II   Early Life

Madison was born near what is now Port Conway, Virginia. He grew up on Montpelier, his father's estate in Orange County, Virginia. He later inherited Montpelier, and lived there the rest of his life. In 1771 he received his degree from the College of New Jersey.

III   Early Career

In 1774 Madison was elected to Orange County's committee of safety. In 1776 he became a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention (which later became the state's legislature), where he helped prepare a declaration of rights and drafted a plan for state government. He worked with Thomas Jefferson to establish religious freedom as a part of Virginia law. In 1779 Madison was elected to the Continental Congress, where he favored strengthening the new nation's central government.

In 1784 Madison was again elected to the Virginia legislature. He advocated strengthening the federal government, supported measures to safeguard the rights of the individual, and opposed any connection between church and state. He won passage of Jefferson's bill for religious liberty in 1786.

Madison advocated amending the Articles of Confederation to expand the powers of Congress to govern commerce among the states. He led the effort to call together a convention of all the states in 1787 to draw up a national constitution.

At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Madison proposed a strong central government. He favored a two-chamber legislature and a system of representation that gave the larger states an influence in proportion to their size. His opponents urged equal representation in Congress for all states. The convention reached a compromise, in which the states would be represented according to size in the lower chamber, but would have equal voting power in the upper chamber. Madison kept a detailed journal of the convention's proceedings; it remains the most complete record of the historic meeting.

Following the Constitutional Convention, Madison worked to get the new Constitution accepted. With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, Madison published articles, later known as the Federalist Papers, which defended the Constitution. In 1788 Madison was elected to Virginia's ratification convention, where he successfully lobbied for ratification. In 1789 he was elected to the first of four consecutive terms in the House of Representatives.

Madison's service in the Congress of the United States saw the beginning of the nation's two-party system. Hamilton headed the Federalist group, which favored accommodation with Great Britain and a strong central government. Jefferson led those who opposed friendship with Britain and favored a limited federal government. Madison initially supported Hamilton's program.

In the first term of the new Congress, Madison introduced a measure to pay off the national debt through a series of import taxes. After passage of the revenue bill, Madison proposed to set up executive departments of the government. He also presented nine amendments to the Constitution to guarantee personal liberty. They formed, with the Tenth Amendment, the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.

Madison began to be alienated from the Federalists, fearing the consequences of concentrating financial power in one place. He opposed Hamilton's efforts to found a national bank and impose new tariffs. Madison's parting with the Federalists was complete by 1792, when all the electoral votes of Virginia in the presidential election were cast for an anti-Federalist candidate. Henceforward, Madison joined his political life to that of close friend Thomas Jefferson.

The antagonism between Federalists and anti-Federalists became sharpest in the realm of foreign affairs. Throughout the wars between France and Great Britain, the Federalists' sympathies were with Great Britain, while those of Jefferson and Madison were with France.

In 1794 Madison married Dolley Payne Todd. At the end of the congressional session in 1797, he returned to Montpelier to devote his life to farming. But two years later he was once again elected to the Virginia legislature.

In 1798 Madison joined Jefferson in opposing the Alien and Sedition Acts. Passed by the Federalists, the acts were adopted to restrain partisans and sympathizers of the French Revolution. Madison condemned the acts as infractions of the Constitution (see  Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions).

When Jefferson became president in 1801, he appointed Madison as secretary of state, a post he held until 1809. In his new job Madison was faced with the problem of America's relations with the warring nations of Europe. Due to the hostilities between France and Great Britain, the British and French navies often confiscated the cargoes of American ships. Further, the British navy frequently impressed sailors on American vessels into service. When attempts at negotiation failed, Madison and Jefferson introduced the Embargo Act of 1807, which ordered all trade into and out of American ports to be halted.

IV   President of the United States

In the 1808 presidential election, Madison easily defeated the Federalist candidate, diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. George Clinton, vice president under Jefferson, became Madison's vice president.

Madison's presidency was dominated by growing tensions with the governments of France and Britain. By 1810 the ineffectual trade boycott was abandoned. However, if either nation dropped its restrictions on American shipping, Madison was authorized to again prohibit trade with the other.

In November 1810 Madison halted trade with Britain when he was tricked by the French into believing that France was renouncing its policy of intercepting American ships. War had now become likely with Britain. This was due, however, as much to the American ambition to expand U.S. territory as to the controversy over shipping rights. In April 1812, Madison learned that no concession toward settlement was forthcoming from the British. Congress complied when he asked for an embargo against Britain. When it expired in June, and no progress had been made, Madison urged Congress to declare war. On June 18 Madison signed a declaration of war passed by both houses of Congress. Unknown to Madison, Britain had revoked its restrictions on American shipping on June 16.

The United States was ill prepared for the War of 1812, and Madison did not possess the qualities necessary for organizing an effective war machine. Madison's efforts were also hampered by a widespread lack of enthusiasm for the war. During the presidential election of 1812, the war was the primary issue of the campaign. Opposed by Governor De Witt Clinton of New York, Madison was criticized for carrying on the war and for not pursuing it more successfully.

V   Second Term as President

Although his support was less than in 1808, Madison was reelected, with Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts serving as vice president.

The U.S. Navy fought valiantly in the first year of the war, winning several notable victories. In 1813, however, the superior British navy captured many American ships and prevented those remaining from leaving port. American land forces struggled at first, but toward the middle of 1814 the American army began to show some competence and won several battles. During the war the British occupied large areas of the Midwest. They took the city of Washington and burned the White House, forcing Madison to flee the capital.

In December 1814 the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812. Madison won the surrender by Britain of American territory captured during the war, but impressment of American sailors and the rights of neutral shipping were not discussed in the peace treaty. No new territories were gained. Fighting the war, however, created a new awareness of the United States as a strong national entity. Madison was honored for seeing the nation through this test.

The final two years of Madison's presidency were marked by growing prosperity and a spirit of expansion. Madison signed into law a bill creating a national bank and a tariff act to protect American industries from foreign competition.

VI   Last Years

The conclusion of his second term marked the end of Madison's service in the federal government. In the years that remained to him, Madison seldom emerged from the privacy of family life in Montpelier. However, at the age of 78 he participated in the Virginia convention to write a new state constitution.