43 Interesting James Madison Facts you Should Know

James Madison Jr. was the fourth President of the United States.

He served from 1809 through 1817 and was an American politician, diplomat, expansionist, thinker, and Founding Father. George Clinton was the vice-president during his tenure.

Fondly called the 'Father of the Constitution' for his key role in creating and promoting the Bill Of Rights and the United States Constitution, Madison was a capable president. James Madison wrote the 'Federalist Papers' in collaboration with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.

He co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party and held the position of the fifth Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson from 1801 until 1809.

Madison rose to prominence in the House of Representatives after getting the Constitution ratified, and he became a close advisor to President George Washington. He is credited with being the driving force behind the passage of the Bill of Rights, which upholds the Constitution and protects personal freedoms and rights.

Madison served as President Jefferson's Secretary of State from 1801 until 1809 when he was elected President of the United States. He oversaw the Louisiana Purchase, which increased the United States' size while in that office.

Life Of James Madison

James Madison, Jr. was born to James Madison Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison on March 16, 1751 (March 5, 1750, Old Style) at Belle Grove Plantation in Port Conway in the Colony of Virginia.

Since the mid-1600s, his family had been in Virginia, and Madison grew up there, spending most of his early life.

Madison was the eldest of 12 children, with seven brothers and four sisters in a family of 12.

His father was a tobacco grower who grew up on the Mount Pleasant property. The Madison family relocated into a freshly constructed residence, and they called James Madison's home Montpelier (Orange county) in the early 1760s.

Madison joined as an undergraduate at College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1769. Latin, Greek, religion, and Enlightenment texts were among the subjects he studied at Princeton. In early 1772, he returned to Montpelier.

Madison's ideas on philosophy and morality were heavily influenced by Witherspoon (college president), who persuaded him to the Enlightenment's philosophy, ideals, and ways of thought.

After the Revolutionary War in Montpelier, Virginia, Madison spent time studying old democracies across the globe in preparations for the Constitutional Convention.

He co-founded the Democratic-Republic Party with Jefferson, one of the country's first major political parties, alongside Hamilton's Federalist Party.

Following Jefferson's victory in the 1808 presidential election, Madison became his successor. He drove the United States into the War of 1812 after diplomatic complaints and a trade boycott failed to stop the seizures of American commerce by Great Britain.

Although the conflict was a bureaucratic nightmare that ended in a stalemate, many Americans hailed it as a victorious 'second battle of independence' against Britain.

Madison returned and was re-elected in 1812 as the war proceeded, but by a lower margin than in 1808. On June 28, 1836, Madison died of natural causes at Montpelier, Virginia.

James Madison: Father Of The Constitution

Madison, a representative of the Virginia House of Delegates for the Virginia Assembly and the Continental Congress political party after and during the American Revolutionary War, was born into a powerful Virginia planter family.

He grew unsatisfied with the Articles of Confederation's weak national government and helped organize the Constitutional Convention, which drafted a new constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation.

Madison's 'Virginia Convention Plan,' along with George Mason, provided the foundation for the Constitutional Convention's debates. He was one of the convention's most influential figures who got the Constitution ratified.

He collaborated on 'The Federalist Papers,' a collection of pro-ratification writings that became one of the most famous works of political science in American history, alongside Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.

The 85 articles in this book were written in favor of the Constitution. They were published in New York newspapers to persuade the state legislature to approve the Constitution.

Madison continued to push for religious liberty as a member of the House of Delegates of Virginia and went on to author the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom with Thomas Jefferson.

When Madison returned to the Virginia legislature in 1784, he opposed Patrick Henry's plan to provide financial assistance to Christian religion professors.

To escape the political consequences of his radical nationalism, he encouraged states-rights champion John Tyler to convene the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which produced the Constitutional Convention of 1787, backed by Madison's influence.

There, via Governor Edmund Randolph, his Virginia, or large-state plan provided the Constitution's essential foundation and guiding ideas, giving him the title of 'Father of the Constitution.'

He came 11 days early for the gathering, offered his Virginia Plan of checks and balances as of the Constitution's basis, and then fought diligently to have the document approved.

Madison was a firm believer in the need for a strong federal government in which the supreme power was well-balanced among the branches and therefore well-controlled.

Family Of James Madison

Let's take a look at some interesting facts about the family of former President James Madison.

Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, the 26-year-old widow of John Todd, a Quaker farmer who died in a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia on September 15, 1794.

After Dolley Payne Todd stayed in the same boardinghouse in Philadelphia, Burr introduced Madison to her at his request.

Following an arranged rendezvous in early 1794, the two got passionately engaged and planned a wedding for the following summer. For their marriage, they finally went to Harewood, Virginia.

Madison, a contemplative man, had a close connection with his wife Dolley Madison and leaned heavily on her for support in coping with the social constraints that came with the politics of the day.

Dolley madison rose to prominence in Washington D.C., where she excelled at organizing dinners and other key political events. Dolley Madison contributed to shaping the contemporary image of the first lady of the United States as a person who participates in the nation's social issues.

When Madison began his office as president for the first time in 1809, she embraced the job of the first lady. She helped define its responsibilities by refurbishing the White House and holding the first Inaugural Ball of the White House.

Madison never had children of his own, but he adopted Dolley's surviving child, John Payne Todd (known as Payne), after the marriage.

He maintained a strong connection with his father, James Sr. until he died in 1801. Francis, Ambrose, and William were his three brothers, while Nelly, Sarah, and Frances were his three sisters.

Interesting Facts About James Madison

Madison served in the Virginia militia for a short time before entering politics at a young age.

Madison was transferred to the boarding school of Donald Robertson in King and Queen County, Virginia.

Madison led the charge and was a driving force behind developing a comprehensive constitution and the establishment of the U.S. federal government.

In a debate, Madison once defeated Patrick Henry.

Unlike George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were involved in various activities outside of work, Madison focused on chess and studying Latin and Greek writings.

Madison won in the United States House of Representatives in 1789, a legislature he helped create.

In 1798, Madison wrote the Virginia Resolution (opposing the Alien and Sedition Acts).

Madison requested that Congress declared war on June 1, 1812. The young nation was unprepared to battle, and its armies were routed.

When the British arrived in Washington, they burned down the White House and the Capitol. However, a few noteworthy naval and military successes, culminating in Gen. Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans, persuaded Americans that the War of 1812 had been a spectacular success.

During the War of 1812, as British forces marched on Washington, D.C., the president grabbed a pair of fighting pistols from his treasury secretary and went to the American lines to help rouse his men.

After the battle, Madison supervised the first reconstruction of the nation's capital.

The 'War Hawks,' a youthful faction in Congress that included Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, pressured the president for a more aggressive approach.

Madison objected to both France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was illegal under international law while serving as Jefferson's Secretary of State.

Madison played a key figure in the Philadelphia Convention after the Revolutionary War.