When
you bring up the subject of founding Fathers most Americans are quick to name
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and some will name Adams, but how many
would quickly shout out James Madison. James Madison was the fourth US
President serving from 1809-1817. What would happen during his two terms and
after would lead the country into a new era of time but never allow the light
to shine fully on what he accomplished. Madison’s predecessors, Washington, Adams,
and Jefferson would garner all of the fame and glory. When looking into the
Presidency of Madison, the first question you might ask is where to start.
Agriculture
was a large part of Madison’s life, “It was at the core of his vision of a
republican political economy for America and it provided the primary basis for
his family’s livelihood.”[1]
His republican dreams for the U.S. were similar to that of Thomas Jefferson in
that agriculture would play a large role and that citizens would remain
dependent upon an agrarian way of life for their livelihoods. In 1818, Madison
was elected president of the local agriculture society.[2]
Madison would prepare a learned address that analyzed local conditions in the
larger context of the role of agriculture in the history of human civilization.
Madison felt so deeply about agriculture and what it meant to him and his
country that when he realized that his fellow Virginians were not taking care
of the land properly he took it on himself to instruct them on the proper
methods.
In
the 1780’s, Jefferson called on Madison’s help to try and establish a central
education system in their own state and the nation. While Jefferson was away in
France, Madison tried very hard to pass the “More General Diffusion of
Knowledge bill,” that would establish a system of public education for the
state.[3]
The bill was not passed until 1816 and without funding. In January 1819, the
state legislature granted the University of Virginia its charter. Before his
death, Jefferson entrusted Madison with the care of the University of Virginia.
Madison became the rector in 1826 and served until 1834. While president and
keeper of the university, Madison did all he could to assure that Jefferson’s
visions lived on by maintaining that the university kept to the ideals of
science and liberty. Just like when Jefferson died Madison too passed on a good
portion of his personal library to the university and $1, 500.[4]
Madison’s
presidency was full of torment and Presidents reputations are made by how they
handle the issues and test. Madison was the type that always bit down and moved
forward because he believed in the U.S., he also sought the idea that our
country would not be seen as a third-world power. When his presidency ended in
1817 many scholars and historians say that he left the United States a far stronger
nation than it had been in 1809. He wrote that the “new nation was poised for a
half-century of expansion, the Constitution was still the polestar of his
country’s conduct, and he believed that the union he had done so much to
preserve was firmly in place.”[5]
When
Madison retired from the white house at the end of his presidency in 1817, he
returned to Montpelier, where he sat out to work the land but also in a way he
becomes a librarian. He spent a good deal of his time preserving, organizing
and even editing some of his letters and documents at his documents at his own
leisure. One of the items he spent so much time working on was the volumes on
volumes of notes that he had taken from the Federal Convention of 1787, that he
organized and want to make sure were all published so historians can view it,
but he only did so after all the farmers present had passed. He felt deeply and
passionate about how he was involved in his countries on going experiment in
the republican government and did whatever he could do to help and sometimes
played the role as an elder statesman. The one thing that historians today have
said haunted Madison until his death was that the Constitution lacked any fixed
meaning for Americans and indeed continued to be a source of controversy, not
consensus, because it could be read or interpreted in different ways to the
needs of others.[6]
Madison
lived a long life and outlived all of the original founding fathers and did a
lot preserve his work so that many years after his death citizens could view
and interpret his work so for the use of studies to better themselves. At the
University of Virginia they hold a “Papers of James Madison,” editorial project
and has a James Madison professorship in American History.[7]
They also have two buildings on campus that are named after Madison. Madison
lived along life and though he never fully had his way with getting the
Constitution straightened out he did his best to preserve his life through his
notes, letters, and correspondents so that others can have a view of his life
and his work. Though his presidency was cast with issues he left the office and
the nation better than he found it. He held the Jeffersonian and Madisonian
ideas when he over took the job of president of University of Virginia, and
insured that the foundation resembled what Jefferson and he wanted it to. Some
would say he might have spent the last years of his life making sure the
country saw his life as a hero but to Madison he was simply doing what he
believed in which was preserving the history of the republic for generations to
come.
Reference
List:
Drew
r. McCoy., Steven h. Hochman., Robert a. Rutland., (1994). James Madison and the American Nation 1751-1836 An Encyclopedia.
Robert a. Rutland (ed.), pages 1- 459, Simon & Schuster: New York.
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