James Madison

James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751[b] – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman,
diplomat, expansionist, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the fourth
president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the
Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United
States and the United States Bill of Rights. He co-wrote The Federalist Papers, co-founded
the Democratic-Republican Party, and served as the fifth United States Secretary of State
from 1801 to 1809.
James Madison
4th President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817
Vice President George Clinton (1809–12)
None (1812–1813)[a]
Elbridge Gerry (1813–14)
None (1814–1817)
[a]
Preceded by Thomas Jefferson
Succeeded by James Monroe
5th United States Secretary of State

In office
May 2, 1801 – March 3, 1809
President Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by John Marshall
Succeeded by Robert Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Virginia's 15th district
In office
March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1797
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by John Dawson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Virginia's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1789 – March 4, 1793
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by George Hancock
Delegate to the
Congress of the Confederation
from Virginia
In office
November 6, 1786 – October 30, 1787
Preceded by Seat established
Succeeded by Cyrus Griffin
In office
March 1, 1781 – November 1, 1783
Preceded by Seat established
Succeeded by Thomas Jefferson
Personal details
Born March 16, 1751

Port Conway, Virginia Colony, British America
Died June 28, 1836 (aged 85)

Montpelier, Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death Congestive heart failure
Resting place Montpelier, Virginia, U.S.

38°13′07.5″N 78°10′06.0″W
Political party Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s) Dolley Todd (m. 1794)
Parents James Madison Sr.
Nelly Madison
Education Princeton
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Virginia
Branch/service Virginia Militia
Years of service 1775
Rank Colonel
Born into a prominent Virginia planter family, Madison served as a member of the Virginia
House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American
Revolutionary War. He became dissatisfied with the weak national government established
by the Articles of Confederation and helped organize the Constitutional Convention, which
produced a new constitution to supplant the Articles of Confederation. Madison's Virginia
Plan served as the basis for the Constitutional Convention's deliberations, and he was one
of the most influential individuals at the convention. Madison became one of the leaders in
the movement to ratify the Constitution, and he joined with Alexander Hamilton and John
Jay in writing The Federalist Papers, a series of pro-ratification essays that was one of the
most influential works of political science in American history.
After the ratification of the Constitution, Madison emerged as an important leader in the
United States House of Representatives and served as a close adviser to President George
Washington. He was the main force behind the ratification of the United States Bill of
Rights, which enshrines guarantees of personal freedoms and rights within the Constitution.
During the early 1790s, Madison opposed the economic program and the accompanying
centralization of power favored by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Along with
Thomas Jefferson, Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party, which was,
alongside Hamilton's Federalist Party, one of the nation's first major political parties. After
Jefferson won the 1800 presidential election, Madison served as Secretary of State from
1801 to 1809. In that position, he supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the
size of the United States.
Madison succeeded Jefferson with a victory in the 1808 presidential election. After
diplomatic protests and a trade embargo failed to end British seizures of American shipping,
he led the United States into the War of 1812. The war was an administrative morass and
ended inconclusively, but many Americans saw it as a successful "second war of
independence" against Britain. The war convinced Madison of the necessity of a stronger
federal government. He presided over the creation of the Second Bank of the United States
and the enactment of the protective Tariff of 1816. By treaty or war, Madison's presidency
added 23 million acres of American Indian land to the United States. He retired from public
office in 1817 and died in 1836. Madison never privately reconciled his Republican beliefs
with his slave ownership. Madison is considered one of the most important Founding
Fathers of the United States, and historians have generally ranked him as an above-average
president.
Early life and education
James Madison Jr. was born on March 16, 1751, (March 5, 1750, Old Style) at Belle Grove
Plantation near Port Conway in the Colony of Virginia, to James Madison Sr. and Nelly
Conway Madison. His family had lived in Virginia since the mid-1600s.[1] Madison grew up
as the oldest of twelve children,[2] with seven brothers and four sisters, though only six lived
to adulthood.[3] His father was a tobacco planter who grew up on a plantation, then called
Mount Pleasant, which he had inherited upon reaching adulthood. With an estimated 100
slaves[1] and a 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) plantation, Madison's father was the largest
landowner and a leading citizen in the Piedmont. Madison's maternal grandfather was a
prominent planter and tobacco merchant.[4] In the early 1760s, the Madison family moved
into a newly built house that they named Montpelier.[3]
Tap to display image.
Madison at Princeton, portrait by

James Sharples
From age 11 to 16, Madison studied under Donald Robertson, a Scottish instructor who
served as a tutor for several prominent planter families in the South. Madison learned
mathematics, geography, and modern and classical languages—he became exceptionally
proficient in Latin.[5][6] At age 16, Madison returned to Montpelier, where he studied under
the Reverend Thomas Martin to prepare for college. Unlike most college-bound Virginians
of his day, Madison did not attend the College of William and Mary, where the lowland
Williamsburg climate – thought to be more likely to harbor infectious disease – might have
strained his delicate health. Instead, in 1769, he enrolled as an undergraduate at Princeton
(then formally named the College of New Jersey).[7]
His studies at Princeton included Latin, Greek, theology, and the works of the
Enlightenment.[8] Great emphasis was placed on both speech and debate; Madison was a
leading member of the American Whig Society, which competed on campus with a political
counterpart, the Cliosophic Society.[9] During his time in Princeton, his closest friend was
future Attorney General William Bradford.[10] Along with another classmate, Madison
undertook an intense program of study and completed the college's three-year Bachelor of
Arts degree in just two years, graduating in 1771.[11] Madison had contemplated either
entering the clergy or practicing law after graduation, but instead remained at Princeton to
study Hebrew and political philosophy under the college's president, John Witherspoon.[1]
He returned home to Montpelier in early 1772.[12]
Madison's ideas on philosophy and morality were strongly shaped by Witherspoon, who
converted him to the philosophy, values, and modes of thinking of the Age of
Enlightenment. Biographer Terence Ball wrote that at Princeton, Madison
was immersed in the liberalism of the Enlightenment, and converted to

eighteenth-century political radicalism. From then on James Madison's
theories would advance the rights of happiness of man, and his most
active efforts would serve devotedly the cause of civil and political
liberty.[13]
After returning to Montpelier, without a chosen career, Madison served as a tutor to his
younger siblings.[14] Madison began to study law books on his own in 1773. Madison asked
Princeton friend William Bradford, a law apprentice under Edward Shippen in Philadelphia,
to send him an ordered written plan on reading law books. At the age of 22, there was no
evidence that Madison, himself, made any effort to apprentice under any lawyer in Virginia.
By 1783, he had acquired a good sense of legal publications. Madison saw himself as a law
student but never as a lawyer – he never joined the bar or practiced. In his elder years,
Madison was sensitive to the phrase "demi-Lawyer", or "half-Lawyer", a derisive term used
to describe someone who read law books, but did not practice law.[15] Following the
Revolutionary War, Madison spent time at his home Montpelier in Virginia studying ancient
democracies of the world in preparation for the Constitutional Convention.[16]
American Revolution
In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which taxed the American colonists to
defray the increasing costs imperial administration in British America. The colonists'
opposition to the tax marked the start of a conflict that would culminate in the American
Revolution. The disagreement centered on Parliament's right to levy taxes on the colonists,
who were not directly represented in that body. However, events deteriorated until the
outbreak of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–83, in which the colonists split into two
factions: Loyalists, who continued to adhere to King George III, and the Patriots, whom
Madison joined, under the leadership of the Continental Congress. Madison believed that
Parliament had overstepped its bounds by attempting to tax the American colonies, and he
sympathized with those who resisted British rule.[17] He also favored disestablishing the
Anglican Church in Virginia; Madison believed that an established religion was detrimental
not only to freedom of religion, but also because it encouraged closed-mindedness and
unquestioning obedience to the authority of the state.[18]
Congressional delegate
Madison, age 32 by Charles
Willson Peale
In 1774, Madison, took a seat on the local Committee of Safety, a pro-revolution group that
oversaw the local Patriot militia.[19] In October 1775, he was commissioned as the colonel of
the Orange County militia, serving as his father's second-in-command until his election as a
delegate to the Fifth Virginia Convention, which was charged with producing Virginia's first
constitution.[20] Of short stature and frequently in poor health, Madison never saw battle in
the Revolutionary War, but he rose to prominence in Virginia politics as a wartime leader.[21]
At the Virginia constitutional convention, he convinced delegates to alter the Virginia

