James Madison, Jr.: Ratification Of The US Constitution

"The accumulation of all powers... in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny" (James Madison- Background Essay). In May of 1787, the delegates came together to create a new Constitution that had a stronger central government. One problem the delegates were faced with was the possibility of tyranny within the United States of America. Delegates like James Madison, created the Constitution that prevented Tyranny. The Constitution guards against tyranny by creating a Federalist government, a separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, and equality between big states vs small states.

James Madison, also known as the Father of the Constitution, was one of the many remarkable men in American history. He, along with many others, fought bravely for the existence of the United States of America whether it was by the sword or by the pen. However, another obstacle stood in the way of this newborn country; a government. Creating the Constitution would be a whole conflict in itself, but it was one that James Madison knew would benefit the nation in the end. There were many hindrances that came in between the Constitution such as the Anti-federalists, a weak Articles of Confederation, and also the fact that the people had just escaped a previous cruel monarchy. However, James Madison was able to overcome them all.

Prior to the Constitution’s ratification, an ongoing debate over the danger of the federal judiciary took place between Robert Yates and Alexander Hamilton, who had very different views.

In 1787-1788 federalist essays came to life thanks to James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton under the alias of “Publius”. This paper delves into the motivations of James Madison and how classical republicanism aided in the argument for the ratification.

The Founding Fathers had to tread carefully in leading a young country familiar with revolting against tyrannical government authorities. Madison, perhaps more than any other of his counterparts, learned the most important lesson the Articles of Confederation provided: Self-interested groups not only hindered the progress of each of its constituents’ self interest, they endangered the rights of any ensuing minorities. Madison addressed this realization carefully and sensibly. First, Madison grudgingly accepted the idea of competing factions as a reality, for conflict is both inevitable and inherent to democracy. Trying to inhibit the cause of faction would be impractical as well as immoral. Madison instead sought to control the effects of faction by using a system of checks and balances to limit “the capacity of the strong to take advantage of the weak” (Keeley, 1998, p. 119). This pragmatic resolution became one of the founding ideals the Constitution was built upon, though there was much debate as how to equally intertwine the responsibilities of each branch of government, presidential impeachment being one of them.

After the Constitution was ratified in 1788, James Madison took the job of drafting The Bill of Rights. Madison drafted 19 amendments, which he proposed to Congress on June 8, 1789. Then, House of Representatives narrowed those down to 17.The Senate with the approval of the House narrowed them down to 12. These 12 were approved on September 25, 1789, and sent to the states for ratification. Madison had also proposed some changes to the Preamble.

The Framer’s notion of a republic, or democratic republic form of government, rested on the necessity to limit the formation and success of factions. Yet, as Dahl argued, the irony of Madison’s aversions to factions is that, not long after the ratification of the

James Madison was born in Port Conway, Virginia on March 16th, 1751. Madison received an education at the college of New Jersey and graduated in 1771. He studied Latin, geography, and Philosophy. In 1774 he joined the local committee of safety which was a patriot group that monitored the actions of the local militia. Two years later Madison became a delegate in the Virginia convention and took part in the framing of the Virginia constitution. During the general election for delegates in the state assembly Madison lost to a candidate who gave out free whiskey to the voters. In 1778 he was appointed to the Virginia Council of State which directed the affairs of the state during the Revolutionary War.

Back in the late 1700s, James Madison helped the U.S. constitution. He was born in 1751, and grew up in Orange county, Virginia. James Madison was a successful man, a great man that owned and held 3,000 slaves. James Madison got caught up tensions between colonists and British authorities. Madison wrote more than fought. That writing took Madison to Orange county representatives. Somewhere along the line, James Madison met Thomas Jefferson. Madison is a federalist at his best. Madison was campaigning for a strong government. James wanted to import a new structure of checks and balances. Meanwhile, James Madison's ideas were being used in the Constitution. In 1789, Madison won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although

Born on March 16, 1751 James Madison grew up in Montpelier . He was sent to boarding school at the age of 11. Then two years studying with a tutor at home. When he was 18 he traveled 300 miles northward to Princeton University. He then graduated 2 years later as an outstanding student.

The fourth U.S. president, James Madison, is acknowledged as the “Father of the Constitution” and sponsored numerous documents which embraced liberty. Following James Madison unifying with the militia, he was designated to the Orange County Committee of Safety in 1774. He obliged as one of the representatives of the Continental Congress. Using Montesquieu’s concepts, Madison desired to construct a federal government with a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. James Madison believed that it was significant for a new government with checks and balances to avoid the mistreatment of power by one group.

Federalist papers were a series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison and were publish with the pen name “Publius”. They were first written to urge the citizens of New York City to support ratification of the proposed United States Constitution. This paper will analyze the problem of tyranny of the majority in both society and the government by using Madison’s Federalist Papers No.10 and 51. It will also discuss how the republican government and separation of powers provide remedies.

James Madison is often known as the Father Of The Constitution, However his political power reached much farther than just the Constitutional Convention. He was a well educated man who was close with many of the other founding fathers. And he served in many conventions surrounding the forming of America as a nation.

James Madison wrote The Federalist No. 10 to inform the people about the problems and possible solutions for the formation of factions. Through multiple statements concerning the dangers of factions and the benefits of a republic, Madison’s major argument was in favor of the United States Constitution. Madison defined a faction as "A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." (Madison p. 1) Factions can be compared to the modern day lobby group; or as groups of people with a common self-interest. These groups are only involved for

James Madison also known as “Father of Constitution” wanted a strong central government. He was one of many to try and amend the Articles of Confederation. He and the others decided to just go ahead and make a new one. Madison was in front of the Virginia’s Constitution. He did secretly sign it as the U.S Constitution early September 1787. He wrote 29 out of 85 essays, also known as the Federalist Papers. He had drafted 12 amendments, which out of those 12 were passed on to approval. Which then left him with 10 that made it to be a part of the Constitution.