Essay: 1st 7 Presidents

1st 7 Presidents
political, economic, social, and foreign policy changes that occurred as well as any ethical issues.
their political status and how seen as a politician and how them becoming a politician affected America
their economic status how impact America economically (US’s economic status during presidency)
Social status and social life – who president interacted most among political leaders
Ethical issues- problems occurred during presidency
Biography- what led to presidency
1st President George Washington: (Trinity Cordero, Daniela Ramirez, Diya Tayal)
Political- George Washington was a Federalist, however, he was the only U.S. President in history to not have been affiliated with any political party, however. Washington continues to advance his idea of the dangers of sectionalism and expands his warning to include the dangers of political parties to the country as a whole. These warnings are given in the context of the recent rise of two opposing parties within the government—the Democratic-Republican Party led by Jefferson, and Hamilton’s Federalist Party. Washington had striven to remain neutral during a conflict between Britain and France brought about by the French Revolution, while the Democratic-Republicans had made efforts to align with Franceand the Federalists had made efforts to ally with Great Britain. Washington recognizes that it is natural for people to organize and operate within groups such as political parties, but he also argues that every government has recognized political parties as an enemy and has sought to repress them because of their tendency to seek more power than other groups and to take revenge on political opponents. He feels that disagreements between political parties weakened the government. Moreover, he makes the case that “the alternate domination” of one party over another and coinciding efforts to exact revenge upon their opponents have led to horrible atrocities, and “is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.” From Washington’s perspective and judgment, political parties eventually and “gradually incline the minds of men to seek security… in the absolute power of an individual”, leading to despotism. He acknowledges the fact that parties are sometimes befincial in promoting liberty in monarchies, but argues that political parties must be restrained in a popularly elected government because of their tendency to distract the government from their duties, create unfounded jealousies among groups and regions, raise false alarms among the people, promote riots and insurrection, and provide foreign nations and interests access to the government where they can impose their will upon the country.
Economic- Washington was committed the U.S. to paying off all debts incurred in fighting the Revolutionary War. When he took office in 1789, the U. S. owed about $41 million in IOUs to thousands of merchants, bankers, and citizens who loaned money to Washington and other leaders for guns, supplies, and food. Sometimes those IOUs are called “continental bonds.” We also owed about $11 million to the French for financial and military aid in overcoming the British. Some American politicians wanted to renege on these debts, or only pay part of them off. But Washington and his Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton recognized that U.S. credit and international integrity could only be obtained by paying back our creditors all that we owed them. Thus, Washington supported a tariff–usually 5%–on all imports, and he supported a whiskey tax as well as the two methods of raising money to pay off our national debt. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to avoid “the accumulation of debt,” and asked them not to throw “upon posterity the debt burden, which we ourselves ought to bear.”
Social- George Washington’s social life in Virginia was above all others because on February 4th he became our very U.S. first president. During his election he received 29 electoral votes because he was well-respected by others which ended in him winning the presidency. George Washington was all the talk in Virginia because he attended to everyone’s needs and was a good leader. When George Washington became president, he had a huge responsibility which might have caused some conflicts. The very man who defined the American presidency didn’t want to be president. Thirty days before his April 30th Inauguration, George Washington says, he feels as though he is being led to a place of execution. He hasn’t the political skill or the ability or even the inclination, he insists, to lead. And he fears, terribly, that he risks his good name in assuming the presidency. He succeeded by his vice president, John Adams of the Federalist Party. Washington had established his preeminence among the new nation’s Founding Fathers through his service as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as President of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Foreign Policy- George Washington’s foreign policy was primary to keep the United States neutral in foreign affairs as much as possible because he did not believe it was wise for the new nation to involve itself in the affairs of other nations. In this regard, he was not only successful, but set a precedent for U.S. foreign policy for many years to come. Washington dedicates a large part of his farewell address to discussing these foreign relations and the dangers of permanent alliances between the United States and foreign nations, which he views as foreign entanglements. This issue dominated national politics during the French Revolutionary Wars between France and Britain.
Ethical Issues- George Washington was the very first president of the United States, which caused him to face many unique and challenging problems. One of the main problems was that Washington had to basically create the presidency. Although the Constitution had played a small role in developing presidency rules, George Washington had to follow through with them. He was an example for many presidents after him because he had to come up with a whole new idea of what a president should do and who a president should be. Washington also faced the problem of pressure. The United States was experimenting by using an executive leader rather than remaining what is originally once was: a monarchy.
