The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Madison, James
MADISON, James, fourth President of the United States: b. Port Conway, Va., 1751; d. Montpelier, Va., 28 June 1836. Madison was the eldest son of James Madison, a Virginia planter, and of Nelly Conway, daughter of Francis Conway, of King George County, Va. His father, a man of independent means, lived on an estate now known as Montpelier in Orange County. James was born at Francis Conway's home on the Rappahannock while his mother was on a visit to her parents. His educational advantages were excellent for the times; he attended the school of a Scotchman, Donald Robertson, was well prepared for college by the clergyman of the parish, the Rev. Thomas Martin, and entered Princeton in 1769. His application to his studies was excessive, and was in part the cause of later ill health; he succeeded, however, in taking his studies of the last two years in one year and took his B.A. degree in 1771. He remained at Princeton for another year doing special work in Hebrew under Dr. Witherspoon, the president. After his return home he tutored his younger brothers and began a systematic course of reading in theology, philosophy and law. At this time his study of Hebrew and theology seem to indicate a desire to enter the ministry, but he soon abandoned this and prepared himself for the legal profession and for public service. His theological studies bore good fruit later as is evidenced by the stand he took for religious liberty.
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JAMES MADISON
Fourth President of the United States
Madison was by instinct a politician and not
a soldier; he look no active part in the
Revolutionary War, but as early as 1774 he was
appointed a member of the Committee of Public
Safety for Orange County, and in 1776 was
elected delegate to the convention which framed
the constitution of Virginia. From that time
until he retired from the Presidency he was
honored with high public offices by his State
and by the nation. In the Virginia Convention
Madison succeeded in substituting for a clause
in the Bill of Rights permitting the “fullest
toleration” in religion, a clause allowing the “free
exercise of religion.” This was a distinct blow
to religious intolerance for, as he said, toleration
implies jurisdiction, and the State should
have no coercive power over religious thought.
He was a member of the first Virginia assembly
but failed of re-election because, as his
biographer Rives tells us, he refused to conform
lo the universal custom of his day and “treat”
his constituents; he was, however, made a member
of the governor's council and so distinguished
himself that in 1780 while still under
30 he was chosen at delegate to the Continental
Congress. In this Congress he was
conspicuous for his opposition to the issuance of
paper money by the States; for his efforts to
secure for Congress the right of taxing
imports, and for his determined stand to retain
for the States the right of navigation on the
Mississippi. Madison saw clearly that a
government so organically weak that it could not
enforce its requisitions and could pay its debts
only by increasing its debt could never be
effective; hence he labored unceasingly to
enlarge the power of the central government. The
office of delegate was limited to one term, so
Madison was not returned to Congress in 1784,
but the high esteem in which he was held was
shown by his immediate election to the State
assembly. Virginia was a very influential
State and her attitude toward national
questions was of great importance. In the assembly
Madison tried to indoctrinate the people of
Virginia with his ideas concerning the Federal
power. His bill to regulate trade in Virginia
and to provide ports of entry led first to the
conference between Virginia and Maryland with
reference to trade on the Potomac and later to
the Annapolis Convention which met in 1786 to
consider the trade and commerce of the United
States. This Convention at Annapolis urged
upon the States the appointment of
commissioners to meet in convention at Philadelphia
“to devise such further government as shall
appear to them necessary to render the Constitution
of the Federal Government adequate to
the exigencies of the Union.” The summoning
of the Philadelphia Convention was largely due
to the wise bills introduced by Madison in the
Virginia assembly and to his direction of public
sentiment, and it was eminently fitting that
he should be one of the delegates of the
Virginia Commission at whose head was George
Washington. Madison's views on government
are clearly defined in his “outline system” which
formed the basis of the Virginia plan proposed
to the Convention. His system demanded that
there should be a due supremacy of national
authority without the exclusion of local authority,
that the national authority should extend to
the judiciary and to the militia; that the national
legislature should be composed of two bodies,
the larger elected for a short, the smaller for a
longer term; that Congress should have certain
coercive powers; that a national executive
should he provided and that the basis of
representation in Congress should be changed from
States to population. The “Virginia plan” was
the germ of the Constitution and Madison is
rightly called the “Father of the Constitution.”
His arguments in favor of the proposed government
were exhaustive and convincing, and his
private notes of the work of the Convention and
of his debates purchased from his widow and
published by Congress form a valuable addition
to our knowledge of this stormy period. While
the Constitution was before the people for
consideration Madison, Hamilton and Jay wrote a
series of papers called in collected form The
Federalist, in which they discussed government
in general, defined the character of the
proposed union, met objections and proved the
advantages to be derived from effective central
government. Madison was a member of the
Virginia Convention which met to consider the
ratification of the Constitution and by his keen
analysis and clear-cut argument contributed
more than any other man to secure its adoption.
