America's Greatest 19th Century Presidents (11 page)

Jay

The Bill of Rights

While Madison was an ardent advocate in favor of ratifying the Constitution, he was acutely aware of the opinions of its opponents, later stating, “I believe that the great mass of the people who opposed it, disliked it because it did not contain effectual provision against encroachments on particular rights, and those safeguards which they have been long accustomed to have interposed between them and the magistrate who exercised the sovereign power: nor ought we to consider them safe, while a great number of our fellow citizens think these securities necessary.” To help assuage opponents’ concerns and persuade them to support the Constitution, Madison proposed that the new Constitution have a Bill of Rights affixed to it that would more explicitly spell out individuals’ rights. The idea was opposed by Hamilton, who believed not only that it was unnecessary but that the explicit listing of certain individual rights could possibly imply that any rights that were not explicitly named would be considered reserved by governments. Thus, the strongest advocate of centralized government predicted that the Bill of Rights would improperly strengthen the federal government.

Contrary to Hamilton’s argument, Madison’s chief concern about a Bill of Rights is that it would open the door to further debate over the merits of the Constitution, which could lead to a breakdown of the entire system itself. In a 1789 speech before Congress, Madison said, “I should be unwilling to see a door opened for a re-consideration of the whole structure of the government, for a re-consideration of the principles and the substance of the powers given; because I doubt, if such a door was opened, if we should be very likely to stop at that point which would be safe to the government itself.”

Much of what Americans now recognize as the Bill of Rights came from Madison, who took the initiative of authoring the first rough drafts of a Bill of Rights. While Madison proposed about 20 potential Amendments, the original Bill of Rights consisted of 10 Amendments that are now viewed as central to American freedoms, including the 1
^st
Amendment’s freedom of speech, the 4
^th
Amendment’s ban on illegal search and seizure, the 5
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Amendment’s Due Process, and criminal defense and civil trial rights guaranteed by the 5
^th
, 6
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, 7
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and 8
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Amendments. Finally, to address Hamilton’s main concern, the 10
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Amendment reserved all powers not explicitly named in the Constitution for the people: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. “

Chapter 4 – Early American Government – 1789-1808
 

House of Representatives and the Bill of Rights

In 1789, James Madison joined the House of Representatives to serve in the nation's First Congress. Madison had initially hoped the Virginia legislature would appoint him to the U.S. Senate, but many in the legislature had been deeply opposed to the U.S. Constitution and were adamant that Madison not represent Virginia in the Senate because of his federalist views. The Father of the Constitution was thus left to make an independent run for Congress, hoping voters would be friendlier to him than the legislature, and while he won election, even his run for Congress was marred by political opposition. From the start, the Legislature tried to gerrymander his Congressional District in a way that prevented Madison from running.  In the end, though, Madison succeeded and narrowly won election, defeating future ideological ally (and his successor as president) James Monroe.

Monroe

Though his wish was not granted, Madison left a lasting impression on his compatriots in the House, and once he reached Congress, Madison quickly restored faith in him among the anti-Constitution faction in Virginia.  His most important accomplishment was his authoring of the U.S. Bill of Rights, which he proposed in Congress in August of 1789.  Within just a month, all ten Constitutional Amendments passed through Congress and were sent to the individual states for ratification.  By late 1791, the needed majority of the states ratified the amendments, officially certifying the Bill of Rights as an integral piece of American Constitutional law. 

Though he is remembered today as one of the architects of the Democratic-Republican Party, Madison's first years in Congress deepened his alignment with those who supported a strong central government.  When President Washington established the precedent of delegating executive branch powers to his Cabinet, who headed their own departments, Madison supported the establishment of the Departments of State, Treasury and War, as well as the broad powers the President held over these offices. Madison also led Congress in imposing import duties and establishing revenue sources for the new federal government. 

The Democratic-Republican Party and Marriage

Madison had been outspoken in his belief that elected officials should do what was best for the greater good rather than kowtow to their constituents. Now that Madison had to actually win elections, however, his views seemed to have changed. Whether it was through genuine ideological evolution or through political expediency, Madison began to adopt positions that were far more closely aligned to his constituents’ favored views. In the growing conflict between Madison's former ally, Alexander Hamilton, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Madison increasingly chose to side with his fellow Virginian rather than his old nationalist friend.

Though Madison had initially supported a strong federal government, he came to feel that Hamilton's proposals overstepped the Constitution's bounds.  This was especially true for the establishment of the Bank of the United States. Hamilton had proposed the establishment of the First Bank of the United States to strengthen the economic viability of the federal government by allowing the bank to issue loans, mint currency, handle government funds, and issue treasury notes, but opponents thought it gave excessive powers to the federal government at the expense of the states.  While Jefferson led the opposition to the bill in the President's Cabinet, Madison took up the issue in Congress, and became the Congressional leader opposed to the Bank of the United States.  In the end, their efforts were unsuccessful, but the growing political divide between Jefferson and Hamilton resulted in the establishment of America’s first two political parties: the Federalists, led by Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans, led by Jefferson and Madison.