Biography – George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the 1st president of the United States (1789–1797). He commanded Patriot forces in the new nation’s vital American Revolutionary War and led them to victory over the British. Washington also presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which established the new federal government. For his manifold leadership during the American Revolution, he has been called the “Father of His Country”. Washington succeeded a prosperous family of slaveholding planters in colonial Virginia. He had educational opportunities and launched a favorable career as a land surveyor. He then became a leader of the Virginia militia in the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, was unanimously appointed commander-in-chief of the Army, and led an allied campaign to victory at the Siege of Yorktown ending the conflict. Once victory was in hand in 1783, he resigned as commander-in-chief. In 1787, he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution. Two years later, Washington became America’s first president. Realizing that the way he handled the job would impact how future presidents approached the position, he handed down a legacy of strength, integrity and national purpose. Less than three years after leaving office, he died at his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, at age 67.
“Challenges George Washington Faced as America’s First President.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-first-president/5-challenges-of-being-americas-first-president/
“The True George Washington: Social Life.” Infoplease, Infoplease, www.infoplease.com/homework-help/united-states-documents/true-george-washington-social-life.
“George Washington.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 7 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/people/george-washington-9524786.
“George Washington Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc., www.notablebiographies.com/Tu-We/Washington-George.html.
2nd President John Adams:(Fatima)
Political – John Adams was one of the leaders of the Federalist Party, the people who believed in a strong federal government and advocated economic policies that would strengthen the federal government. Adams’ first official role in America’s government was as the 1st Vice-President of the U.S (1789-1797). He then served a term as the nation’s second president (1797-1801). During the time of the XYZ affair, Adams’ supporters had increased; however, Adams popularity again decreased immensely after the signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Adams presidency ended with him losing the election of 1800 to Jefferson along with many of his supporters.
Economic – Adams specifically answered the issue of national debt in his “First Annual Message” to Congress in 1797. Speaking directly to the House of Representatives (because they are constitutionally responsible for beginning appropriations bills) he spoke against excessive loans to meet the national defense needs of the nation. While he acknowledged the need for what he euphemistically called “funding systems,” Adams essentially argued that national defense, and the other functions of government, should be financed by taxation to the extent possible. Generally, Adams thought that issues like the finances of the nation were the purview of Congress and he focused much of his energy on the foreign policy crisis involving France. Generally, the Federalists in government during Adams’ presidency advocated policies of Alexander Hamilton, which included maintaining a limited federal debt as a means of stimulating economic activity. Jefferson’s election in 1800 marked a sharp reversal for this way of thinking, as he slashed spending in a number of areas, including by eliminating some of the government officials that had emerged under Adams and by limiting, for some time, military spending. At the start of Adams’ presidency, America’s national debt stood at $82,064,479.33 and by the end of his presidency the national debt was at $83,038,050.80. This shows that during the time of Adams’s presidency, the national debt had risen by about 1 million dollars.
Social – During the time of Adams’ election for president, he was a very well-respected man and was seen higher up in society because he was the 2nd President of the new nation. However, as his presidency carried on, Adams faced many problems causing him to lose the next presidential election. Majority of American citizens were outraged by new acts going into effect and this is what caused Adams to be seen as an unfit president. John Adams grew up the son of a farmer and was nicknamed “His Rotundity” because he was short and chubby and fond of formal titles. Thomas Jefferson was the son of an upper-class slave owner and was tall and lean. They were different in many ways, but they shared a love for their country. It made them the best of friends and worst of rivals during their political history together.
Foreign Policy – Adams took office in March 1797, and his presidency was quickly taken up with foreign affairs. Britain and France were at war, which directly affected American trade. During his tenure, Washington had managed to maintain neutrality, but tensions had escalated by the time Adams became president. In 1797, he sent a delegation to France to negotiate a treaty but the French refused to meet with the delegates, and the French foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, demanded a large bribe. Adams refused to deal with the French on these terms, and the bribery scandal, which became known as the XYZ Affair, boosting Adams’ popularity immensely. An undeclared naval war, known as the Quasi-War, broke out between the U.S. and France in 1798 and lasted until 1800, when a peace treaty was signed. This treaty was known to be Adams’ major foreign policy achievement because he ended the war by strengthening America’s forces without going into all-out war and sent another peace delegation to France against the advice of the cabinet. The Convention of 1800, signed on 30th September, ended the Quasi-War. Adams squandered his popularity by signing the Alien and Sedition Acts into law in 1798. Another treaty signed by Adams was the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which was the official end of the American Revolution.
