Under the Radar

     When studying the early history of the United States of America, many minds focus on the successes of Washington and Jefferson, and far too few historians recognize the successes of Adams and Madison. However, Madison in particular is grossly under appreciated for his accomplishments in office. John Adams once said, "(Madison's Administration) has acquired more glory, and established more Union, than all 3 predecessors, Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, put together." Although this quote only pertains to the acquisition of glory, it can be used to put into perspective the amount of respect that Madison's administration gained from his peers.
     Quite a few of the successes, that occurred during Madison's presidency, were just the the combination of several factors at that particular moment. For instance, the cotton gin emerged during this time period, but it was of no direct result of Madison's policies. However, Madison did have an eye for emerging technology. For example, Madison invested in inventor John Stevens who was the first American to propose a railroad. This ability to recognize the country's innovation helped Madison to foster an environment for transformation, which was a large factor in the country's emerging technological advances.
     Although Madison achieved great success within his presidency, his achievements at Montpelier were among his personal favorite. Madison essentially completely renovated his father's home. He had redesigned the core of the home and also built new attachments, for example he added additional floors to each wing of the mansion. Madison also utilized some unorthodox designs for his home. For instance, he housed his slaves in quaint cottages near the main layout of the mansion. However, in my opinion Madison was behaving in a hypocritical behavior. This is due to Madison housing an additional segment of his servants in dirt floored, flimsy shacks on a separate area of his plantation. If Madison truly cared about the well-being of his servants he would have increased the number of quality slave quarters. Madison's only goal in building his cottages were to display the appearance of realizing the inequities of slavery, but he truly had no such realization. Madison recognized the changing perception of slavery, and he simply wanted to be perceived as progressive on the issue. Evidence of this is his commending of his peers for the emancipation of their slaves. However, Madison never acted in such a manor.
       Madison was also very respected as an agricultural expert. His innovative methods allowed for Virginia recover from a near economic collapse. Madison was unanimously elected to president of the Agricultural Society of Albermarle. This organization purpose was to prevent further economic damage to the agricultural industry of Virginia. Madison utilized methods such as horizontal tilling of the land to prevent further erosion of the mountain filled terrain. Madison's legacy is one of innovation and success. However, as with most founding fathers, the issue of slavery casts a dark shadow over a portion of their lives.