1751 - 1836

Nationality:
American

Historical Period:
The 18th Century

Groups

• Other Authors Recommended by Pierre Goodrich
• The Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution
• Public Choice

James Madison (1751-1836) was a member of the Virginia legislature in 1776-80 and 1784-86, of the Continental Congress in 1780-83, and of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he earned the title “father of the U. S. Constitution.” He was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from 1789 to 1797, where he was a sponsor of the Bill of Rights and an opponent of Hamilton’s financial measures. He was the author of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 in opposition to the U. S. alien and sedition laws. He was U. S. secretary of state in 1801-09, President of the U. S. in 1809-17, and rector of the University of Virginia, 1826-36.

Titles:

• Author: BOLL 35: James Madison, “The Utility of the Union As a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection” (1788)
• Author: The Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution vol. 5
• Author: The Federalist (Gideon ed.)
• Author: The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates of 1793-1794
• Author: The Writings of James Madison, 9 vols.
• Author: The Writings, vol. 1 (1769-1783)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 2 (1783-1787)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 3 (1787)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 4 (1787)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 5 (1787-1790)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 6 (1790-1802)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 7 (1803-1807)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 8 (1808-1819)
• Author: The Writings, vol. 9 (1819-1836)
• Author: Outlines of American Political Economy, in a series of letters (1827)

Quotations:

• James Madison argues that the constitution places war-making powers squarely with the legislative branch; for the president to have these powers is the "the true nurse of executive aggrandizement" (1793)
• James Madison on the need for the people to declare war and for each generation, not future generations, to bear the costs of the wars they fight (1792)
• James Madison on the mischievous effects of mutable government in <em>The Federalist</em> no. 62 (1788)
• James Madison on the need for the "separation of powers" because "men are not angels," <em>Federalist</em> 51 (1788)
• James Madison on the dangers of elections resulting in overbearing majorities who respect neither justice nor individual rights, <em>Federalist</em> 10 (1788)
• Madison argued that war is the major way by which the executive office increases its power, patronage, and taxing power (1793)
• James Madison on the "sagacious and monied few" who are able to "harvest" the benefits of government regulations (1787)
• James Madison on the necessity of separating the power of "the sword from the purse" (1793)
• Madison on "Parchment Barriers" and the defence of liberty I (1788)
• Madison on "Parchment Barriers" and the defence of liberty II (1788)
• The 7th Day of Christmas: Madison on "the most noble of all ambitions" which a government can have, of promoting peace on earth (1816)

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