Ethical Issues – On June 18, 1798, Congress approved the first of four acts that collectively became known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. These four acts became the most bitterly contested domestic issue during the presidency of John Adams. The Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four different pieces of legislation. The Naturalization Act increased the residency requirement from five to fourteen years before citizenship could be granted; the Alien Act authorized the President to deport any alien he deemed dangerous to the security of the United States, while the Alien Enemies Act allowed the President to deport aliens of an enemy country or restrict their freedoms in times of war. The Sedition Act targeted Americans themselves by forbidding opposition to laws of the federal government and making it illegal to publish criticism of the government. Because opposition had not yet gained legitimacy in American politics, the Federalist-controlled presidency and Congress used the Sedition Act to try to limit the influence of the Democratic-Republicans.
Biography – John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts. His father, John Adams Sr., was a farmer, a Congregationalist deacon and a town councilman, and was a direct descendant of Henry Adams, a Puritan who emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. At age 16, Adams earned a scholarship to attend Harvard University. After graduating in 1755, at age 20, Adams studied law in the office of James Putnam, a prominent lawyer, despite his father’s wish for him to enter the ministry. In 1758, he earned his master’s degree from Harvard. Adam was quickly identified as a Patriot after his opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765. He wrote a response to the imposition of the act by British Parliament titled “Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law,” which was published as a series of four articles in the Boston Gazette. Adams stated that the Stamp Act deprived American colonists of the basic rights to be taxed by consent and to be tried by a jury of peers. Two months later Adams also publicly denounced the act as invalid in a speech delivered to the Massachusetts governor and his council. The same year that Adams had defended soldiers of the Boston Massacre, Adams was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly and was one of five people to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress, in 1774. On May of 1776, Congress approved Adams’s resolution proposing that the colonies each adopt independent governments. He wrote the preamble to this resolution, which was approved on May 15. On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded Richard Henry Lee’s resolution of independence, and backed it passionately until the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776. Jefferson’s first draft was made on July 4. Adams was soon serving on as many as 90 committees in the fledgling government, more than any other Congressman, and in 1777, he became head of the Board of War and Ordinance, which oversaw the Continental army. In 1796, Adams was elected as the Federalist nominee for president. Thomas Jefferson led the opposition for the Democratic-Republican Party. Adams won the election by a narrow margin, becoming the second president of the United States. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd U.S. President, died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American independence. Adams’s last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
Editors, History.com. “John Adams.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-adams.
“John Adams.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/john-adams-37967.
“REPORTS.” Government – Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual 2000 – 2017, www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo1.htm.
The First March from Selma, www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/adams/aa_adams_jefferson_1.html.
3rd President Thomas Jefferson: (Paula)
Political- Thomas Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican, meaning he wanted to limit the federal government’s powers. He first served in the government as a member of the Virginia Huse of Burgesses (1769-1775), then was chosen as a delegate in the Second Continental Congress (1775-1776) and drafted the Declaration of Independence. He wrote the First Amendment of the Constitution and became the first Secretary of State under Geroge Washington in 1789. Jefferson then ran for president against John Adams and became the second vice president, and then ran for president again in 1800, tying with Adam Burr, but still became the third president of the US. He kept the entire national government small, keeping the total number of members only to several hundred in 1801. Jefferson liked it this way because he believed that the primary function of the federal government was to protect the nation from foreign threats, deliver the mail, and collect custom duties.
Economic- To reduce government spending, Jefferson lowered military spending, reduced the size of the army, and the navy was cut to seven active ships. Jefferson also asked Albert Gallatin, the secretary of the Treasury, to find ways to get rid of domestic taxes, like the tax on whiskey. These actions taken by Jefferson made him hope that saving this money would let the government pay off the national debt. This was successful because of the temporary end of war between England and France for European supremacy allowed American merchants to trade with both sides and create an unexpected national prosperity. Then in 1807, the Napoleonic Wars began again and resulted in naval blockades in the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans. These blockades severely hurt American trade and pressured the US to take a side. Instead of doing so, Jefferson passed the Embargo Act that closed all American ports to all foreign imports and American exports. This hurt the economy and it was repealed.
Social- Many people didn’t think Jefferson was a good public speaker, but at age 33, he was a talented writer. He drafted the Declaration of Independence and the First Amendment of the Constitution. There were very few cabinet discussions because Jefferson preferred to do the business in writing. He required all cabinet members to submit drafts of their recommendations, which Jefferson edited and returned. He took the same approach with Congress, meaning all of Jefferson’s annual messages were delivered in writing than in person. This reflected his desire to make the office almost invisible, only making a gesture at visibility at weekly dinners when the Congress was in session.
Foreign Policy- In keeping with his Enlightenment thinking, President Jefferson adopted an assimilation policy towards American Indians known as his “civilization program” which included securing peaceful U.S. Indian treaty alliances and encouraging agriculture. