James Madison was an incredibly influential figure in the founding and beginning of the United States of America. From the drafting of the Constitution, to his presidency, to the War of 1812, Madison played a prominent role in leading the young country. Madison’s successes can be traced back to his education and his previous careers. Madison’s experience received from his earlier political career and from other presidential decisions defined his decisions made in the War of 1812.
Madison received his primary education locally in his family’s home through tutoring by Donald Robertson who taught him mathematics and language. Madison then received his college education at Princeton University (then known as The College of New Jersey) in 1771. Despite his interest in law, Madison mostly studied language, sciences, and philosophy. It was not until after receiving his bachelor’s degree that he began to study politics for two years at princeton before returning to his Virginian tobacco plantation, Montpelier, where he continued his study of law and political science. (Montpelier.org, 1)
Madison was determined to serve his country in any way that he could, but because of his weak and sickly body, he decided that he was better suited to serve his state and his country as a politician. He began his political career in 1776 when he was elected as a representative for Orange County in the Virginia Convention. He very quickly climbed the political ladder, serving as the youngest representative to the Continental Congress in 1780, and as a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1787. Madison continued to participate in government, returning to congress in 1787 when the it called for meeting to revise the flawed Articles of Confed...
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...he rest of the city. However, after the destruction of Washington, Madison’s luck began to change for the better.
Madison’s generals William Harrison and Andrew Jackson won some major victories in the West against the Native Americans. In the Battle of the Thames, the leader of the Shawnee, Tecumseh was killed and his army defeated. The winning of the battles against the British allowed the American military and its generals to focus the war effort to the British in the East. The United States’s naval expansion was also going well as American Harbors created twelve warships to fight the british in the Atlantic and in the Great Lakes. The U.S. Navy managed to capture or destroy every British ship in Lake erie. Madison’s decision to convert the U.S. merchant ships to naval ships payed off as well, as over 1,800 British ships were captured during the course of the war.
In Madison’s mind, this seemed like such a reasonable request, but apparently, to Napoleon and the King of England, it was way too much to ask. Even though Napoleon promptly agreed to Madison’s reasonable negotiations, he gave his navy “.secret orders to continue seizing American ships” while “.the British continued seizing ships and impressing” sailors (Hart 168).... ... middle of paper ... ...
The British chose to attack the Americans from the north by way of Isle aux Pois in the mouth of the Pearl River because this was the only only stable water they had found that ships could ride and anchor. When hearing that the british where coming this way, Lieutenant Thomas Ap Catesby Jones and his five gunboats went to try and Barackade the Rigolets trying to make sure they wouldn’t enter. His 185 men and 23 guns awaited the British. At 10:30 on December 14th 1814 three columns of British ships, 42 to 45, armed with 43 guns and 1,200 under the command of Captain Lockyer met the American blockade. Fierce fighting began and the British had finally captured the five American boats. Losses were 17 British and 6 Americans killed, 77 British and 35 Americans wounded. This gave Gerneral Andrew Jackson six days more to improve his defenses. The British at the very beginning of the war had demolished almost all of Jacksons sea power. Jackson only had the Carolina, Louisiana, and one gunboat left.
Even though both were Republicans, their beliefs in the running of the country differed. Madison did not follow the Constitution quite as strict as Jefferson did. Essentially Madison forced men to enlist in the military and fight for the American cause as it states in Document D. Many questioned if it was constitution asking if it said anywhere in the Constitution that a president is allowed to take men from their families and make them fight in war. The answer to their question is no. Jefferson more than likely disagreed with Madison in this case. John Randolph, one of few Republicans whose view does not change, also questions Madison’s constitutional interpretation in Document F. He believes that Madison’s administration is following in the footsteps of John Adams instead of Jefferson. He feels that Madison is abusing his powers of managing trade for the United States with implicating tariffs. In Document H, the regulation of trade is also discussed. Madison becomes slightly stricter in his interpretation of the Constitution when he vetoes a bill for the construction of roads and canals. He says that this power is not directly given nor can it be inferred from the Constitution; therefore, he refuses to pass the bill. Madison also attempted to remain peaceful with Britain and France like Jefferson. So, he created his own, less intense version of the Embargo Act called the Non-Intercourse Act. It allowed
He discusses how Madison noticed the problem of each of the 134 states having its own agenda. Madison even thought that people were interested in their local politics. They don’t think of the whole state or even the whole country (Wood, 2012). He wanted to change this and create a stronger government that would override certain state powers like money printing and the ability to pass tariffs. He suggested that democracy was not a solution, but a problem (Wood, 2012). Basically, on a state level, he wanted to elevate decision making to limit democracy which was actually causing more harm than
On September 17, 1787, the Philadelphia Convention sent their new constitution to the states for ratification. The Federalists highly approved of the Constitution because it allowed for a more central and powerful government that was previously undermined under the Articles of Confederation. The Anti-Federalists, however, didn’t want a powerful central government, but, instead, powerful state governments; in response to the Constitution, many Anti-Federalists began writing essays and creating pamphlets as a means of arguing against it. In retaliation to the Anti-Federalists attempt at getting states to not ratify the Constitution, many Federalists developed a group of essays known as the Federalist Papers, which argued for the ratification of the new law system.
