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James Madison's Radical Agenda Essay

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Madison’s Radical Agenda In Madison’s Radical Agenda by Joseph Ellis the thesis was how James Madison shaped the Constitutional Convention and formed the national government through the Virginia plan to what it now is today, and why he was successful. “Although James Madison was considered a wee man, he thought more profoundly about political problems than any other American,” (80). Many of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention only though they were there to make a few changes to the Articles of Confederation. Like the moderates, but Madison had something else in mind. He knew that the Articles would not be able to sustain, and they would lose everything they fought for. Madison desired to replace the Articles of Confederation as …show more content…

There were two key things that helped him do this. One was that the lead member of the Virginia delegation was George Washington. This helped with other people backing his ideas because George Washington stood behind him, and he was much respected in politics at the time. Secondly, that the Virginia delegation arrived at the convention before other states. This allowed him to influence the other delegates with his ideas. (80). An example of this would be how he persuaded the moderates to approve of his plans. Madison knew many of the concerns America faced when it came to shaping the government. One example of the problems face was, “The inability of the Confederation congress to raise enough money to pay off war debuts.” (80). He came up with a plan to counteract these problems. This was known as the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan was, “fifteen point plan that stood for a strong central government. It consists of 3 branches executive, legislative, and judicial,” (80). From this you can see that the government would consist of much expanded powers. This basis of government still stands strong today. “Madison’s astonishing persistence allowed the Virginia Delegation to seize the initiative,” (80). From this quote you can see that his effort made a great impact on the convention. Also, another thing that helped Madison win over the people at the convention was that he used the term “We the people,” (81). That is how

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He believed the local state assemblies abused their powers, only spoke for their local interest, changed their membership constantly, and enacted unjust laws. He believed ratifying the Constitution to a strong central government was the only option for the young country to succeed. Madison adopted David Hume’s idea, a strong republican government might perform better in a large setting rather that a small one. He convinced the American public of this idea through a series called the Federalist Papers. Madison thought a citizen’s rights were more protected with a central government rather than a local state government.

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Madison’s essay reflects the fear many had of a tyrannical government and the desire to ensure that the country didn’t revert back to that which it had just escaped from. He notes the necessity to prevent any one faction or group from gaining too much power and oppressing those in the minority. The separation of powers was set in place to ensure that this could not happen. Even if one group decides they want something, the other two have the equal authority to prevent it should it not represent the country as a whole.

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Throughout Federalist 10, Madison warned his audience of the dangers of factions. Madison believed that as long as people espoused differing opinions, came from different backgrounds, and especially, as long as there was an unequal distribution of property, people would form factions with like-minded individuals whose ideologies they shared. This grouping of people of America, in his opinion, would lead to great violence in the country that could harm the nation’s wellbeing. In order to remedy this problem, in which he viewed unequal distribution of property as the main culprit, Madison decided that setting up a Republic which would be composed of only the most qualified candidates and would be composed of a multitude of factions would be

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James Madison’s main ideas in Federalist 10 were about factions and how to remove the causes but also control the effects. He described a faction as “By a faction, I understand a number if citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community (“The Federalist #10).” Madison was correct in his statements about removing the causes and controlling the effects of factions. During the time Federalist 10 was written the Federalists were using the papers to help convince the states to ratify the Constitution.

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Thus causing even more conflict, especially amongst those not in the South. Another controversial issue was federalism because Marshall gave the national government a vast amount of power over state 's rights, and Taney believed more in giving power to the state rather than the national government. In addition, this is when outside groups started forming and lobbying their influence over government decisions, whether it is pertaining to slavery, rights, or economic interests. James Madison regarded “factions” or interest groups with concern when authoring segments of the Federalist Papers. The problem he envisioned was that eliminating them from the political scene was a threat to democratic principles, a cure worse than the disease.

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Factions and Federalist Essay No. 10 The federalist papers were a series of 85 essays written to convince the citizens of New York to ratify the constitution. Federalist essay No.10, written by James Madison, discusses political factions and their effects. Madison’s definition of a faction is clearly stated in the essay.

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