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How Did James Madison Contribute To The Constitution

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James Madison Jr. was a delegate of Virginia. He is known as one of the founding fathers and was the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He was also known as the “Father of the Constitution”. Madison had played a big role during the birth of the new nation, the United States of America, from beginning to end. He was part of the Continental Congress, making decisions against the British, and was also a part of the Constitutional Convention, creating the new government for the new country. The journey started on March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, King George County, Virginia, the day James Madison was born. He was the eldest of 10 children and born in the home of his grandparents. Madison received his early education from his …show more content…

With his 11 years of experience in government and comprehensive reading, Madison was prepared with two papers he had written, a study of ancient and modern confederacies as well as the vices of the political system of the United States. After all the delegates made it to the convention, it was agreed upon that a new form of the Articles of Confederation would be written, and Madison was in favor of this proposal. During the convention, Madison's idea, known as the Virginia plan, was presented by Governor Edmund Randolph. Madison’s idea about the system of government included the legislative branch being bicameral. The plan describes two houses, one with members elected by the people and another with older leaders elected by state legislatures. This idea was later used in the Constitution and is part of the United States government. The plan also urged representation to be proportional to the state’s population. This idea was especially favored by larger states due to the immense amount of representation they would be getting over the smaller states. However, this proposal was not ideal and did not follow up on the thought of every state receiving equal representation. The convention soon compromised between the Virginia and New Jersey plans. The delegates agreed that the states would be represented according to size in the lower chamber (House of Representatives) but would have equal voting power in the upper chamber. This was presented as a defeat for Madison and one of his ideas. He also worked hard to get the new constitution accepted by the states, once it was fully written. James made plans with fellow constitutional supporters Alexander Hamilton and John Jay for a series of articles explaining and defending the Constitution. These articles were published in newspapers with an aim of counteracting the attacks made

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