Declaration of Rights to provide for "equal entitlement," rather than mere "tolerance," in the
exercise of religion.[22] With the enactment of the Virginia constitution, Madison became
part of the Virginia House of Delegates, and he was subsequently elected to the Virginia
governor's Council of State.[23] In that role, he became a close ally of Governor Thomas
Jefferson.[24] On July 4, 1776, the United States Declaration of Independence was
published formally declaring 13 American states an independent nation, no longer under the
Crown or British rule.
Madison served on the Council of State from 1777 to 1779, when he was elected to the
Second Continental Congress, the governing body of the United States.[c] The country
faced a difficult war against Great Britain, as well as runaway inflation, financial troubles,
and lack of cooperation between the different levels of government. Madison worked to
become an expert on financial issues, becoming a legislative workhorse and a master of
parliamentary coalition building.[19] Frustrated by the failure of the states to supply needed
requisitions, Madison proposed to amend the Articles of Confederation to grant Congress
the power to independently raise revenue through tariffs on imports.[26]
Though General George Washington, Congressman Alexander Hamilton, and other

influential leaders also favored the amendment, it was defeated because it failed to win the
ratification of all thirteen states.[27] While a member of Congress, Madison was an ardent
supporter of a close alliance between the United States and France, and, as an advocate of
westward expansion, he insisted that the new nation had to assure its right to navigation on
the Mississippi River and control of all lands east of it in the Treaty of Paris that ended the
Revolutionary War.[28] After serving Congress from 1780 to 1783, Madison won election to
the Virginia House of Delegates in 1784.[29]
Father of the Constitution
Calling a convention
As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Madison continued to advocate for

religious freedom, and, along with Jefferson, drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious
Freedom. That amendment, which guaranteed freedom of religion and disestablished the
Church of England, was passed in 1786.[30] Madison also became a land speculator,
purchasing land along the Mohawk River in a partnership with another Jefferson protege,
James Monroe.[31]
Throughout the 1780s, Madison advocated for reform of the Articles of Confederation. He
became increasingly worried about the disunity of the states and the weakness of the
central government after the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.[32] He believed that
"excessive democracy" caused social decay, and was particularly troubled by laws that
legalized paper money and denied diplomatic immunity to ambassadors from other
countries.[33] He was also profoundly concerned about the inability of Congress to capably
conduct foreign policy, protect American trade, and foster the settlement of the lands
between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.[34] As 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."[35] He committed to an intense study of law and political theory, and was heavily
influenced by Enlightenment texts sent by Jefferson from France.[36] He especially sought
out works on international law and the constitutions of "ancient and modern confederacies"
such as the Dutch Republic, the Swiss Confederation, and the Achaean League.[37] He
came to believe that the United States could improve upon past republican experiments by
virtue of its size; with so many distinct interests competing against each other, Madison
hoped to minimize the abuses of majority rule.[38] Additionally, navigation rights to the
Mississippi River highly concerned Madison. He disdained a proposal by John Jay that the
United States acquiesce claims to the river for twenty-five years, and his desire to fight the
proposal played a major role in motivating Madison to return to Congress in 1787.[39]
Madison helped arrange the 1785 Mount Vernon Conference, which settled disputes
regarding navigation rights on the Potomac River and also served as a model for future
interstate conferences.[40] At the 1786 Annapolis Convention, he joined with Alexander
Hamilton and other delegates in calling of another convention to consider amending the
Articles.[41] After winning election to another term in Congress, Madison helped convince
the other Congressmen to authorize the Philadelphia Convention to propose
amendments.[42] Though many members of Congress were wary of the changes the
convention might bring, nearly all agreed that the existing government needed some sort of
reform.[43] Madison ensured that George Washington, who was popular throughout the
country, and Robert Morris, who was influential in the critical state of Pennsylvania, would
both broadly support Madison's plan to implement a new constitution.[44] The outbreak of
Shays' Rebellion in 1786 reinforced the necessity for constitutional reform in the eyes of
Washington and other American leaders.[45][46]
Philadelphia Convention
Page one of the original copy

of the U.S. Constitution
Gouverneur Morris signs the

Constitution before George
Washington. Madison sits next to
Robert Morris, in front of Benjamin
Franklin. Painting by Hintermeister,
1925.[47]
Before a quorum was reached at the Philadelphia Convention on May 25, 1787,[48] Madison
worked with other members of the Virginia delegation, especially Edmund Randolph and
George Mason, to create and present the Virginia Plan.[49] The Virginia Plan was an outline
for a new federal constitution; it called for three branches of government (legislative,
executive, and judicial), a bicameral Congress (consisting of the United States Senate and
the United States House of Representatives) apportioned by population, and a federal
Council of Revision that would have the right to veto laws passed by Congress. Reflecting
the centralization of power envisioned by Madison, the Virginia Plan granted the U.S. Senate
the power to overturn any law passed by state governments.[50] The Virginia Plan did not
explicitly lay out the structure of the executive branch, but Madison himself favored a single
executive.[51] Many delegates were surprised to learn that the plan called for the abrogation
of the Articles and the creation of a new constitution, to be ratified by special conventions in
each state rather than by the state legislatures. Nonetheless, with the assent of prominent
attendees such as Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the delegates went into a secret
session to consider a new constitution.[52]
Though the Virginia Plan was an outline rather than a draft of a possible constitution, and
though it was extensively changed during the debate, its use at the convention has led
many to call Madison the "Father of the Constitution."[53] Madison spoke over two hundred
times during the convention, and his fellow delegates held him in high esteem. Delegate
William Pierce wrote that "in the management of every great question he evidently took the
lead in the Convention ... he always comes forward as the best informed man of any point in
debate."[54] Madison believed that the constitution produced by the convention "would
decide for ever the fate of republican government" throughout the world, and he kept
copious notes to serve as an historical record of the convention.[55]
In Crafting the Virginia Plan, Madison looked to develop a system of government that
adequately prevented the rise of factions believing that a Constitutional Republic would be
most fitting to do so. Madison's definition of faction was similar to that of the Scottish
Enlightenment Philosopher David Hume. Madison borrowed from Hume's definition of a
faction when describing the dangers they pose on the American Republic.[56] In Federalist
10 Madison described a faction as a "number of citizens... who are united by a common
impulse of passion or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or permanent and
aggregate interest of the community" [57] Madison drew further influence from the Scottish
Economist Adam Smith who believed that every civilize society developed into economic
factions based on the different interest of individuals.[58] Madison, throughout his writing,
alluded to the Wealth of Nations on multiple occasions as he advocated for a free system of
commerce among the states that he believed would be beneficial to society.[59]
Madison had hoped that a coalition of Southern states and populous Northern states would
ensure the approval of a constitution largely similar to the one proposed in the Virginia Plan.
However, delegates from small states successfully argued for more power for state
governments and presented the New Jersey Plan as an alternative. In response, Roger
Sherman proposed the Connecticut Compromise, which sought to balance the interests of
small and large states. During the convention, Madison's Council of Revision was jettisoned,
each state was given equal representation in the Senate, and the state legislatures, rather
than the House of Representatives, were given the power to elect members of the Senate.
Madison convinced his fellow delegates to have the Constitution ratified by ratifying
conventions rather than state legislatures, which he distrusted. He also helped ensure that
the president of the United States would have the ability to veto federal laws and would be
elected independently of Congress through the Electoral College. By the end of the
convention, Madison believed that the new constitution failed to give enough power to the
federal government compared to the state governments, but he still viewed the document
as an improvement on the Articles of Confederation.[60]
The ultimate question before the convention, Wood notes, was not how to design a
government but whether the states should remain sovereign, whether sovereignty should
be transferred to the national government, or whether the constitution should settle
somewhere in between.[61] Most of the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention wanted to
empower the federal government to raise revenue and protect property rights.[62] Those
who, like Madison, thought democracy in the state legislatures was excessive and
insufficiently "disinterested", wanted sovereignty transferred to the national government,
while those who did not think this a problem wanted to retain the model of the Articles of
Confederation. Even many delegates who shared Madison's goal of strengthening the
central government reacted strongly against the extreme change to the status quo
envisioned in the Virginia Plan. Though Madison lost most of his battles over how to amend
the Virginia Plan, in the process he increasingly shifted the debate away from a position of
pure state sovereignty. Since most disagreements over what to include in the constitution
were ultimately disputes over the balance of sovereignty between the states and national
government, Madison's influence was critical. Wood notes that Madison's ultimate
contribution was not in designing any particular constitutional framework, but in shifting the
debate toward a compromise of "shared sovereignty" between the national and state
governments.[61][63]
The Federalist Papers and ratification debates
After the Philadelphia Convention ended in September 1787, Madison convinced his fellow
Congressmen to remain neutral in the ratification debate and allow each state to vote upon
the Constitution.[64] Throughout the United States, opponents of the Constitution, known
as Anti-Federalists, began a public campaign against ratification. In response, Alexander
Hamilton and John Jay began publishing a series of pro-ratification newspaper articles in
New York.[65] After Jay dropped out from the project, Hamilton approached Madison, who
was in New York on congressional business, to write some of the essays.[66] Altogether,
Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote the 85 essays of what became known as The Federalist
Papers in the span of six months, with Madison writing 29 of the essays. The Federalist
Papers successfully defended the new Constitution and argued for its ratification to the
people of New York. The articles were also published in book form and became a virtual
debater's handbook for the supporters of the Constitution in the ratifying conventions.
Historian Clinton Rossiter called The Federalist Papers "the most important work in political
science that ever has been written, or is likely ever to be written, in the United States."[67]
Federalist No. 10, Madison's first contribution to The Federalist Papers, became highly
regarded in the 20th century for its advocacy of representative democracy.[68] In Federalist
10, Madison describes the dangers posed by factions, and argues that their negative effects
can be limited through the formation of a large republic. Madison states that in large
republics the significant sum of factions that emerge will successfully dull the effects of
others.[69] Madison argues that In Federalist No. 51, Madison explained how the separation
of powers between three branches of the federal government, as well as between state
governments and the federal government, established a system of checks and balances
that ensured that no one institution would become too powerful.[70]
While Madison and Hamilton continued to write The Federalist Papers, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, and several smaller states voted to ratify the Constitution.[71] After finishing
his last contributions to The Federalist Papers, Madison returned to Virginia.[72] Initially,
Madison did not want to stand for election to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, but he was
persuaded to do so by the strength of the Anti-Federalists.[73] Virginians were divided into
three main camps: Washington and Madison led the faction in favor of ratification of the
Constitution, Edmund Randolph and George Mason headed a faction that wanted
ratification but also sought amendments to the Constitution, and Patrick Henry was the
most prominent member of the faction opposed to the ratification of the Constitution.[74]
When the Virginia Ratifying Convention began on June 2, 1788, the Constitution had been
ratified by the eight of the required nine states. New York, the second largest state and a
bastion of anti-federalism, would likely not ratify it without Virginia, and Virginia's exclusion
from the new government would disqualify George Washington from being the first
president.[73]
At the start of the convention, Madison knew that most delegates had already made up
their mind about how to vote, and he focused his efforts on winning the support of the
relatively small number of undecided delegates.[75] His long correspondence with Edmund
Randolph paid off at the convention as Randolph announced that he would support
unconditional ratification of the Constitution, with amendments to be proposed after
ratification.[76] Though Henry gave several persuasive speeches arguing against ratification,
Madison's expertise on the subject he had long argued for allowed him to respond with
rational arguments to Henry's emotional appeals.[77] In his final speech to the ratifying
convention, Madison implored his fellow delegates to ratify the Constitution as it had been
written, arguing that the failure to do so would lead to the collapse of the entire ratification
effort as each state would seek favorable amendments.[78] On June 25, 1788, the
convention voted 89–79 to ratify the Constitution, making it the tenth state to do so.[79]
New York ratified the constitution the following month, and Washington won the country's
first presidential election.
Congressman and party leader (1789–1801)
Election to Congress
After Virginia ratified the constitution, Madison returned to New York to resume his duties in
the Congress of the Confederation. At the request of Washington, Madison sought a seat in
the U.S. Senate, but the state legislature instead elected two Anti-Federalist allies of Patrick
Henry.[80] Now deeply concerned both for his own political career and over the possibility
that Henry and his allies would arrange for a second constitutional convention, Madison ran
for the U.S. House of Representatives.[81] At Henry's behest, the Virginia legislature created
congressional districts designed to deny Madison a seat, and Henry recruited a strong
challenger to Madison in the person of James Monroe. Locked in a difficult race against
Monroe, Madison promised to support a series of constitutional amendments to protect
individual liberties.[80] In an open letter, Madison wrote that, while he had opposed requiring
alterations to the Constitution prior to ratification, he now believed that "amendments, if
pursued with a proper moderation and in a proper mode ... may serve the double purpose of
satisfying the minds of well-meaning opponents, and of providing additional guards in favor
of liberty."[82] Madison's promise paid off, as in Virginia's 5th district election, he gained a
seat in Congress with 57 percent of the vote.[83]
Madison became a key adviser to President Washington, who looked to Madison as the
person who best understood the constitution.[80] Madison helped Washington write his first
inaugural address, and also prepared the official House response to Washington's speech.
He played a significant role in establishing and staffing the three Cabinet departments, and
his influence helped Thomas Jefferson become the inaugural Secretary of State.[84] At the
start of the 1st Congress, he introduced a tariff bill similar to the one he had advocated for
under the Articles of the Confederation,[85] and Congress established a federal tariff on
imports through the Tariff of 1789.[86] The following year, Secretary of the Treasury
Alexander Hamilton introduced an ambitious economic program that called for the federal
assumption of state debts and the funding of that debt through the issuance of federal
securities. Hamilton's plan favored Northern speculators and was disadvantageous to states
such as Virginia that had already paid off most of their debt, and Madison emerged as one
of the principal congressional opponents of the plan.[87] After prolonged legislative
deadlock, Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton agreed to the Compromise of 1790, which
provided for the enactment of Hamilton's assumption plan through the Funding Act of 1790.
In return, Congress passed the Residence Act, which established the federal capital district
of Washington, D.C. on the Potomac River.[88]
Bill of Rights
During the 1st Congress, Madison took the lead in pressing for the passage of several
constitutional amendments that would form the United States Bill of Rights.[89] His primary
goals were to fulfill his 1789 campaign pledge and to prevent the calling of a second
constitutional convention, but he also hoped to protect individual liberties against the
actions of the federal government and state legislatures. He believed that the enumeration
of specific rights would fix those rights in the public mind and encourage judges to protect
them.[90] After studying over two hundred amendments that had been proposed at the
state ratifying conventions,[91] Madison introduced the Bill of Rights on June 8, 1789. His
amendments contained numerous restrictions on the federal government and would
protect, among other things, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to
peaceful assembly.[92] While most of his proposed amendments were drawn from the
ratifying conventions, Madison was largely responsible for proposals to guarantee freedom
of the press, protect property from government seizure, and ensure jury trials.[91] He also
proposed an amendment to prevent states from abridging "equal rights of conscience, or
freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases."[93]
Madison's Bill of Rights faced little opposition; he had largely co-opted the Anti-Federalist
goal of amending the Constitution, but had avoided proposing amendments that would
alienate supporters of the Constitution.[94] Madison's proposed amendments were largely
adopted by the House of Representatives, but the Senate made several changes.[95]
Madison's proposal to apply parts of the Bill of Rights to the states was eliminated, as was
his final proposed change to the Constitution's preamble.[96] Madison was disappointed
that the Bill of Rights did not include protections against actions by state governments,[d]
but passage of the document mollified some critics of the original constitution and shored
up Madison's support in Virginia.[91] Of the twelve amendments formally proposed by
Congress to the states, ten amendments were ratified as additions to the Constitution on
December 15, 1791, becoming known as the Bill of Rights.[97][e]
Founding the Democratic-Republican Party
Thomas Jefferson founded the

