James Madison: American Hero

James Madison was an American statesman, political figure, the secretary of state for Thomas Jefferson, and the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is often called the “Father of the Constitution” because he took a very active role in the drafting of the constitution. He is also remembered as the author and key proponent of the Bill of Rights. He was one of the writers of the Federalist Papers and was one of the representatives from Virginia who signed the constitution.

James Madison Jr. was born on March 16, 1751 near Port Conway, Virginia. He was born on Belle Grove Plantation and was the oldest of twelve children. He had seven brothers and four sisters, unfortunately, three of his brothers died as infants and two of his siblings died in a dysentery outbreak in 1775. He was named after his father James Madison Sr. who was a tobacco planter in Orange County, Virginia. He inherited his father’s plantation when he reached adulthood. He acquired more land and slaves later which made him the largest landowner in Orange County.

From the ages of 11-14, Madison studied under Donald Robinson, a Scottish teacher who taught the children of many prominent families in the area. Under Robinson, Madison learned math, geography, and many ancient and modern languages. Madison had a unique aptitude for the Latin language over all other languages save English. Madison said later in his life that his appetite for learning was largely due to Robinson.

At age 16, he returned to his plantation and began a two-year course of studying under Reverend Thomas Marsh. His studies were focused on preparing him for college. Unlike many wealthy students of the day, he would not attend the College of William and Mary because of his del...

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...d. On June 8, 1789, Madison presented twenty Amendments which were whittled down to eleven amendments which were sent to the Senate for approval. The senate added the ninth amendment and excluded two potential amendments and approved the ten that formed the current bill of rights.

James Madison served for eight years as the secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson. During his term, Jefferson bought a huge parcel of land from the French. This transaction is called the Louisiana Purchase and Madison supervised the purchase and procedures following the act. Madison then became the fourth president of the United States in 1808 and led the Americans through the war of 1812. After his presidency, he retired to his plantation at the age of 65. He lived there writing memoirs of his life. He died June 28, 1836 at the age of 85. He was the last of the founding fathers to die.