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History 11
5/5/17
James Madison
James Madison was born to the parents of James Madison Sr. and Nellie Conway
Madison. James Madison was born in Virginia on March 16th 1751. James Madison was raised
on a family plantation in Orange County, Virginia and was the oldest of twelve children.
Madison attended the College of New Jersey at the age of eighteen. After Madison graduated his
interest was the American colonies and the Britain colonies. In 1775, when the Revolutionary
War was about to start, Madison was named colonel of Orange County.
James Madison ran against Charles C. Pinckney for the election of 1808. Madison
stepped in, because Thomas Jefferson refused to run for a third term. George Clinton was
Madisons running mate. Madison ended up receiving one hundred twenty-two electoral votes,
and had 124,732 for the popular vote, and Madison won 64.7% of the states. Compared to
While Madison was colonel he met his friend Thomas Jefferson. James Madison was
Thomas Jeffersons secretary of state. As a politician Madison fought for religious freedom and
the induvial rights at birth. Madison left the 1783 and became a delegate in Virginia. After
Jeffersons presidency, on March 4th 1809 James Madison became the 4th President of the
United States. Madison wanted to create a new constitution, and in 1776 the Articles of
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Confederation were created as the first constitution of the United States. The Articles of
Confederation were ratified in 1781, this is what gave individual states power to act more as a
union than individual states. This left Congress weak, could not mange federal debt, and could
After the Articles of Confederation failed, Madison came to a conclusion. Madison said
that America needs a strong government to help regulate state legislatures for a better system to
make money. Madison said the government should be set up by a system that contains checks
and balances, so that all the branches of government were equal with equal power. Madison
suggested that all governors and judges have higher power roles in the government in order to
help manage and maintain the state legislature. In 1787, Madison presented his Virginia Plan
which said that a government had three branches of government, which are the legislative,
executive, and judicial. This plan is what created the basics of the U.S. Constitution and gave the
government its power. This created two groups those who were for the Constitution were the
Madison played a strong role in the ratification of the Constitution. Madison wrote essays
outlining his support in the Constitution. The document was ratified by the states in 1788 and the
new government took its form. Madison elected to be a part of the newly formed United States
House of Representatives. Madison served nine years there, where he worked on the rough draft
of the Bill of Right. The Bill of Rights was created for the Anti-federalists, it was the ten
amendments to the Constitution such as freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The Bill of
In the newly formed more powerful government, Madison and Jefferson found
themselves disagreeing with the Federalists. The Democratic - Republican Party was founded in
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1792 by Jefferson and Madison. This was known as Americas first political party. Madison also
had new development in his personal life. Madison married Dolley Payne Todd in 1794,
Madison was 43 years old while Dolley was 26 years old. When the couple was married they
In 1812, Madison issued a war proclamation against Britain. America was unprepared for
war. Congress did not fund or prepare an army for war, this put major setbacks on America.
These setbacks did not stop American forces, they fought off British forces. The U.S. was
defeated on land and on sea, and there improved ships proved to be formidable foes.
Madison ran for re-election against candidate DeWitt Clinton, who was supported by the
anti-war faction. The Democratic-Republican Party won again. Madison was criticized and
blamed for starting the war. Because the start of war this caused trade to stop between Europe
and U.S. This hurt impacted American merchants, and hurt them once again. Madison was forced
to leave Washington D.C. in 1814, and British forces invaded and burned buildings down,
In the end the U.S. and Britain agreed to end war, they signed the treaty of Ghent which
was signed in 1814 in Europe. Before the peace agreement reached America, the Battle of New
Orleans broke out. Madison was originally blamed for his errors in the war, and was
After Madisons two terms in office, he left Washington D.C. in 1817 to return to his
wife. He encountered a lot of difficulties in his presidency, he was respected as a great thinker,
communicator and statesman. He became the rector of the University of Virginia in 1826.
Work Cited
History.com Staff. "James Madison." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 05
May 2017.
James Madison / James Madison - Key Events." James Madison - Key Events | Miller Center.
"United States Presidential Election, 1808." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 May 2017.