Democratic-Republican Party with
Madison.
After 1790, the Washington administration became polarized among two main factions. One
faction, led by Jefferson and Madison, broadly represented Southern interests and sought
close relations with France. The other faction, led by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton, broadly represented Northern financial interests and favored close relations with
Britain.[99] In 1791, Hamilton introduced a plan that called for the establishment of a national
bank to provide loans to emerging industries and oversee the money supply.[100] Madison
and the Democratic-Republican Party fought back against Hamilton's attempt to expand the
power of the Federal Government at the expense of the State's by opposing the formation
of a national bank. Madison used his influence in the Democratic-Republican Party and
argued that empowering financial interest served as a dangerous threat to the republican
virtues of the newly established United States. Madison argued that under The Constitution,
congress did not have the power to create such an institution.[101] Despite Madison's
opposition, Congress passed a bill to create the First Bank of the United States; after a
period of consideration, Washington signed the banking bill into law in February 1791.[100]
As Hamilton implemented his economic program and Washington continued to enjoy
immense prestige as president, Madison became increasingly concerned that Hamilton
would seek to abolish the federal republic in favor of a centralized monarchy.[102]
When Hamilton submitted his Report on Manufactures, which called for federal action to
stimulate the development of a diversified economy, Madison once again challenged
Hamilton's proposal on constitutional grounds. He sought to mobilize public opinion by
forming a political party based on opposition to Hamilton's policies.[103] Along with
Jefferson, Madison helped Philip Freneau establish the National Gazette, a Philadelphia
newspaper that attacked Hamilton's proposals.[104] In an essay published in the National
Gazette in September 1792, Madison wrote that the country had divided into two factions:
his own faction, which believed in "the doctrine that mankind are capable of governing
themselves," and Hamilton's faction, which allegedly sought the establishment of
aristocratic monarchy and was biased towards the wealthy.[105] Those opposed to
Hamilton's economic policies, including many former Anti-Federalists, coalesced into
Democratic-Republican Party,[f] while those who supported the administration's policies
coalesced into the Federalist Party.[106] In the 1792 United States presidential election, both
major parties supported Washington's successful bid for re-election, but the Democratic-
Republicans sought to unseat Vice President John Adams. Because the Constitution's rules
essentially precluded Jefferson from challenging Adams,[g] the party backed New York
Governor George Clinton for the vice presidency, but Adams won re-election by a
comfortable electoral vote margin.[108]
With Jefferson out of office after 1793, Madison became the de facto leader of the
Democratic-Republican Party.[109] When Britain and France went to war in 1793, the U.S.
was caught in the middle.[110] While the differences between the Democratic-Republicans
and the Federalists had previously centered on economic matters, foreign policy became an
increasingly important issue as Madison and Jefferson favored France and Hamilton favored
Britain.[111] War with Britain became imminent in 1794 after the British seized hundreds of
American ships that were trading with French colonies. Madison believed that a trade war
with Britain would probably succeed, and would allow Americans to assert their
independence fully. The British West Indies, Madison maintained, could not live without
American foodstuffs, but Americans could easily do without British manufactures.[112]
Washington avoided a trade war and instead secured friendly trade relations with Britain
through the Jay Treaty of 1794.[113] Madison and his Democratic-Republican allies were
outraged by the treaty; one Democratic-Republican wrote that the treaty "sacrifices every
essential interest and prostrates the honor of our country."[114] Madison's strong opposition
to the treaty led to a permanent break with Washington, ending a long friendship.[113]
Adams presidency
Washington chose to retire after serving two terms and, in advance of the 1796 presidential
election, Madison helped convince Jefferson to run for the presidency.[109] Despite
Madison's efforts, Federalist candidate John Adams defeated Jefferson, taking a narrow
majority of the electoral vote.[115] Under the rules of the Electoral College then in place,
Jefferson became vice president because he finished with the second-most electoral
votes.[116] Madison, meanwhile, had declined to seek re-election, and he returned to his
home at Montpelier.[117] On Jefferson's advice, President Adams considered appointing
Madison to an American delegation charged with ending French attacks on American
shipping, but Adams's Cabinet members strongly opposed the idea. After a diplomatic
incident between France and the United States known as the XYZ Affair took place, the two
countries engaged in an undeclared naval war known as the Quasi-War.[118]
Though he was out of office, Madison remained a prominent Democratic-Republican leader

