How Did James Madison Influence The Ratification Of The Constitution

The year is 1783 and the long-fought war for independence from Britain has finally come to an end with America waving Betsy Ross’ flag in victory. We may have won the war, but the hard part has just begun. What comes next? How is our newborn nation going to be run? When conflict like this arises, there will always be different people with different solutions. This is where the Father of the Constitution, James Madison comes into play. James Madison is most famous for his role as the fourth president of the United States, but he played other roles in government that had a huge impact on how the way things are today. Prior to Madison’s presidency, he was a part of the Constitutional Convention where he influenced the ratification of the Constitution

He also published 29 of the 85 essays written to persuade the people of New York to vote in favor of the Constitution. As if that wasn’t enough, James Madison was also the creator of the Bill of Rights which was turning point in getting the Anti-Federalists to support the ratification of the Constitution. Without James Madison the Government would not be run the way that it is today. James Madison did not come up with all of these ideas on his own though. He was greatly influenced by John Locke in writing the first amendment in the Bill of Rights and by Baron de Montesquieu when he included separation of powers. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason, had also strongly influenced Madison in writing the Bill of Rights. All of this took place before his presidency in 1809. Even after he had achieved all of this, he remained humble stating that the Constitution was not “the off-spring of a single brain,” but instead, “the work of many heads and many hangs.” It’s because of these accomplishments in forming Americas government that I believe the James Madison deserves to be included in our history