, he left Washington D.C. in 1817 to return to his

wife. He encountered a lot of difficulties in his presidency, he was respected as a great thinker,

communicator and statesman. He became the rector of the University of Virginia in 1826.

Madison died on June 28, 1836, in Montpelier at the age of 85.

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Work Cited

History.com Staff. "James Madison." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 05

May 2017.

James Madison / James Madison - Key Events." James Madison - Key Events | Miller Center.

N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2017.

"United States Presidential Election, 1808." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 May 2017.

Web. 05 May 2017.