in opposition to the Adams administration.[119] During the Quasi-War, the Federalists
created a standing army and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were directed at
French refugees engaged in American politics and against Republican editors.[120] Madison
and Jefferson believed that the Federalists were using the war to justify the violation of
constitutional rights, and they increasingly came to view Adams as a monarchist.[121] Both
Madison and Jefferson as leaders of the Democratic-Republican party expressed the belief
that natural rights could not be infringed upon even during a time of war. Madison believed
that the Alien and Sedition acts formed a dangerous precedent, giving government the
power to look past the natural rights of its people in the name of national security.[122] In
response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions, which
argued that the states had the power to nullify federal law on the basis that the Constitution
was a compact among the states. Madison rejected this view of a compact among the
states, and his Virginia Resolutions instead urged states to respond to unjust federal laws
through interposition, a process in which a state legislature declared a law to be
unconstitutional but did not take steps to actively prevent its enforcement. Jefferson's
doctrine of nullification was widely rejected, and the incident damaged the Democratic-
Republican Party as attention was shifted from the Alien and Sedition Acts to the unpopular
nullification doctrine.[123]
In 1799, after Patrick Henry announced that he would return to politics as a member of the
Federalist Party, Madison won election to the Virginia legislature. At the same time, he and
Jefferson planned for Jefferson's campaign in the 1800 presidential election.[124] Madison
issued the Report of 1800, which attacked the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional
but disregarded Jefferson's theory of nullification. The Report of 1800 held that Congress
was limited to legislating on its enumerated powers, and that punishment for sedition
violated freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Jefferson embraced the report, and it
became the unofficial Democratic-Republican platform for the 1800 election.[125] With the
Federalists badly divided between supporters of Hamilton and Adams, and with news of the
end of the Quasi-War not reaching the United States until after the election, Jefferson and
his ostensible running mate, Aaron Burr, defeated Adams. Because Jefferson and Burr tied
in the electoral vote, the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives held a contingent
election to choose between the two candidates.[126] After the House conducted dozens of
inconclusive ballots, Hamilton, who despised Burr even more than he did Jefferson,
convinced several Federalist congressmen to cast blank ballots, giving Jefferson the
victory.[127]
Marriage and family

Montpelier, Madison's tobacco

plantation in Virginia
On September 15, 1794, Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, a 26-year-old widow,
previously wife of John Todd, a Quaker farmer who died during a yellow fever epidemic in
Philadelphia.[128] Aaron Burr introduced Madison to her, at his request, after Dolley had
stayed in the same boardinghouse as Burr in Philadelphia. After an arranged meeting in
spring 1794, the two quickly became romantically engaged and prepared for a wedding that
summer, but Dolley suffered recurring illnesses because of her exposure to yellow fever in
Philadelphia. They eventually traveled to Harewood, Virginia for their wedding. Only a few
close family members attended, and Winchester Reverend Alexander Balmain pronounced
them a wedded couple.[129] Madison enjoyed a strong relationship with his wife, and she
became his political partner.[130] Madison was an extremely shy individual who deeply relied
on his wife, Dolley, to help him in the dealing of social pressures that came with the politics
of the day.[131] Dolley became a renowned figure in Washington, D.C., and excelled at
hosting dinners and other important political occasions.[131] Dolley helped to establish the
modern image of the First Lady of the United States as an individual who takes upon a role
in the social affairs of the nation.
Madison never had children, but he adopted Dolley's one surviving son, John Payne Todd
(known as Payne), after the marriage.[117] Some of Madison's colleagues, such as Monroe
and Burr, alleged that Madison was infertile and that his lack of offspring weighed on his
thoughts, but Madison never spoke of any distress on this matter.[132]
Throughout his life, Madison maintained a close relationship with his father, James Madison
Sr, who died in 1801. At age 50, Madison inherited the large plantation of Montpelier and
other possessions, including his father's numerous slaves.[133] He had three brothers,
Francis, Ambrose, and William, and three sisters, Nelly, Sarah, and Frances, who lived to
adulthood. Ambrose helped manage Montpelier for both his father and older brother until
his death in 1793.[134]
Secretary of State (1801–1809)

Despite lacking foreign policy experience, Madison was appointed as Secretary of State by
Jefferson.[135] Along with Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Madison became one of
the two major influences in Jefferson's Cabinet.[136] As the ascent of Napoleon in France
had dulled Democratic-Republican enthusiasm for the French cause, Madison sought a
neutral position in the ongoing Coalition Wars between France and Britain.[137] Domestically,
the Jefferson administration and the Democratic-Republican Congress rolled back many
Federalist policies; Congress quickly repealed the Alien and Sedition Act, abolished internal
taxes, and reduced the size of the army and navy.[138] Gallatin did, however, convince
Jefferson to retain the First Bank of the United States.[139] Though the Federalists were
rapidly fading away at the national level, Chief Justice John Marshall ensured that Federalist
ideology retained an important presence in the judiciary. In the case of Marbury v. Madison,
Marshall simultaneously ruled that Madison had unjustly refused to deliver federal
commissions to individuals who had been appointed to federal positions by President
Adams but who had not yet taken office, but that the Supreme Court did not have
jurisdiction over the case. Most importantly, Marshall's opinion established the principle of
judicial review.[140]
The 1803 Louisiana Purchase totaled 827,987

square miles (2,144,480 square kilometers),
doubling the size of the United States.
By the time Jefferson took office, Americans had settled as far west as the Mississippi
River, though vast pockets of American land remained vacant or inhabited only by Native
Americans. Jefferson believed that western expansion played an important role in furthering
his vision of a republic of yeoman farmers, and he hoped to acquire the Spanish territory of
Louisiana, which was located to the west of the Mississippi River.[141] Early in Jefferson's
presidency, the administration learned that Spain planned to retrocede the Louisiana to
France, raising fears of French encroachment on U.S. territory.[142] In 1802, Jefferson and
Madison dispatched James Monroe to France to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans,
which controlled access to the Mississippi River and thus was immensely important to the
farmers of the American frontier. Rather than selling merely New Orleans, Napoleon's
government, having already given up on plans to establish a new French empire in the
Americas, offered to sell the entire Territory of Louisiana. Despite lacking explicit
authorization from Jefferson, Monroe and ambassador Robert R. Livingston negotiated the
Louisiana Purchase, in which France sold over 800,000 square miles (2,100,000 square
kilometers) of land in exchange for $15 million.[143]
Despite the time-sensitive nature of negotiations with the French, Jefferson was concerned
about the constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase, and he privately favored introducing a
constitutional amendment explicitly authorizing Congress to acquire new territories.
Madison convinced Jefferson to refrain from proposing the amendment, and the
administration ultimately submitted the Louisiana Purchase without an accompanying
constitutional amendment.[144] Unlike Jefferson, Madison was not seriously concerned with
the Louisiana Purchase's constitutionality. He believed that the circumstances did not
warrant a strict interpretation of the Constitution because the expansion was in the
country's best interest.[145] The Senate quickly ratified the treaty providing for the
purchase, and the House, with equal alacrity, passed enabling legislation.[146] The Jefferson
administration argued that the purchase had included the Spanish territory of West Florida,
but France and Spain both held that West Florida was not included in the purchase.[147]
Monroe attempted to purchase clear title to West Florida and East Florida from Spain, but
the Spanish, outraged by Jefferson's claims to West Florida, refused to negotiate.[148]
Early in his tenure, Jefferson was able to maintain cordial relations with both France and
Britain, but relations with Britain deteriorated after 1805.[149] The British ended their policy
of tolerance towards American shipping and began seizing American goods headed for
French ports.[150] They also impressed American sailors, some of whom had originally
defected from the British navy, and some of whom had never been British subjects.[151] In
response to the attacks, Congress passed the Non-importation Act, which restricted many,
but not all, British imports.[150] Tensions with Britain heightened due to the Chesapeake–
Leopard affair, a June 1807 naval confrontation between American and British naval forces,
while the French also began attacking American shipping.[152] Madison believed that
economic pressure could force the British to end attacks on American shipping, and he and
Jefferson convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807, which totally banned all
exports to foreign nations.[153] The embargo proved ineffective, unpopular, and difficult to
enforce, especially in New England.[154] In March 1809, Congress replaced the embargo
with the Non-Intercourse Act, which allowed trade with nations other than Britain and
France.[155]
Presidential election of 1808
1808 electoral vote results
Speculation regarding Madison's potential succession of Jefferson commenced early in

Jefferson's first term. Madison's status in the party was damaged by his association with
the embargo, which was unpopular throughout the country and especially in the
Northeast.[156] With the Federalists collapsing as a national party after 1800, the chief
opposition to Madison's candidacy came from other members of the Democratic-
Republican Party.[157] Madison became the target of attacks from Congressman John
Randolph, a leader of a faction of the party known as the tertium quids.[158] Randolph
recruited James Monroe, who had felt betrayed by the administration's rejection of the
proposed Monroe–Pinkney Treaty with Britain, to challenge Madison for leadership of the
party.[159] Many Northerners, meanwhile, hoped that Vice President George Clinton could
unseat Madison as Jefferson's successor.[160] Despite this opposition, Madison won his
party's presidential nomination at the January 1808 congressional nominating caucus.[161]
The Federalist Party mustered little strength outside New England, and Madison easily
defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.[162] At a height of only five
feet, four inches (163 cm), and never weighing more than 100 pounds (45 kg), Madison
became the most diminutive president.[163]
Presidency (1809–1817)
James Madison engraving by David

Edwin from between 1809 and 1817
Taking office and cabinet
On March 4, 1809, Madison took the oath of office and was inaugurated President of the
United States. Unlike Jefferson, who enjoyed political unity and support, Madison faced
political opposition from his rival and friend, James Monroe, and from Vice President
George Clinton. Additionally, the Federalist Party had resurged owing to opposition to the
embargo. Madison's Cabinet was very weak.[164]
Madison immediately faced opposition to his planned nomination of Secretary of the

