The Mind of the Founder: Sources of the Political Thought of James Madison

American Heritage Series #39

by James Madison, Marvin Meyers (Editor)

In one handy volume, scholars, students, and general readers alike have an authentic and responsible selection of Madison's writings. The wide range of material shows the development of a major political thinker over more than half a century as he encounters successfully the provocative questions of American political life from the Revolution and making of the Constitution to the sectional crisis over slavery. Introduction, headnotes, bibliography, and index have all been revised for this edition, especially welcome as the Constitutional bicentennial approaches.

Genres: Politics, History, Philosophy

506 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

For James Madison, Episcopal Bishop and president of the College of William & Mary, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show....

James Madison, Jr. was an American politician and the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817), and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Madison was the last founding father to die. Considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", he was the principal author of the document. In 1788, he wrote over a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution. As a leader in the first Congresses, he drafted many basic laws and was responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution (said to be based on the Virginia Declaration of Rights), and thus is also known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights". As a political theorist, Madison's most distinctive belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to limit the powers of special interests, which Madison called factions. He believed very strongly that the new nation should fight against aristocracy and corruption and was deeply committed to creating mechanisms that would ensure republicanism in the United States.

As leader in the House of Representatives, Madison worked closely with President George Washington to organize the new federal government. Breaking with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in 1791, Madison and Thomas Jefferson organized what they called the republican party (later called the Democratic-Republican Party) in opposition to key policies of the Federalists, especially the national bank and the Jay Treaty. He secretly co-authored, along with Thomas Jefferson, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798 to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts.

As Jefferson's Secretary of State (1801-1809), Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation's size, and sponsored the ill-fated Embargo Act of 1807. As president, he led the nation into the War of 1812 against Great Britain in order to protect the United States' economic rights. That conflict began poorly as Americans suffered defeat after defeat by smaller forces, but ended on a high note in 1815, with the Treaty of Ghent, after which a new spirit of nationalism swept the country. During and after the war, Madison reversed many of his positions. By 1815, he supported the creation of the second National Bank, a strong military, and a high tariff to protect the new factories opened during the war.

Reviews

[Cael Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about what you'd expect it to be. It's not really a book you can just sit down and read but if you need to know anything about James Madison or the philosophy behind the constitution this is your book.

[Thomas Baughman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-rate selection of Madison's writings.