MADISON, James, fourth President of the United States: b. Port Conway, Va., 1751; d. Montpelier, Va., 28 June 1836. Madison was the eldest son of James Madison, a Virginia planter, and of Nelly Conway, daughter of Francis Conway, of King George County, Va. His father, a man of independent means, lived on an estate now known as Montpelier in Orange County. James was horn at Francis Conway's home on the Rappahannock while his mother was on a visit to her parents. His edu cational advantages were excellent for the times; he attended the school of a Scotchman, Donald Robertson, was well prepared for col lege by the clergyman of the parish, the Rev. Thomas Martin, and entered Princeton in 1769. His application to his studies was excessive, and was in part the cause of later ill health; he suc ceeded, however, in taking the studies of the last two years in one year and took his B.A_ degree in 1771. He remained at Princeton for another year doing special work in Hebrew under Dr. Witherspoon, the president. After his return home he tutored his younger brothers and began a systematic course of reading in theology, philosophy and law. At this time his study of Hebrew and theology seem to indicate a desire to enter the ministry, hut he soon aban doned this and prepared himself for the legal profession and for public service. His theolog ical studies bore good fruit later as is evidenced by the stand he took for religious liberty.
Madison was by instinct a politician and not a soldier; he took no active part in the Revo lutionary War, hut as early as 1774 he was ap pointed a member of the Committee of Public Safety for Orange County, and in 1776 was elected delegate to the convention which framed the constitution of Virginia. From that time until he reared from the Presidency he was honored with high public offices by his State and by the nation. In the Virginia Convention Madison succeeded in substituting for a clause in the Bill of Rights permitting the "fullest tol eration" in religion, a clause allowing the "free exercise of religion." This was a distinct blow to religious intolerance for, as he said, tolera tion implies jurisdiction, and the State should have no coercive power over religious thought. He was a member of the first Virginia assem bly but failed of re-election because, as his biographer Rives tells us, he refused to conform to the universal custom of his day and "treat" his constituents; he was, however, made a mem ber of the governor's council and so distin guished himself that in 1780 while still under 30 he was chosen at delegate to the Conti nental Congress. In this Congress he was con spicuous for his opposition to the issuance of paper money 'by the States; for his efforts to secure for Congress the right of taxing im ports, and for his determined stand to retain for the States the right of navigation on the Mississippi. Madison saw clearly that a gov ernment so organically weak that it could not enforce its requisitions and could pay its debts only by increasing its debt could never he ef fective; hence he labored unceasingly to en large the power of the central government. The office of delegate was limited to one term, so Madison was not returned to Congress in 1784, but the high esteem in which he was held was shown by his immediate election to the State assembly. Virginia was a very influential State and her attitude toward national ques tions was of great importance. In the assem bly Madison tried to indoctrinate the people of Virginia with his ideas concerning the Federal power. His bill to regulate trade in Virginia
and to provide ports of entry led first to the conference between Virginia and Maryland with reference to trade on the Potomac and later to the Annapolis Convention which met in 1786 to consider the trade and commerce of the United States. This Convention at Annapolis urged upon the States the appointment of commis sioners to meet in convention at Philadelplua "to devise such further government as shall appear to them necessary to render the Consti tution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The summoning of the Philadelphia Convention was largely due to the wise bills introduced by Madison in the Virginia assembly and to his direction of pub lic sentiment, and it was eminently fitting that he should be one of the delegates of the Vir ginia Commission at whose head was George Washington. Madison's views on government are clearly defined in his "outline system)) which formed the basis of the Virginia plan proposed to the Convention. His system demanded that there should be a due supremacy of national authority without the exclusion of local author ity, that the national authority should extend to the judiciary and to the militia; that the national legislature should be composed of two bodies, the larger elected for a short, the smaller for a longer term; that Congress should have certain coercive powers; that a national executive should 'be provided and that the basis of repre sentation in Congress should he changed from States to population. The "Virginia plan" was the germ of the Constitution and Madison is rightly called the "Father of the Constitution." His arguments in favor of the proposed govern ment were exhaustive and convincing, and his private notes of the work of the Convention and of his debates purchased from his widow and published by Congress form a valuable addition to our knowledge of this stormy period. While the Constitution was before the people for con sideration Madison, Hamilton and Jay wrote a series of papers called in collected form The Federalist, in which they discussed govern ment in general, defined the character of the proposed union, met objections and proved the advantages to be derived from effective central government. Madison was a member of the Virginia Convention which met to consider the ratification of the Constitution and by his keen analysis and clear-cut argument contributed more than any other man to secure its adoption. His chief opponent was Patrick Henry; his ablest ally, John Marshall. Owing to Henry's antagonism, Madison was defeated as candidate for the Senate, but was elected as representative to Congress and took his seat in April 1789. During this session of Congress, Hamilton and Madison, who had hitherto been as one in their efforts to centralize power, drifted apart, and Madison gradually began to endorse Jefferson's position as to certain inalienable States' rights. There is no reason to accuse him of bad faith,• his statesmanship was never overbold, and Hamilton's commercial system, his extensive financial schemes, especially the funding of the national debt and the assumption of State debts by the general government, gave so much power to Congress that Madison withdrew his support from the Secretary of the Treasury and vigor ously opposed his measures. Although Madison had now definitely cast in his fortunes with the Republican opposition his moderation and good sense enabled him to retain the friendship of most of his political opponents.