History UsefulNotes / JamesMadison

America eventually managed enough victories to successfully negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain that declared status quo ante bellum. In a final ironic twist to a war that shouldn't have been fought, the one major American victory, at New Orleans, occurred after the peace treaty had been negotiated in Europe. Indeed, Madison succeeded in getting Britain to remove their forts from the Mississippi River basin and getting them to cease the conscription of American sailors, thus achieving the initial goals of the war without losing any territory to Britain. Madison's chief accomplishment as President was successfully preserving the Constitution and holding the nation together through the nation's first major war. Unlike [[UsefulNotes/John Adams most]] [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson of]] [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt the]] [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson other]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush wartime]] [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Presidents]], Madison managed to do this without suspending civil liberties, attacking minorities, or expanding presidential powers, so that's impressive. After the war was over, Madison changed his political views yet again and supported many of the policies he previously opposed, such as a standing military that is professionally trained, the American System of Speaker of the House UsefulNotes/HenryClay[[note]]note needed[[/note]], and, ironically, a national bank.

America eventually managed enough victories to successfully negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain that declared status quo ante bellum. In a final ironic twist to a war that shouldn't have been fought, the one major American victory, at New Orleans, occurred after the peace treaty had been negotiated in Europe. Indeed, Madison succeeded in getting Britain to remove their forts from the Mississippi River basin and getting them to cease the conscription of American sailors, thus achieving the initial goals of the war without losing any territory to Britain. Madison's chief accomplishment as President was successfully preserving the Constitution and holding the nation together through the nation's first major war. Unlike [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln most]] [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson of]] [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt the]] [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson other]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush wartime]] [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Presidents]], Madison managed to do this without suspending civil liberties, attacking minorities, or expanding presidential powers, so that's impressive. After the war was over, Madison changed his political views yet again and supported many of the policies he previously opposed, such as a standing military that is professionally trained, the American System of Speaker of the House UsefulNotes/HenryClay[[note]]note needed[[/note]], and, ironically, a national bank.

James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)[[note]]Originally born March 5 under the Old Style Julian calendar before the British territories, including the Colonies, adopted the Gregorian or New Style calendar dating system in 1752, making him the last president to be born when the Old Julian Calendar was in use.[[/note]] was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

->''"James Madison never had a son and he fought the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812."'' [[note]]Specifically of his own, though he was the stepfather of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Payne_Todd John Todd]] after marrying a widow[[/note]]

->''"James Madison never had a son and he fought the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812."''

Madison is also well-known for being the shortest president at 5 feet 4 inches (163 centimeters, and significantly below the average adult male height). He also rarely weighed more than 100 pounds as an adult. It’s probably why he was exceedingly shy and wore black all the time. Despite his shyness and the way he looked, he was actually a lot funnier than Jefferson. He had a cousin of the same name who was a bishop. One of only two Presidents from Princeton University, in contrast to the [[IvyLeagueForEveryone cavalcade of Harvard and Yale alums who've had the job]]. Of the two, Madison is definitely [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson the least controversial]]. George Will once did a lecture--partially available on [=YouTube=]--comparing and contrasting the two Princeton alums who became President. Madison used to be on the $5,000 dollar bill, but these have been discontinued since 1969.

-->--'''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''', the ''Presidents Song''

James Madison, Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)[[note]]Originally born March 5 under the Old Style Julian calendar before the British territories, including the Colonies, adopted the Gregorian or New Style calendar dating system in 1752, making him the last president to be born when the Old Julian Calendar was in use.[[/note]] was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JMadison.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Equal laws protecting equal rights... the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country."'']]