His chief opponent was Patrick Henry; his
ablest ally, John Marshall. Owing to Henry's
antagonism, Madison was defeated as candidate
for the Senate, but was elected as representative
to Congress and took his seat in April 1789.
During this session of Congress, Hamilton and
Madison, who had hitherto been as one in their
efforts to centralize power, drifted apart, and
Madison gradually began to endorse Jefferson's
position as to certain inalienable States' rights.
There is no reason to accuse him of bad faith;
his statesmanship was never overbold, and
Hamilton's commercial system, his extensive
financial schemes, especially the funding of the
national debt and the assumption of State debts
by the general government, gave so much power
to Congress that Madison withdrew his support
from the Secretary of the Treasury and vigorously
opposed his measures. Although Madison
had now definitely cast in his fortunes with the
Republican opposition his moderation and good
sense enabled him to retain the friendship of
most of his political opponents.
From 1793 to 1796 the country was greatly agitated over the relation of the United States toward France, and on the outbreak of war between France and England the President issued a neutrality proclamation to the great disgust of the French, who had expected active friendship from the United States. Although both countries interfered shamefully with American commerce, popular sentiment and the Republican party sided with France. In 1794 Madison, supported by Jefferson, introduced a bill demanding retaliatory measures against Great Britain, and a temporary embargo was laid on British commerce. The signing of the Jay treaty by the President was a signal for an outburst of popular indignation, and Madison, as leader of the opposition in Congress, opposed the appropriation of money to carry out the terms of the treaty. In 1797 Madison retired and enjoyed for a short while the pleasures of private life. A year later he was aroused to activity by the passage of the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts. The Virginia resolutions written by Madison denounced these laws and declared that in case of a dangerous exercise by the Federal government of powers not granted by the compact the States had the right to interfere. These resolutions still further emphasized the position of the Republican party and pledged it to the support of States' rights. The year 1801 brought an overwhelming defeat to the Federalists; Jefferson was inaugurated President and Madison became Secretary of State. He was thoroughly in sympathy with the President's views and shared the popularity of that brilliant administration. The last years of Jefferson's second term were clouded by the insulting actions of England and France with reference to the American navy. The orders of the British and the decrees of Napoleon concerning the seizure of neutral vessels were ruining American commerce. Vessels were seized by the English and by the French, American seamen were impressed and ports blockaded. Jefferson was opposed to war in his efforts to coerce France and England by commercial restrictions he induced Congress to lay an embargo on British trade. Instead of injuring England this seriously crippled American commerce and was soon repealed. In this troubled condition of affairs Madison became President in 1809. Like Jefferson he was opposed to war and tried diplomacy. He attempted through Erskine, the British envoy, to have the British Orders in Council withdrawn. Erskine agreed, but the British government repudiated the action of its envoy. Negotiations with another British Minister, James Jackson, were also fruitless. Continued insults were heaped upon American ships and men; the country demanded definite action against the aggressors; even the peace-loving President, weary of the offensive attitude of England, at last gave his consent to war. On the 18th of June 1812 war was declared and continued with varying success until the Peace of Ghent in 1814. After nearly three years of fighting, after ruinous loss of money and property, the country was practically just where it stood in 1812, “its boundary unchanged, its international rights still undefined, the people still divided.” Madison lacked vigor as a war President, nor had he sufficient determination to secure advantageous terms of peace. He was far greater as a framer of the Constitution than as an executive.
In 1817 Madison retired from office and settled on his estates of Montpelier. He had married in 1796 Mrs. Todd, afterward the celebrated Dolly Madison, and with her he enjoyed 20 peaceful years in his country home. He was interested in farming, he thought and wrote much on all topics of public interest. He discussed social and moral questions, slavery and education. “Education,” he maintained, “was the true foundation of civil liberty.” The last public appearance of the venerable statesman was in the Virginia Convention of 1829 which met to amend the State constitution. In character Madison was thoughtful, reserved and cautious; in a time of hard drinkers he was notably abstemious. Moderation characterized all his habits. Dignified and kindly and an excellent conversationalist among those he knew well, he made and retained warm friends. His knowledge was profound and accurate, and he was considered an authority on all constitutional matters. His literary style was labored, but his arguments were keen, comprehensive and convincing.
Consult Lives of Madison by J. Q. Adams (1850); Rives (1859-68); Gay (1884); also ‘Letters and Writings of Madison’ edited by Hunt (9 vols., New York 1900-10); Adams, Henry, ‘History of the United States from 1801 to 1817’ (1889-90). Consult also Hunt G., ‘Life of James Madison’ (New York 1902); Taylor, H., ‘The Real Authorship of the Constitution of the United States Explained’ (Washington 1912); Wilson, J. G., ‘Presidents of the United States’ (Vol. I, New York 1914).