Treasury Albert Gallatin as Secretary of State. Madison chose not to fight Congress for the
nomination but kept Gallatin in the Treasury Department.[165] With Gallatin's nomination
declined by the Senate, Madison settled for Robert Smith, the brother of Maryland Senator
Samuel Smith, to be Secretary of State.[164] For the next two years, Madison did most of the
job of Secretary of State due to Smith's incompetence. After bitter party contention,
Madison finally replaced Smith with Monroe in April 1811.[166][167]
The remaining members of Madison's Cabinet were chosen for the purposes of national
interest and political harmony, and were largely unremarkable or incompetent.[168] With a
Cabinet full of those he distrusted, Madison rarely called Cabinet meetings and instead
frequently consulted with Gallatin alone.[169] Early in his presidency, Madison sought to
continue Jefferson's policies of low taxes and a reduction of the national debt.[170] In 1811,
Congress allowed the charter of the First Bank of the United States to lapse after Madison
declined to take a strong stance on the issue.[171]
War of 1812
Prelude to war
Congress had repealed the embargo shortly before Madison became president, but
troubles with the British and French continued.[172] Madison settled on a new strategy
designed to pit the British and French against each other, offering to trade with whichever
country would end their attacks against American shipping. The gambit almost succeeded,
but negotiations with the British collapsed in mid-1809.[173] Seeking to split the Americans
and British, Napoleon offered to end French attacks on American shipping so long as the
United States punished any countries that did not similarly end restrictions on trade.[174]
Madison accepted Napoleon's proposal in the hope that it would convince the British to
finally end their policy of commercial warfare, but the British refused to change their
policies, and the French reneged on their promise and continued to attack American
shipping.[175]
With sanctions and other policies having failed, Madison determined that war with Britain
was the only remaining option.[176] Many Americans called for a "second war of
independence" to restore honor and stature to the new nation, and an angry public elected
a "war hawk" Congress, led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.[177] With Britain in the
midst of the Napoleonic Wars, many Americans, Madison included, believed that the United
States could easily capture Canada, at which point the U.S. could use Canada as a
bargaining chip for all other disputes or simply retain control of it.[178] On June 1, 1812,
Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war, stating that the United States could no
longer tolerate Britain's "state of war against the United States." The declaration of war was
passed along sectional and party lines, with opposition to the declaration coming from
Federalists and from some Democratic-Republicans in the Northeast.[179] In the years prior
to the war, Jefferson and Madison had reduced the size of the military, leaving the country
with a military force consisting mostly of poorly trained militia members.[180] Madison asked
Congress to quickly put the country "into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis,"
specifically recommending expansion of the army and navy.[181]
Military action
USS Constitution defeats HMS

Guerriere, a significant event during
the war. U.S. nautical victories
boosted American morale.
Madison and his advisers initially believed the war would be a quick American victory, while
the British were occupied fighting in the Napoleonic Wars.[178][182] Madison ordered an
invasion of Canada at Detroit, designed to defeat British control around American held Fort
Niagara and destroy the British supply lines from Montreal. These actions would give
leverage for British concessions on the Atlantic high seas.[182] Madison believed state
militias would rally to the flag and invade Canada, but the governors in the Northeast failed
to cooperate, and the militias either sat out the war or refused to leave their respective
states.[183] As a result, Madison's first Canadian campaign ended in dismal failure. On
August 16, Major General William Hull surrendered to British and Native American forces at
Detroit.[182] On October 13, a separate U.S. force was defeated at Queenton
Heights.[184][182] Commanding General Henry Dearborn, hampered by mutinous New
England infantry, retreated to winter quarters near Albany, after failing to destroy Montreal's
vulnerable British supply lines.[182]
Lacking adequate revenue to fund the war, the Madison administration was forced to rely on
high-interest loans furnished by bankers based in New York City and Philadelphia.[185] In
the 1812 presidential election, held during the early stages of the War of 1812, Madison
faced a challenge from DeWitt Clinton, who led a coalition of Federalists and disaffected
Democratic-Republicans. Clinton won most of the Northeast, but Madison won the election
by sweeping the South and the West and winning the key state of Pennsylvania.[186]
The British set ablaze the U.S.

Capital on August 24, 1814.
After the disastrous start to the War of 1812, Madison accepted Russia's invitation to
arbitrate the war, and he sent a delegation led by Gallatin and John Quincy Adams to Europe
to negotiate a peace treaty.[178] While Madison worked to end the war, the U.S. experienced
some impressive naval successes, boosting American morale, by the USS Constitution, and
other warships.[187][182] With a victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, the U.S. crippled the supply
and reinforcement of British military forces in the western theater of the war.[188] In the
aftermath of the Battle of Lake Erie, General William Henry Harrison defeated the forces of
the British and of Tecumseh's Confederacy at the Battle of the Thames. The death of
Tecumseh in that battle marked the permanent end of armed Native American resistance in
the Old Northwest.[189] In March 1814, General Andrew Jackson broke the resistance of the
British-allied Muscogee in the Old Southwest with his victory at the Battle of Horseshoe
Bend.[190] Despite those successes, the British continued to repel American attempts to
invade Canada, and a British force captured Fort Niagara and burned the American city of
Buffalo in late 1813.[191]
The British agreed to begin peace negotiations in the town of Ghent in early 1814, but at the
same time, they shifted soldiers to North America following Napoleon's defeat in the Battle
of Paris.[192] Under General George Izard and General Jacob Brown, the U.S. launched
another invasion of Canada in mid-1814. Despite an American victory at the Battle of
Chippawa, the invasion stalled once again.[193]
Battle of New Orleans 1815
Making matters worse, Madison had failed to muster his new Secretary of War John
Armstrong to fortify Washington D.C., while Madison had put in command, to stop an
impending British invasion, an "inexperienced and incompetent" Brig. General William
Winder.[194] In August 1814, the British landed a large force off the Chesapeake Bay and
routed Winder's army at the Battle of Bladensburg.[195] The Madisons escaped capture,
fleeing to Virginia by horseback, in the aftermath of the battle, but the British burned
Washington and other buildings.[196][197] The charred remains of the capital by the British
were a humiliating defeat for Madison and America.[194] The British army next moved on
Baltimore, but the U.S. repelled the British attack in the Battle of Baltimore, and the British
army departed from the Chesapeake region in September.[198] That same month, U.S.
forces repelled a British invasion from Canada with a victory at the Battle of Plattsburgh.[199]
The British public began to turn against the war in North America, and British leaders began
to look for a quick exit from the conflict.[200]
In January 1815, an American force under General Jackson defeated the British at the Battle
of New Orleans.[201] Just over a month later, Madison learned that his negotiators had
reached the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war without major concessions by either side.
Madison quickly sent the Treaty of Ghent to the Senate, and the Senate ratified the treaty
on February 16, 1815.[202] To most Americans, the quick succession of events at the end of
the war, including the burning of the capital, the Battle of New Orleans, and the Treaty of
Ghent, appeared as though American valor at New Orleans had forced the British to
surrender. This view, while inaccurate, strongly contributed to a feeling of post-war
euphoria that bolstered Madison's reputation as president.[203] Napoleon's defeat at the
June 1815 Battle of Waterloo brought a final close to the Napoleonic Wars, ending the
danger of attacks on American shipping by British and French forces.[204]
Postwar period
The postwar period of Madison's second term saw the transition into the "Era of Good
Feelings," as the Federalists ceased to act as an effective opposition party.[205] During the
war, delegates from the states of New England held the Hartford Convention, where the
delegates asked for several amendments to the Constitution.[206] Though the Hartford
Convention did not explicitly call for the secession of New England,[207] the Hartford
Convention became a political millstone around the Federalist Party as Americans
celebrated what they saw as a successful "second war of independence" from Britain.[208]
Madison hastened the decline of the Federalists by adopting several programs he had
previously opposed, weakening the ideological divisions between the two major parties.[209]
Recognizing the difficulties of financing the war and the necessity of an institution to
regulate the currency, Madison proposed the re-establishment of a national bank. He also
called for increased spending on the army and the navy, a tariff designed to protect
American goods from foreign competition, and a constitutional amendment authorizing the
federal government to fund the construction of internal improvements such as roads and
canals. His initiatives were opposed by strict constructionists such as John Randolph, who
stated that Madison's proposals "out-Hamiltons Alexander Hamilton."[210] Responding to
Madison's proposals, the 14th Congress compiled one of the most productive legislative
records up to that point in history.[211] Congress granted the Second Bank of the United
States a twenty-five-year charter[210] and passed the Tariff of 1816, which set high import
duties for all goods that were produced outside the United States.[211] Madison approved
federal spending on the Cumberland Road, which provided a link to the country's western
lands,[212] but in his last act before leaving office, he blocked further federal spending on
internal improvements by vetoing the Bonus Bill of 1817. In making the veto, Madison
argued that the General Welfare Clause did not broadly authorize federal spending on
internal improvements.[213]
Native American policy
Battle of Tippecanoe
November 7, 1811
Upon becoming president, Madison said the federal government's duty was to convert
Native Americans by the "participation of the improvements of which the human mind and
manners are susceptible in a civilized state."[170] On September 30, 1809, a little more than
six months into his first term, Madison agreed to the Treaty of Fort Wayne, negotiated and
signed by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison. The treaty began with "James
Madison, President of the United States," on the first sentence of the first paragraph.[214]
The American Indian tribes were compensated $5,200 ($109,121.79 for year 2020) in goods
and $500 and $250 annual subsidies to the various tribes, for 3 million acres of land.[215]
The treaty angered Shawnee leader Tecumseh, who said, "Sell a country! Why not sell the
air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth?"[216] Harrison responded that the
Miami tribe was the owner of the land and could sell it to whomever they wished.[217]
Like Jefferson, Madison had a paternalistic attitude toward American Indians, encouraging
the men to give up hunting and become farmers.[218] Madison believed the adoption of
European-style agriculture would help Native Americans assimilate the values of British-
U.S. civilization. As pioneers and settlers moved West into large tracts of Cherokee,
Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw territory, Madison ordered the U.S. Army to protect Native
lands from intrusion by settlers, to the chagrin of his military commander Andrew Jackson,
who wanted Madison to ignore Indian pleas to stop the invasion of their lands.[219] Tensions
mounted between the United States and Temcuseh over the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne,
that ultimately led to Tecumseh's alliance with the British and the Battle of Tippecanoe, on
November 7, 1811, in the Northwest Territory.[219][220] Tecumseh was defeated and Indians
were pushed off their tribal lands, replaced entirely by white settlers.[219] [220]
In addition to the Battle of the Thames and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, other American
Indian battles took place, including the Peoria War, and the Creek War. Settled by General
Jackson, the Creek War added 20 million acres of land to the United States, in Georgia and
Alabama, by the Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814.[221]
Privately, Madison did not believe American Indians could be civilized. Madison believed
that Native Americans may have been unwilling to make "the transition from the hunter, or
even the herdsman state, to the agriculture." [216] Madison feared that Native Americans
had too great an influence on the settlers they interacted with, who in his view were
“irresistibly attracted by that complete liberty, that freedom from bonds, obligations, duties,
that absence of care and anxiety which characterize the savage state.” In March 1816,
Madison's Secretary of War William Crawford advocated for the government to encourage
intermarriages between Native Americans and whites as a way of assimilating the former.
This prompted public outrage and exacerbated anti-Indigenous bigotry among white
Americans, as seen in hostile letters sent to Madison, who remained publicly silent on the
issue.[216]
General Wilkinson misconduct
General James Wilkinson