He specifically recommended enlarging the army, preparing the militia, finishing the military academy, stockpiling munitions, and expanding the navy (Ketcham, 509). Still, the precipitance led to poor preparation. By that time, there were serious threats of disunion from New England, which engaged in extensive smuggling with Canada and refused to provide financial support or soldiers (Stagg). Because of certain faults above, Madison then could not finance the quick hiring of mercenaries so his military force consisted mostly of poorly trained militia members at the time war
Of the many figures in American History, Alexander Hamilton has proven himself one of the most versatile and influential. His policies and ideals have helped the United States blossom into a prosperous world power. Through his power as secretary of Treasury and his convincing intellectual efforts, he was able to dominate the nations early political environment. Hamilton’s patriotic endeavors have proven themselves to be durable and in the best interests of the United States.
Like myself, Madison was shy yet persistent when it came to things he felt passionate about. To Madison that was politics. At the start of his political career in 1776 he started working very closely with Thomas Jefferson. As Madison grew in his career he became a very respected leader in congress and eventually was one that helped pushed the idea for national convention to draft the constitution. During Madison’s career, he wrote many political articles and papers. Some of his most well-known writings are the “Virginia Plan” and contribution to the “Federalist Papers”. The “Virginia Plan” ended up being so well done that it was the blueprint for the constitution when it was being
James Madison, an American statesman and political theorist that was present at the constitutional convention. Many of the ideas proposed by Madison are part of the reason that the Constitution has withstood the test of time. Madison was ultimately prepared to deal with one of the biggest problems this new government would face in his eyes, factions. Factions, which as defined by Madison are “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community” (Madison 156). Madison addresses various ways that he sees factions can be cured of its mischiefs such as removing a faction’s causes and also controlling their effects. Madison points out that this is would potentially create an even bigger problem than the factions themselves by stating, “Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an ailment, without which it instantly expires” (Madison 156) Madison also stated that the way for a government to remove the cause of faction was either to destroy the liberty that causes factions to exist in the first place or to give every citizen the same beliefs and opinions. Madison deemed this impractical, because it is nearly impossible to give everyone in a given place the same opinions and destroying the liberty would take away the very thing that the colonies fought for 4 years earlier. The fact is Madison knew that the country wouldn’t be able to count on a well-educated statesman to be there any time a faction gets out of hand. Madison knew the only viable way to keep factions under control is not to get rid of factions entirely but to set a r...
Although America did not win The War of 1812, due to the Battle of Lake Erie, they did not lose it. The war was caused by the impressment of American soldiers, blockades on American trade, and Indian slaughters on the American frontier. James Madison launched The War of 1812 so that the United States would not be taken advantage of, but by doing so, he took on an army fifty times bigger than his own. When it looked like America would lose the war, Oliver Hazard Perry turned the tables and won the deciding battle that allowed James Monroe to sign the Treaty of Ghent and bring peace to the two countries. Although the original conflicts were not solved, they dissipated over time. The War of 1812 may not have solved many problems, but it proved to American’s that they could stand together and prevail over injustice.
James Madison clearly was not pleased with the Articles of Confederation. In “Vices of the Political System of the U.S.”, Madison wrote about twelve weaknesses. These weaknesses concern the dysfunction and seemingly powerless federal/national government. Specifically, Madison wrote that under the articles the federal government did not have the authority to prevent the states from encroaching on its authority. There were no consequences if the states decided to violation federal treaties. The articles permitted states to make their own laws concerning federal issues including currency and commerce. Basically, there was no uniformity in laws from state to state and laws of one state may be an aggression on the rights of another state. Madison felt that permitting states to restrict the flow of commerce with other states was adverse to the spirit of the Union. Madison explained that there was no uniformity in issues of common interest such as laws concerning naturalization. Madison wrote that the articles lacked sanctions to enforce the laws and coercion in government. He felt the articles were nothing more than a treaty of
In 1836, Madison died in his family plantation home in Virginia. Leaving a legacy of an evolutionary world we live in today. Known as “Father of the Constitution”, he helped write much of the Constitution. He also wrote 29 of 85 “Federalist Papers” to have the Constitution approved. Madison was for the people he wrote the Bill of Rights, standing up for the American people. He helped found the Democratic Republican Party with Thomas Jefferson. After a lesson learned as the fourth President leading two wars, he saw the value of having a strong federal government. President James Madison, will forever be in our History.
“[T]he man on the ten-dollar bill is the father of the American treasury system, a signer of the Constitution, one of the primary authors of the Federalist Papers, and the loser of the infamous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Alexander Hamilton's earlier career as a Continental Army officer is less well known. Yet Hamilton's first experience in public service is important, not only because it was the springboard to his later career, but because it also deeply influenced his values and thinking” (Hamilton).
Monroe became the state legislator of Virginia in 1782, served three years in Congress starting in 1784, and became Minister to France from 1794 to 1796. He also governed Virginia from 1799 to 1802 and became the Secretary of State during the Madison Presidency. While serving in this position he helped in the negotiations of the War of 1812(Sauer, 2001, p.235-36). Monroe was chosen for candidacy by his predecessor James Madison. He served two terms as president and had virtually no opposition in either election. This was due to the fall of the Federalist Party. At the end of Monroe's first term he dealt with The Panic of 1819 and in the Missouri Compromise during 1820 (Text, 2005). The most important and most influential document of this time would come at the end of his last term, the Monroe Document.
George started out by managing his estate, from whom he inherited from his father, in a very professional fashion when he was only in his early twenties. While there was very little schooling in Virginia at the time, George Washington still received a ...