James Madison Research Paper

Ayrton Howard

Mrs. Joyce

Dual U.S. History

11/3/17

James Madison

The fourth President of the United States from 1809-1817, one of the fathers to the Constitution through the writing of the Federalist Papers (whitehouse.gov, 2017), James Madison Jr. is forever revered by the United States and its people with each mention and use of the Bill of Rights and its first ten amendments. Despite being shy and timid, even in his presidency, Madison’s passion for debate and interest the Colonies’ growing desires for independence from Great Britain allowed him to go to political town hall meetings and become better friends with prominent political figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who would become a close, lifelong friend.

On March 16th, 1751,

Due to his interest in debating current issues and discussing the Colonies’ independence, he landed himself as a delegate to the Virginia Convention, drafting the Virginia Plan later on; which was presented by Edmund Randolph at the Philadelphia Convention. The Virginia plan was the plan that dictated that the amount of people in Congress should be based on population size of each state, and also suggested a bicameral legislature and a three part government, which are used in the United States’ government today (ourdocuments.gov, 2017). Some time after in 1787, Madison was the main constituent in creating the Constitution, which is still the basis for the United States’ government. His ideas on a bicameral legislature elected by the people, an independent judiciary, and an executive chosen by that legislature was popular in that time, and his notes were highly detailed. Madison was persuasive and well-read enough to have written out his plans for earning the title “Father of the Constitution” (Stagg, 2017). To further give support for his ideas that he had written in the Constitution, Madison wrote, with the help of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay,

Still, his intellect kept up through his age, and he advocated for the protection of the environment, suggesting that upsetting nature and the animals in it (even micro organisms that were then known as “invisible organisms” because they couldn’t be studied) would wipe out the human race. On June 26th, 1836, James Madison died on his land in Montpelier, Virginia. His death was simply due to age and failure of the body to maintain itself, and, after his death, a message titled, “Advice to My Country” was released to the public. The following quote shows that even in his final years, his love for musing over topic was present, even in his final years, “The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.” Madison believed that the United States would thrive and be the city on the hill for the world, and that no one could take it down (Brant,