Three Cheers for Mr. Madison

Brittany Baldwin / March 16, 2011

If forced to enter a duel with a Founder, James Madison would be an easy opponent—slender, diminutive, and painfully shy. But if you were to engage in any sort of intellectual debate with “little Jimmy,” you would indeed suffer a cerebral defeat. Today we celebrate Madison’s birthday, and though he is not with us, his Constitution still stands.

In May of 1787, Madison arrived at the Constitutional Convention having read scores of books about political philosophy, the rise and fall of empires, and enlightenment thought. For four summer months, Madison tirelessly explained and defended his “Virginia Plan” to the other delegates. At the same time, Madison also understood the art of compromise, and like any tactful politician, he was willing to concede some points to the North and to the South in order to complete a draft of the Constitution.

On September 17, 1787, while the members signed the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin remarked that painters had often found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. Franklin’s reflection about whether the signing of the Constitution marked the beginning or end of the republic spurred Madison to answer the question as clearly as possible. He was so determined to explain the strengths and benefits of the Constitution that he drafted a series of essays, later published as the Federalist. In these essays, he analyzed the ways the Constitution protects against both forms of tyranny: on one end, popular factions undermining government and on the other, government oppressing the people. (more…)