Foreign policy also helped solidify Madison and Jefferson's alliance against Hamilton and, to a lesser extent, President Washington himself.  When Hamilton convinced Washington to not support France in its war against Great Britain, Madison and Jefferson were furious.  They saw France as a committed ally of the United States, having supported the Patriots during the Revolution.  In Madison’s and Jefferson’s opinions, giving France the cold shoulder made the U.S. appear untrustworthy. Moreover, the two were supportive of the French Revolution and its overthrow of the French monarchy, particularly Jefferson. Given the history and the French Revolution, the Democratic-Republicans strongly identified with the French, especially in comparison to the British, whose tyranny they had just overthrown in the American Revolution less than 20 years earlier.

While Madison's relationship with Hamilton was deteriorating, he was growing a new one in his personal life.  In September of 1794, at the age of 43, James Madison married a young widow named Dolley Payne Todd.  Though the shy, short and nerdy Madison had married late in life, his marriage with Dolley proved to be a long and happy one.  The two had no children of their own, though Madison adopted Dolley's son from a previous marriage.

Although Madison’s other accomplishments have historically overshadowed his presidency, Dolley would become one of the best known First Ladies. Dolley utilized her strong social skills in an effort to boost her husband’s popularity while he was President, believing it was important to entertain guests. Through her role during both Jefferson’s presidency and her husband’s, Dolley is widely credited for defining some of the modern characteristics of the role of First Lady.

Dolley Madison

The Adams Presidency

Madison left Congress in 1797, just as John Adams was assuming the Presidency.  Adams’s victory over Thomas Jefferson represented a double blow to Madison. The Massachusetts lawyer had seemingly defied Madison’s belief that Virginians would dominate the Presidency.  Worse, Adams was a staunch Federalist and was a Hamilton ally.

Madison's relations with President Adams quickly deteriorated.  The major item on the Adams policy docket involved relations with France, which was upset with American support for Great Britain and was threatening retaliation.  Jefferson and Madison, strong supporters of France, criticized the Federalists for nearly bringing the nation to war, but Adams and Federalists saw this vocal opposition as treasonous, as though issues of foreign policy were not open to criticism. In 1798, the Federalist-controlled Congress passed four bills to curb vocal opposition to the Administration, and they became collectively known the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Individually, they were the Naturalization Act, the Alien Enemies Act, the Alien Act and the Sedition Act.  The Naturalization Act required residents in the U.S. to wait 14 years before becoming citizens.  The Alien Enemies Act gave the President the sole power to expel foreigners who he deemed dangerous to national security.  The Alien and Sedition Acts, together, targeted treasonous conspiracies and forbade criticism of Federal officeholders made with “intent to defame.”

The Alien and Sedition Acts were targeted directly at the Democratic-Republicans who the Federalists thought were verging on treason with their continued criticism of the Federalist-operated government.  Once in effect, the only people convicted were Democratic-Republicans who opposed the country's “Quasi-War” naval battles with France. Madison and Jefferson saw these bills as a severe infringement of the Bill of Rights he had authored.  How could the Congress pass a bill that expressly prohibited certain types of speech? 

Together with Thomas Jefferson, Madison led the opposition to the very unpopular bills.  Though he did not hold a position in Congress, he was still an enormously respected national figure, especially in the South.  Madison and Jefferson authored the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the first major political documents advocating the rights of the states to nullify federal laws that the states believed were unconstitutional.  Citing this doctrine of “Nullification,” various states in both the North and South asserted the states’ rights to consider federal laws invalid. The Resolutions sought to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts within those states, and the Democratic-Republican-controlled Legislatures of both states approved the Resolutions. Ironically, Northern states turned Madison’s words against him while discussing nullification during Madison’s presidency and the War of 1812, and about 60 years later, Southern states would take nullification one step further to outright secession, leading to the Civil War.

In opposing the Acts, Jefferson and Madison also ignited a Constitutional crisis, but they managed to rally the Democratic-Republican Party against the Federalists and, especially, John Adams.  In the election of 1800, the Democratic-Republicans were victorious, though not after some electoral troubles.  Because of an elector’s mistake, the Election resulted in a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, one of Madison’s friends who had actually played a role in introducing Madison to Dolley. Eventually, Hamilton persuaded Federalist supporters of his in the House to support Jefferson over Burr, who he personally detested. Madison, a loyal Jefferson ally, was pleased with Jefferson’s election, while Hamilton’s decision was one of the main factors leading to the famous Hamilton-Burr duel that ended his life.