'''James Madison, Jr.''' (March 16, 1751 -- June 28, 1836)[[note]]Originally born March 5 under the Old Style Julian calendar before the British territories, including the Colonies, adopted the Gregorian or New Style calendar dating system in 1752, making him the last president to be born when the Old Julian Calendar was in use.[[/note]] was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

He was one of the most active delegates at the Convention, speaking hundreds of times, and impressed many of the others with his arguments for a stronger federal government and his well-researched knowledge of nearly every issue. The detailed diary Madison kept on the Convention has remained a priceless insight into the process of writing the Constitution. Madison was the author and primary supporter of the Virginia Plan at the Convention, which proposed that the nation’s legislative branch would represent each state based on their population (which would become the idea for the House of Representatives), among other things. His role in the convention is important for establishing a powerful federal government that could pass laws over the entire nation, rather than the essentially state-based power of the Articles. Since the Virginia Plan would essentially serve as a first draft of the eventual Constitution passed by the Convention, he has often been credited as the Constitution’s primary author.

Madison is also well-known for being the shortest president at 5 feet 4 inches (163 centimeters, and significantly below the average adult male height). He was also at most 125 pounds as an adult. It’s probably why he was exceedingly shy and wore black all the time. Despite his shyness and the way he looked, he was actually a lot funnier than Jefferson. He had a cousin of the same name who was a bishop. One of only two Presidents from Princeton University, in contrast to the [[IvyLeagueForEveryone cavalcade of Harvard and Yale alums who've had the job]]. Of the two, Madison is definitely [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson the least controversial]]. George Will once did a lecture--partially available on [=YouTube=]--comparing and contrasting the two Princeton alums who became President. Madison used to be on the $5,000 dollar bill, but these have been discontinued since 1969.

Madison is also well-known for being the shortest president at 5 feet 4 inches (163 centimeters, and significantly below the average adult male height). He was also at most 125 pounds as an adult. It’s probably why he was exceedingly shy and wore black all the time. Despite his shyness and the way he looked, he was actually a lot funnier than Jefferson. He had a cousin of the same name who was a bishop. One of only two Presidents from Princeton University, in contrast to the [[IvyLeagueForEveryone cavalcade of Harvard and Yale alums who've had the job]]. Of the two, Madison is definitely [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson the least controversial]]. George Will once did a lecture--partially available on Youtube--comparing and contrasting the two Princeton alums who became President. Madison used to be on the $5,000 dollar bill, but these have been discontinued since 1969.

America eventually managed enough victories to successfully negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain that declared status quo ante bellum. In a final ironic twist to a war that shouldn't have been fought, the one major American victory, at New Orleans, occurred after the peace treaty had been negotiated in Europe. Indeed, Madison succeeded in getting Britain to remove their forts from the Mississippi River basin and getting them to cease the conscription of American sailors, thus achieving the initial goals of the war without losing any territory to Britain. Madison's chief accomplishment as President was successfully preserving the Constitution and holding the nation together through the nation's first major war. Unlike [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln most]] [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson of]] [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt the]] [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson other]] [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush wartime]] [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Presidents]], Madison managed to do this without suspending civil liberties, attacking minorities, or expanding presidential powers, so that's impressive. After the war was over, Madison changed his political views yet again and supported many of the policies he previously opposed, such as a standing military that is professionally trained, the American System of Speaker of the House UsefulNotes/HenryClay, and, ironically, a national bank.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "All the President's Heads," the head of James Madison has an elbow fetish.

James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751 -- June 28, 1836)[[note]]Originally born March 5 under the Old Style Julian calendar before the British territories, including the Colonies, adopted the Gregorian or New Style calendar dating system in 1752, making him the last president to be born when the Old Julian Calendar was in use.[[/note]] was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

-->--'''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''', the ''President's Song''

'''James Madison''' (March 16, 1751 -- June 28, 1836)[[note]]Originally born March 5 under the Old Style Julian calendar before the British territories, including the Colonies, adopted the Gregorian or New Style calendar dating system in 1752, making him the last president to be born when the Old Julian Calendar was in use.[[/note]] was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', a [[RealTrailerFakeMovie trailer]] is shown for a biopic starring Creator/AdamSandler, called ''Happy Madison''.