Peale 1797
In 1810, the House investigated Commanding General James Wilkinson for misconduct over
his ties with Spain.[222] Wilkinson was a hold-over of the Jefferson administration. In 1806,
Jefferson was told Wilkinson was under a financial retainer with Spain. Wilkinson had also
been rumored to have ties to Spain during both the Washington and Adams administrations.
Jefferson removed Wilkinson from his position of Governor of the Louisiana territory in 1807
for his ties with the Burr conspiracy. [223] The 1810 House investigation was not a formal
report but documents incriminating Wilkinson were given to Madison. Wilkinson's military
request for a court-martial was denied by Madison. Wilkinson then asked for 14 officers to
testify on his behalf in Washington, but Madison refused, in essence, clearing Wilkinson of
malfeasance.[222]
Later in 1810 the House investigated Wilkinson's public record, and charged him with a high
casualty rate among soldiers. Wilkinson was cleared again. However, in 1811, Madison
launched a formal court-martial of Wilkinson, that suspended him of active duty. The
military court in December 1811 cleared Wilkinson of misconduct. Madison approved of
Wilkinson's acquittal, and restored him to active duty. [222] After Wilkinson failed a
command during the War of 1812, Madison dismissed him from his command for
incompetence. However, Madison retained Wilkinson in the Army, but replaced him with
Henry Dearborn as its commander. Not until 1815, when Wilkinson was court-martialled and
acquitted again, did Madison finally remove him from the Army.[222] Historical evidence
brought forth in the 20th century proved Wilkinson was under the pay of Spain. [224]
Election of 1816
In the 1816 presidential election, Madison and Jefferson both favored the candidacy of
Secretary of State James Monroe. With the support of Madison and Jefferson, Monroe
defeated Secretary of War William H. Crawford in the party's congressional nominating
caucus. As the Federalist Party continued to collapse as a national party, Monroe easily
defeated Federalist candidate Rufus King in the 1816 election.[225] Madison left office as a
popular president; former president Adams wrote that Madison had "acquired more glory,
and established more union, than all his three predecessors, Washington, Adams, and
Jefferson, put together."[226]
Retirement, national leader, and elder statesman (1817–1836)

Portrait of James Madison c. 1821,

by Gilbert Stuart
When Madison left office in 1817 at age 65, he retired to Montpelier, his tobacco plantation
in Orange County, Virginia, not far from Jefferson's Monticello. As with both Washington
and Jefferson, Madison left the presidency a poorer man than when elected. His plantation
experienced a steady financial collapse, due to the continued price declines in tobacco and
also due to his stepson's mismanagement.[227]
In his retirement, Madison occasionally became involved in public affairs, advising Andrew
Jackson and other presidents.[228] He remained out of the public debate over the Missouri
Compromise, though he privately complained about the North's opposition to the extension
of slavery.[229] Madison had warm relations with all four of the major candidates in the 1824
presidential election, but, like Jefferson, largely stayed out of the race.[230] During
Jackson's presidency, Madison publicly disavowed the Nullification movement and argued
that no state had the right to secede.[231]
Madison helped Jefferson establish the University of Virginia, though the university was
primarily Jefferson's initiative.[232] In 1826, after the death of Jefferson, Madison was
appointed as the second rector of the university. He retained the position as college
chancellor for ten years until his death in 1836.
Portrait of Madison, age 82, c. 1833
In 1829, at the age of 78, Madison was chosen as a representative to the Virginia
Constitutional Convention for revision of the commonwealth's constitution. It was his last
appearance as a statesman. The issue of greatest importance at this convention was
apportionment. The western districts of Virginia complained that they were
underrepresented because the state constitution apportioned voting districts by county.
The increased population in the Piedmont and western parts of the state were not
proportionately represented by delegates in the legislature. Western reformers also wanted
to extend suffrage to all white men, in place of the prevailing property ownership
requirement. Madison tried in vain to effect a compromise. Eventually, suffrage rights were
extended to renters as well as landowners, but the eastern planters refused to adopt citizen
population apportionment. They added slaves held as property to the population count, to
maintain a permanent majority in both houses of the legislature, arguing that there must be
a balance between population and property represented. Madison was disappointed at the
failure of Virginians to resolve the issue more equitably.[233]
In his later years, Madison became highly concerned about his historic legacy. He resorted
to modifying letters and other documents in his possession, changing days and dates,
adding and deleting words and sentences, and shifting characters. By the time he had
reached his late seventies, this "straightening out" had become almost an obsession. As an
example, he edited a letter written to Jefferson criticizing Lafayette—Madison not only
inked out original passages, but even forged Jefferson's handwriting as well.[234] Historian
Drew R. McCoy writes that, "During the final six years of his life, amid a sea of personal
[financial] troubles that were threatening to engulf him ... At times mental agitation issued in
physical collapse. For the better part of a year in 1831 and 1832 he was bedridden, if not
silenced ... Literally sick with anxiety, he began to despair of his ability to make himself
understood by his fellow citizens."[235]
Madison's tombstone, Montpelier
Madison's health slowly deteriorated. He died of congestive heart failure at Montpelier on

the morning of June 28, 1836, at the age of 85.[236] By one common account of his final
moments, he was given his breakfast, which he tried eating but was unable to swallow. His
favorite niece, who sat by to keep him company, asked him, "What is the matter, Uncle
James?" Madison died immediately after he replied, "Nothing more than a change of mind,
my dear."[237] He is buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier.[227] He was one of the last
prominent members of the Revolutionary War generation to die.[228] His will left significant
sums to the American Colonization Society, Princeton, and the University of Virginia, as well
as $30,000 to his wife, Dolley. Left with a smaller sum than Madison had intended, Dolley
suffered financial troubles until her own death in 1849.[238]
Political and religious views
Federalism
External video
Booknotes interview with Lance Banning on The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and
the
Ta Founding of the Federal Republic, February 11, 1996 , C-SPAN
p
During his first stint in Congress in the 1780s, Madison came to favor amending the Articles
of Confederation to provide for a stronger central government.[239] In the 1790s, he led the
opposition to Hamilton's centralizing policies and the Alien and Sedition Acts.[240]
According to Chernow, Madison's support of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in the
1790s "was a breathtaking evolution for a man who had pleaded at the Constitutional
Convention that the federal government should possess a veto over state laws."[120] The
historian Gordon S. Wood says that Lance Banning, as in his Sacred Fire of Liberty (1995),
is the "only present-day scholar to maintain that Madison did not change his views in the
1790s."[241] During and after the War of 1812, Madison came to support several policies he
had opposed in the 1790s, including the national bank, a strong navy, and direct taxes.[242]
Wood notes that many historians struggle to understand Madison, but Wood looks at him in
the terms of Madison's own times—as a nationalist but one with a different conception of
nationalism from that of the Federalists.[241] Gary Rosen and Banning use other approaches
to suggest Madison's consistency.[243][244][245]
Religion
Although baptized as an Anglican and educated by Presbyterian clergymen,[246] young

