James Madison's Influence On American History

James Madison Jr. was born on March 16, 1751, in Port Conway Virginia. He lived in Virginia working as a planter and a politician/leader, and married Dolly Madison (Payne Todd) in 1794. Madison lived a fruitful life, dying on June 28, 1836. In his career, Madison was a very important influence on American history, doing many things such as, sponsoring the Bill of Rights and writing the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and Jon Jay. He is also one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. and was secretary of state under President Thomas Jefferson. Later Madison was the 4th president of the U.S. in 1809-1817 during the war of 1812. (U.S. vs. British). But most of all, Madison heavily influenced the writing, planning, and ratification of the

and Nellie (Conway) with his 12 siblings. As Jeremy Roberts states in his book about Madison, “Young James family was well-off by the standards of the day. While he remembered the Madisons as ‘respectful but not opulent (rich),’ they were very powerful and important in the community.” Even from an early age, James’s family had leadership in the community, which continued to carry on in his career. In the meetings in which Madison participated in, he quickly gained leadership and recognition, despite his small frame and weak voice. Since the Madisons had a decent amount of money, he had the privilege of a good education. However, as Roberts also says, “Details of James Jr.’s early education are lost, but it was common at the time for children to learn to read and write at home. Historians believe that his grandmother, Frances Taylor Madison. Who lived with the family, may have helped educate him.” After being homeschooled, he left to study with Donald Robertson, a well-known teacher at the time. Four years later, he rode to the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. Madison chose not to attend the more popular William and Mary College in VA, because the College of New Jersey had religious freedom and was less susceptible to disease. At college, Madison completed the four-year course in two years and often debated about current issues like the Tea Act which “started” his career in politics. After graduating from college, he delayed his trip home for over half a year to study law and Hebrew. During this time, Madison was angered when a Baptist preacher and some of his followers were jailed for preaching without a government license. The colony’s lawmakers refused to protect them, as the Baptists were protestants. Their religious beliefs differed from the majority, so they were not allowed to preach. Madison was disgusted and outraged by this event saying that that this was nothing less that slavery, using