Madison spent most of the rest of his life in Montpelier, his tobacco plantation. Madison was a slave owner, but he [[FairForItsDay genuinely had sympathy for African Americans]]; one of his own slaves would comment after Madison’s death that he never had his slaves physically punished, ordering the overseers not to hurt them, and always talked to them like they were people instead of tools of labor. He was a supporter (and, for a brief time, the president) of the American Colonization Society, which aimed to [[{{UsefulNotes/Liberia}} create colonies in Africa for freed slaves]]. Madison spent much of his last few years [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory altering documents he wrote in order to protect his reputation after his death]]. During this time, he also spoke out against excessive states' rights out of the belief that [[GenreSavvy it could eventually disrupt the Union]]; he especially objected to John C. Calhoun's use of Madison's own Virginia Resolution during the Nullification Crisis of 1832. He also succeeded Jefferson as president of the University of Virginia, and would remain so until his death. He was the last Founding Father to die.

As the debate over state ratification grew, many opposed to ratification began to argue that the Constitution lacked a Bill of Rights and that, as a result, the federal government did not have to consider the basic human rights that the Revolutionary War was fought defending. Madison, and most of the others in the Convention, believed that such a Bill was unnecessary and that it would only defend the rights that were ''specifically mentioned''. However, he [[{{GenreSavvy}} quickly realized]] that some of the states might not ratify the Constitution, and he responded by writing and promoting a series of twenty amendments to the Constitution that would define and defend these rights and certain political practices. These were eventually condensed into the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which have since been referred to as the Bill of Rights. The ninth and tenth amendments defend certain rights held by the people that weren’t mentioned in the other amendment and that all powers not granted to the federal government are held by the states, respectively. Additionally, one of his other proposed amendments, which says that changes in the amount paid to Congressmen wouldn’t take place until after the next congressional election, would be ratified as the twenty-seventh amendment in ''1992''. After the ratification of the Constitution, he was elected to the House of Representatives.

Along with UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton and John Jay, he wrote the ''[[UsefulNotes/AmericanFederalism Federalist Papers]],'' a series of 85 academic articles all written anonymously that supported ratification of the Constitution and explained it to the public (he wrote 26 by himself and three with Hamilton). Madison’s ''Papers'' also defended several of the most important aspects of the Constitution, such as a system of checks-and-balances, a federal government with more power than the state governments that still respects state sovereignty, the idea of limited government, the three-fifths compromise (where every five slaves would count as three free persons in the state’s population[[note]]It was understood that both each state's representation in the House of Representatives ''and'' the amount of "direct taxes" required from each state--that is, a certain contribution from the states to the federal government, a system no longer used--would be based on ''total'' population, including people (like women, children, and non-citizens) who could not vote, excluding only "Indians not taxed". Northern delegates (many of whom were not necessarily ''anti''-slavery but weren't particularly opposed to seeing it gone either) realized that when you discounted slaves, the North had a larger population than the South rather than the other way around, and so tried to get slaves excluded for representation purposes, but included for taxation purposes (because that way the South would pay more in taxes). Southern pro-slavery politicians realized the same thing and wanted the opposite. The three-fifths compromise was the result. The Constitution did not grant individual slaveholders extra votes for owning slaves: for one thing, the Constitution as originally written left voting procedures ''entirely'' in the hands of the states; for another, granting slaveholders extra votes to "represent" their slaves doesn't make much sense: do you give a married man an extra vote to represent his wife? No, you do not.[[/note]]), and, most importantly, the argument that a strong national government would have more power to quell rebellions and prevent self-interested parties from gaining too much power. The writings and beliefs of Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli served as an inspiration to Madison and other Founding Fathers, such as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams.

'''James Madison''' (March 16, 1751 -- June 28, 1836) was a Founding Father, the fourth U.S. President (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