Madison was an avid reader of English deist tracts.[247] As an adult, Madison paid little
attention to religious matters. Though most historians have found little indication of his
religious leanings after he left college,[248] some scholars indicate he leaned toward
deism.[249][250] Others maintain that Madison accepted Christian tenets and formed his
outlook on life with a Christian world view.[251]
Regardless of his own religious beliefs, Madison believed in religious liberty, and he
advocated for Virginia's disestablishment of the Anglican Church throughout the late 1770s
and 1780s.[252] He also opposed the appointments of chaplains for Congress and the
armed forces, arguing that the appointments produce religious exclusion as well as political
disharmony.[253] In 1819, Madison said, "The number, the industry, and the morality of the
priesthood & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total
separation of the Church from the State."[254]
Slavery
Madison grew up on a plantation that made use of slave labor and he viewed the institution
as a necessary part of the Southern economy, though he was troubled by the instability of a
society that depended on a large enslaved population.[255] At the Philadelphia Convention,
Madison favored an immediate end to the importation of slaves, though the final document
barred Congress from interfering with the international slave trade until 1808,[256] while the
domestic trade in slaves was expressly permitted by the constitution.[257] He also proposed
that apportionment in the United States Senate be allocated by the sum of each state's free
population and slave population, eventually leading to the adoption of the Three-Fifths
Compromise.[258] Madison supported the extension of slavery into the West during the
Missouri crisis of 1819–1821.[257] Madison believed that former slaves were unlikely to
successfully integrate into Southern society, and in the late 1780s, he became interested in
the idea of African-Americans establishing colonies in Africa.[259] Madison was president of
the American Colonization Society, which founded the settlement of Liberia for former
slaves.[260]
Madison was unable to separate himself from the institution of domestic slavery. Although
Madison had championed a Republican form of government, he believed that slavery had
caused the South to become aristocratic. Madison believed that slaves were human
property, while he opposed slavery intellectually.[261] Along with his colonization plan for
blacks, Madison believed that slavery would naturally diffuse with western expansion.
Madison's political views landed somewhere between John C. Calhoun's separation
nullification and Daniel Webster's nationalism consolidation. Madison's Virginian "legatees"
including Edward Coles, Nicolas P. Trist, and William Cabel Rives promoted Madison's
moderate views on slavery into the 1840s and 1850s, but their campaign failed due to
sectionalism, economic, and abolitionism forces.[261] Madison was never able to reconcile
his advocacy of Republican government and his lifelong reliance on the slave system.[1]
Madison's treatment of his enslaved people was known to be moderate. In 1790, Madison
ordered an overseer to treat slaves with "all the humanity and kindness of consistent with
their necessary subordination and work." Visitors noted slaves were well housed and fed.
According to Paul Jennings, one of Madison's younger slaves, Madison never lost his
temper or had his slaves whipped, preferring to reprimand.[262] One slave, Billey, attempted
to escape Madison while in Philadelphia during the American Revolution, but was caught.
Rather than free him, or return him to Virginia, Madison sold Billey in Philadelphia, under a
gradual emancipation law adopted in Pennsylvania. Billey soon earned his freedom and
worked for a Philadelphia merchant. Billey, however, was drowned on a voyage to New
Orleans.[262] Madison never outwardly expressed the view that blacks were inferior; he
tended to express open-mindedness on the question of race.[263]
By 1801, Madison's slave population at Montpelier was slightly over 100. During the 1820s
and 1830s, Madison was forced to sell land and slaves, caused by debts. In 1836, at the
time of Madison's death, Madison owned 36 taxable slaves.[263] Madison's conservatism
prevailed, due to finances, while he failed to free any of his slaves either during his lifetime
or in his will.[257][261] Upon Madison's death, he left his remaining slaves to his wife Dolley,
asking her only to sell her slaves with their consent. However, Dolley, sold many of her
slaves without their consent. The remaining slaves, after Dolley's death, were given to her
son, Payne Todd, who freed them upon his death. However, Todd had debts, and likely only
a few slaves were actually freed. [264]
Physical characteristics and health

James Madison
Gilbert Stuart 1805–1807
Madison was small in stature, had bright blue eyes, a strong demeanor, and was known to
be humorous at small gatherings. Madison suffered from serious illnesses, nervousness,
and was often exhausted after periods of stress. Madison often feared for the worst and
was a hypochondriac. However, Madison was in good health, while he lived a long life,
without the common maladies of his times.[265]
Legacy
Historical reputation
Madison is widely regarded as one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United
States. Historian J.C.A. Stagg writes that "in some ways—because he was on the winning
side of every important issue facing the young nation from 1776 to 1816—Madison was the
most successful and possibly the most influential of all the Founding Fathers."[266] Though
he helped found a major political party and served as the fourth president of the United
States, his legacy has largely been defined by his contributions to the Constitution; even in
his own life he was hailed as the "Father of the Constitution."[267] Law professor Noah
Feldman writes that Madison "invented and theorized the modern ideal of an expanded,
federal constitution that combines local self-government with an overarching national
order." Feldman adds that Madison's "model of liberty-protecting constitutional
government" is "the most influential American idea in global political history."[268]
Polls of historians and political scientists tend to rank Madison as an above average
president. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and
Executive Politics section ranked Madison as the twelfth best president.[269] Wood
commends Madison for his steady leadership during the war and resolve to avoid expanding
the president's power, noting one contemporary's observation that the war was conducted
"without one trial for treason, or even one prosecution for libel."[270] Nonetheless, many
historians have criticized Madison's tenure as president.[271] Henry Steele Commager and
Richard B. Morris in 1968 said the conventional view of Madison was as an "incapable
President" who "mismanaged an unnecessary war."[272] A 2006 poll of historians ranked
Madison's failure to prevent the War of 1812 as the sixth-worst mistake made by a sitting
president.[273]
The historian Garry Wills wrote, "Madison's claim on our admiration does not rest on a
perfect consistency, any more than it rests on his presidency. He has other virtues. ... As a
framer and defender of the Constitution he had no peer. ... The finest part of Madison's
performance as president was his concern for the preserving of the Constitution. ... No man
could do everything for the country—not even Washington. Madison did more than most,
and did some things better than any. That was quite enough."[274]
In 2002, historian Ralph Ketcham was critical of Madison as a wartime President during the
War of 1812. Ketcham blamed Madison for the events that led up to the burning of the
nation's capital by the British.[275] Ketcham said: "The events of the summer of 1814
illustrate all too well the inadequacy in wartime of Madison's habitual caution and tendency
to let complexities remain unresolved...Although such inclinations are ordinarily virtues, in
crisis they are calamitous."[194] Ketcham said "it was, ironically, Madison's very republican
virtue that in part unsuited him to be a wartime president."[197]
In 1974, historian James Banner criticized Madison for his protection of a corrupt General
James Wilkinson in the Army. Wilkinson had been involved in the Aaron Burr conspiracy
during the Jefferson Administration, was on retainer of Spain, and had a high mortality rate
among soldiers. Wilkinson had also botched a campaign during the War of 1812. Madison
finally mustered Wilkinson out of the Army in 1815.[276]
2007 Presidential Dollar of

1894 postage stamp honoring
James Madison Madison appears on various
Madison
U.S. Revenue stamps
Memorials
This section does not cite any sources.
Montpelier, his family's plantation, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The
James Madison Memorial Building is a building of the United States Library of Congress and
serves as the official memorial to Madison. In 1986, Congress created the James Madison
Memorial Fellowship Foundation as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Constitution.
Several counties and communities have been named for Madison, including Madison
County, Alabama and Madison, Wisconsin. Other things named for Madison include
Madison Square, James Madison University, and the USS James Madison.
See also
Irving Newton Brant, Madison's leading biographer
Expansionism
List of delegates to the Continental Congress
List of Presidents of the United States
Republicanism
Notes
a. Vice President Clinton and Vice President Gerry both died in office. Neither was
replaced for the remainder of their respective terms, as the Constitution did not have a
provision for filling a vice presidential vacancy prior to the adoption of the Twenty-fifth
Amendment in 1967.
b. (O.S. March 5, 1750)
c. After the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, the Second Continental
Congress became the Congress of the Confederation.[25]
d. Portions of the Bill of Rights would later be incorporated against the states.
e. One of the two unratified amendments became part of the Constitution in 1992 as the
Twenty-seventh Amendment. The other unratified amendment, known as the
Congressional Apportionment Amendment, is technically still pending before the
states.[98]
f. The Democratic-Republican Party was often referred to as the "Republican Party." It

