Quotes by James Madison
1751 – 1836
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.”
Bio
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.
War & Peace
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)
War & Peace
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)
Politics & Liberty
James Madison on the mischievous effects of mutable government in The Federalist no. 62 (1788)
Politics & Liberty
James Madison on the need for the “separation of powers” because “men are not angels,” Federalist 51 (1788)
Parties & Elections
James Madison on the dangers of elections resulting in overbearing majorities who respect neither justice nor individual rights, Federalist 10 (1788)
War & Peace
Madison argued that war is the major way by which the executive office increases its power, patronage, and taxing power (1793)
Class
James Madison on the “sagacious and monied few” who are able to “harvest” the benefits of government regulations (1787)
War & Peace
James Madison on the necessity of separating the power of “the sword from the purse” (1793)
Liberty
Madison on “Parchment Barriers” and the defence of liberty I (1788)
Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots
Madison on “Parchment Barriers” and the defence of liberty II (1788)
War & Peace
The 7th Day of Christmas: Madison on “the most noble of all ambitions” which a government can have, of promoting peace on earth (1816)