How Did James Madison Contribute To Government

739 Words3 Pages

James Madison was not just our fourth president of the United States, he was also known as the Father of the Constitution. His contributions to the U.S. Constitution, Federalist Papers, and Bill of Rights makes him renowned as the greatest in history. Madison believed in a balanced federal government where the people and fair officials could run it without any problems nor consequences. Even before he was president, he helped establish the Democratic-Republican Party along with Thomas Jefferson. Born in Virginia in 1751, Madison was the eldest out of his twelve siblings. He was raised by his father who owned slaves and thousands of acres of land. In 1762, he was sent to a boarding school in his hometown where he remained for five years. After …show more content…

His ideas were so inspirational that many of them were incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. Some of his ideas included: separation of powers, checks and balances, freedom, responsibility, and self-control. A strong government was created in order to protect the people’s rights as well as the well-being of the nation. Three different parts of government were created so that one area would not have too much control. The executive branch was mainly for the president, the Senate and House of Representatives got the legislative branch, and for the Supreme Court, the judicial …show more content…

The U.S. Constitution was meant to replaced the Articles of Confederation and provide the people with an insight on all of the rights and for the government to abide by them. However, there were people that did not want the Constitution ratified and there were some who did. The ones who opposed the ratification of the Constitution were referred to as the Antifederalists. They feared that with a strong government, the federal government would have too much power in their hands and would do as they pleased. The Federalists, the ones who supported the Constitution, disagreed with the Anti-Federalists and stated that with a strong federal government, the United States would eventually evolve into a better country in the future. As a Federalist and one of the inventors of the Constitution, James Madison created the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. The Federalists Papers was composed of 85 essays of which supported the Constitution.
The War of 1812 seemed to take its toll on James Madison. He feared that fighting a gigantic island such as Great Britain would end with many American casualties and the United States would never grow into the beneficial country he knew it could be. However, American citizens refused to stand by and allow the continuous attacks on American soil go on. After the British forces invaded Maryland, they started