was a separate entity from the later Republican Party, which was founded in the 1850s.
g. Because the Constitution requires presidential electors to vote for at least one
individual from outside their home state, electors from Virginia would not have been
able to vote for both Washington and Jefferson.[107]
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x}w. Max J. Skidmore, Presidential Performance: A Comprehensive Review (2004) pp. 45–
56 summarizes the historiography.
x}x. Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, "Editors Introduction," to Marshall
Smelser, The Democratic Republic: 1801–1815 (1968) p. xii
x}y. "Scholars rate worst presidential errors" . USA Today. AP. February 18, 2006.
Retrieved August 31, 2018.
x}z. Wills 2002, p. 164.
x}{. Ketcham 2002, p. 66.
x}|. Banner Jr. 1974, pp. 35–37, 45.
Works cited
Banner Jr., James M. (1974). C. Vann Woodward (ed.). Responses of the Presidents to Charges of
Misconduct . Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 978-044005923-3.
Banning, Lance (1995). Jefferson & Madison: Three Conversations from the Founding . Madison
House.
Banning, Lance (1995). The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the
Federal Republic . Cornell University Press.
Bernstein, Richard B. (1987). Are We to be a Nation?; The Making of the Constitution . Harvard
Univ. Press.
Bordewich, Fergus M. (2016). The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and
a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-
45169193-1.
Burstein, Andrew; Isenberg, Nancy (2010). Madison and Jefferson. Random House.
Feldman, Noah (2017). The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. Random
House. ISBN 9780812992755.
Ferling, John (2003). A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic . Oxford
University Press. ISBN 978-0195159240.
Green, Michael D. (1982). The Politics of Indian Removal (Paperback). University of Nebraska
Press. ISBN 9780803270152.
Howe, Daniel Walker (2007). What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815–
1848 . Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195078947.
Kappler, Charles J. (1904). Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties (PDF). II (TREATIES.). Washington:
Government Printing Office.
Ketcham, Ralph (1990). James Madison: A Biography (paperback ed.). Univ. of Virginia Press.
ISBN 9780813912653.
Ketcham, Ralph (2002). "James Madison". In Graff, Henry F. (ed.). The Presidents A Reference
History (Third ed.). Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 57–70. ISBN 0-684-31226-3.
Keysaar, Alexander (2009). The Right to Vote . Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02969-3.
Labunski, Richard (2006). James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights . Oxford Univ.
Press.
Landry, Alysa (January 26, 2016). "James Madison: Pushed Intermarriage Between Settlers and
Indians" . indiancountrytoday.com. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
Langguth, A. J. (2006). Union 1812cThe Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence.
New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2618-6.
Matthews, Richard K. (1995). If Men Were Angels : James Madison and the Heartless Empire of
Reason . University Press of Kansas.
McCoy, Drew R. (1989). The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy .
Cambridge University Press.
McDonald, Forrest (1976). The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson . University Press of Kansas.
ISBN 978-0700603305.
"Montpelier The People, The Place, The Idea" . montpelier.org.
Owens, Robert M. (2007). Mr. Jefferson's Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of
American Indian Policy. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-
3842-8.
Rosen, Gary (1999). American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding. University
Press of Kansas.
Rutland, Robert A. (1987). James Madison: The Founding Father . Macmillan Publishing Co.
ISBN 978-0-02-927601-3.
Rutland, Robert A. (1990). The Presidency of James Madison . Univ. Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-
0700604654.
Rutland, Robert A., ed. (1994). James Madison and the American Nation, 1751–1836: An
Encyclopedia. Simon & Schuster.
Stewart, David (2007). The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. Simon and
Schuster.
Wills, Garry (2002). James Madison . Times Books. ISBN 0-8050-6905-4.
Wood, Gordon S. (2011). The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States . The
Penguin Press.
Wood, Gordon S. (2009). Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic . Oxford University
Press. ISBN 978-0-199-83246-0.
Further reading
Biographies
Brant, Irving (1941–1961). James Madison . 6 volumes., the standard scholarly biography; Online
additions
Brant, Irving (1970). The Fourth President; a Life of James Madison. Easton Press. single volume
condensation of 6-vol biography
Broadwater, Jeff. (2012). James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of a Nation . University
of North Carolina Press.
Brookhiser, Richard. (2011). James Madison. Basic Books.
Chadwick, Bruce. (2014). James and Dolley Madison: America's First Power Couple. Prometheus
Books. detailed popular history
Cheney, Lynne (2014). James Madison: A Life Reconsidered. Viking.
Gutzman, Kevin (2012). James Madison and the Making of America. St. Martin's Press.
Ketcham, Ralph. "Madison, James." in Presidents: A Reference History, edited by Henry F. Graff,
(3rd ed., Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002), pp. 57–70. online
Stewart, David O. (2016). Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America. Simon & Schuster.
Rakove, Jack (2002). James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (2nd ed.).
Longman.
Wills, Garry (2015). James Madison: The American Presidents Series: The 4th President, 1809–
1817. Times Books.
Analytic studies
Dragu, Tiberiu; Fan, Xiaochen; Kuklinski, James (March 2014). "Designing checks and balances".
Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 9 (1): 45–86. doi:10.1561/100.00013022 .
S2CID 155645300 .
Elkins, Stanley M.; McKitrick, Eric. (1995). The Age of Federalism. Oxford University Press.
Everdell, William (2000). The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans . Univ. of
Chicago Press.
Gabrielson, Teena (September 2009). "James Madison's Psychology of Public Opinion". Political
Research Quarterly. 62 (3): 431–44. doi:10.1177/1065912908319607 . S2CID 144437111 .
Harbert, Earl, ed. (1986). Henry Adams: History of the United States during the Administrations of
James Madison. Library of America.
Kasper, Eric T. (2010). To Secure the Liberty of the People: James Madison's Bill of Rights and the
Supreme Court's Interpretation. Northern Illinois University Press.
Kernell, Samuel, ed. (2003). James Madison: the Theory and Practice of Republican Government.
Stanford Univ. Press.
Kester, Scott J. (2008). The Haunted Philosophe: James Madison, Republicanism, and Slavery.
Lexington Books.
Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. (February 2003). "James Madison's Principle of Religious Liberty" .
American Political Science Review. 97 (1): 17–32. doi:10.1017/S0003055403000492 .
S2CID 73579783 .
Read, James H. (2000). Power Versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson and Jefferson. Univ.
Press of Virginia.
Riemer, Neal (1986). James Madison: Creating the American Constitution . Congressional
Quarterly.
Scarberry, Mark S. (April 2009). "John Leland and James Madison: Religious Influence on the
Ratification of the Constitution and on the Proposal of the Bill of Rights". Penn State Law Review.
113 (3): 733–800.
Sheehan, Colleen A. (October 1992). "The Politics of Public Opinion: James Madison's 'Notes on
Government". William and Mary Quarterly. 49 (3): 609–627. doi:10.2307/2947174 .
JSTOR 2947174 .
Sheehan, Colleen (October 2002). "Madison and the French Enlightenment". William and Mary
Quarterly. 59 (4): 925–56. doi:10.2307/3491576 . JSTOR 3491576 .
Sheehan, Colleen (August 2004). "Madison v. Hamilton: The Battle Over Republicanism and the
Role of Public Opinion". American Political Science Review. 98 (3): 405–24.
doi:10.1017/S0003055404001248 .
Sheehan, Colleen (2015). The Mind of James Madison: The Legacy of Classical Republicanism.
Cambridge Univ. Press.
Vile, John R.; Pederson, William D.; Williams, Frank J., eds. (2008). James Madison: Philosopher,
Founder, and Statesman. Ohio Univ. Press.
Watts, Steven (1990). "DREW R. MCCOY The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the
Republican Legacy". The American Historical Review. 95 (4): 1288–1289. doi:10.2307/2163682 .
JSTOR 2163682 .
Weiner, Greg. (2012). Madison's Metronome: The Constitution, Majority Rule, and the Tempo of
American Politics. Univ. Press of Kansas.
Will, George F. (January 23, 2008). "Alumni who changed America, and the world: #1 – James
Madison 1771". Princeton Alumni Weekly.
Wills, Garry (2005). Henry Adams and the Making of America . Houghton Mifflin.
Historiography
Leibiger, Stuart, ed. (2013). A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe. John Wiley and
Sons.
Wood, Gordon S. (2006). Is There a 'James Madison Problem'?. Penguin Press.
Primary sources
Madison, James (1962). Hutchinson, William T. (ed.). The Papers of James Madison (30 volumes
published and more planned ed.). Univ. of Chicago Press. Archived from the original on October
13, 2011.; The main scholarly edition
"Founders Online," searchable edition
Madison, James (1865). Letters & Other Writings Of James Madison Fourth President Of The
United States (Congress ed.). J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Madison, James (1900–1910). Hunt, Gaillard (ed.). The Writings of James Madison . G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
Madison, James (1982). Cooke, Jacob E. (ed.). The Federalist. Wesleyan Univ. Press.
Madison, James (1987). Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Reported by James
Madison. W.W. Norton.
Madison, James (1995). Myers, Marvin (ed.). Mind of the Founder: Sources of the Political
Thought of James Madison. Univ. Press of New England.
Madison, James (1995). Smith, James M. (ed.). The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence
Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776–1826. W.W. Norton.
Madison, James (1999). Rakove, Jack N. (ed.). James Madison, Writings. Library of America.
Richardson, James D., ed. (1897). A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents,
vol. xix. reprints his major messages and reports.
External links
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4th President of the United States

Vice President George Clinton (1809–12)

Elbridge Gerry (1813–14)

Preceded by Thomas Jefferson

Succeeded by James Monroe

5th United States Secretary of State

President Thomas Jefferson

Preceded by John Marshall

Succeeded by Robert Smith

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Preceded by Constituency established

Succeeded by John Dawson

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Preceded by Constituency established

Succeeded by George Hancock

Preceded by Seat established

Succeeded by Cyrus Griffin

Preceded by Seat established

Succeeded by Thomas Jefferson

Born March 16, 1751

Died June 28, 1836 (aged 85)

Resting place Montpelier, Virginia, U.S.

Political party Democratic-Republican

Spouse(s) Dolley Todd (m. 1794)​

Parents James Madison Sr.

Branch/service Virginia Militia

Years of service 1775

Early life and education

Madison at Princeton, portrait by

was immersed in the liberalism of the Enlightenment, and converted to

At the Virginia constitutional convention, he convinced delegates to alter the Virginia

Though General George Washington, Congressman Alexander Hamilton, and other

Father of the Constitution

As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Madison continued to advocate for

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Page one of the original copy

Gouverneur Morris signs the

The Federalist Papers and ratification debates

Congressman and party leader (1789–1801)

Founding the Democratic-Republican Party

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Thomas Jefferson founded the

Though he was out of office, Madison remained a prominent Democratic-Republican leader

Marriage and family

Montpelier, Madison's tobacco

Secretary of State (1801–1809)

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The 1803 Louisiana Purchase totaled 827,987

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1808 electoral vote results

Speculation regarding Madison's potential succession of Jefferson commenced early in

James Madison engraving by David

Taking office and cabinet

Madison immediately faced opposition to his planned nomination of Secretary of the

USS Constitution defeats HMS

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The British set ablaze the U.S.

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Battle of New Orleans 1815

Native American policy

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General Wilkinson misconduct

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Spouse(s) Dolley Todd (m. 1794)