He was elected President after Jefferson’s two terms were over. In 1811, he did not renew the charter that would keep the national bank founded by Hamilton (it needed to be renewed every twenty years or the bank would be dismantled). During the first few years of his presidency, relations with Great Britain strained tremendously, due largely to the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships British Navy’s]] practice of illegally searching American ships for British deserters and, sometimes, stealing American sailors and conscripting them in the British Navy. Since the late 1790s, approximately 7,000 American merchant seamen or sailors had been impressed, as it was known. Banning trade with the United Kingdom did nothing to stop this, either. Madison eventually asked Congress to [[WarOf1812 declare war on Britain]], and the War Hawks, including Henry Clay, narrowly passed the declaration despite the voracious opposition of Federalists in New England. The War of 1812[[note]]which, unlike the name suggests, actually lasted until 1815[[/note]] was an ''absolute nightmare'' for the federal government because of a succession of weak generals and because the government was not yet properly organized to manage a war. There was also a brief, secondary wish to make annexing Canada part of the overall war strategy, although the primary purpose of the invasion was to essentially force Britain to the negotiating table in regards to impressment. If you've looked at a map of North America lately, you can probably tell that fleeting wish was not granted. Once Napoleon had been exiled to Elba, the British turned their attention to the conflict, stepping up their raiding in the Chesapeake Bay, and eventually mounting a successful amphibious invasion of the state of Maryland, after which they marched on Washington, D.C., and burned down most of the city's public buildings, including the original U.S. Capitol Building and the White House. Luckily for Madison, all of this happened after the 1812 election; allowing Pennsylvania to obtain licenses to continue trading with the British through the second half of 1812 probably assured his re-election. He also became the first (and currently only) president to lead troops into battle while in office; [[EpicFail the battle, the prelude to the burning of Washington, was a defeat and Madison fled]].

Along with UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton and John Jay, he wrote the ''[[AmericanFederalism Federalist Papers]],'' a series of 85 academic articles all written anonymously that supported ratification of the Constitution and explained it to the public (he wrote 26 by himself and three with Hamilton). Madison’s ''Papers'' also defended several of the most important aspects of the Constitution, such as a system of checks-and-balances, a federal government with more power than the state governments that still respects state sovereignty, the idea of limited government, the three-fifths compromise (where every five slaves would count as three free persons in the state’s population[[note]]It was understood that both each state's representation in the House of Representatives ''and'' the amount of "direct taxes" required from each state--that is, a certain contribution from the states to the federal government, a system no longer used--would be based on ''total'' population, including people (like women, children, and non-citizens) who could not vote, excluding only "Indians not taxed". Northern delegates (many of whom were not necessarily ''anti''-slavery but weren't particularly opposed to seeing it gone either) realized that when you discounted slaves, the North had a larger population than the South rather than the other way around, and so tried to get slaves excluded for representation purposes, but included for taxation purposes (because that way the South would pay more in taxes). Southern pro-slavery politicians realized the same thing and wanted the opposite. The three-fifths compromise was the result. The Constitution did not grant individual slaveholders extra votes for owning slaves: for one thing, the Constitution as originally written left voting procedures ''entirely'' in the hands of the states; for another, granting slaveholders extra votes to "represent" their slaves doesn't make much sense: do you give a married man an extra vote to represent his wife? No, you do not.[[/note]]), and, most importantly, the argument that a strong national government would have more power to quell rebellions and prevent self-interested parties from gaining too much power. The writings and beliefs of Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli served as an inspiration to Madison and other Founding Fathers, such as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams.

'''James Madison''' (March 16, 1751 -- June 28, 1836) was a Founding Father, the fourth President from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1809 to 1817]] (following UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and preceding UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe), and one of the most important and influential minds in American history. He served from 1809 to 1817 and was the second president from the Democratic-Republican Party. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the “Father of the Bill of Rights,” though he didn’t like to be called either of them. His political beliefs changed a lot throughout his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War, Madison served on the Virginia state legislature, and sometimes worked closely with Thomas Jefferson. He later served as the youngest delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he gained experience in federal government and got a first-hand sense of the problems of the government under the Articles. He also read countless books on government sent to him by Jefferson. When the Constitutional Convention met in order to discuss the Articles' shortcomings, he was the one who convinced UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington to attend and preside over the Convention.

[[caption-width-right:350:So let me get this straight, you named your daughter Madison after the city which was named after the president, [[GenderBlenderName who was a guy.]][[note]] Technically not a boy's name [[TwoFirstNames since Madison was his last name]], but it's still funny. Also, if you know the history of the name "Madison," it means..."Maud's son." With "Maud" being the archaic alternative of "Matilda." Yes.[[/note]]]]

->''"Equal laws protecting equal rights... the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country."''
-->--'''James Madison'''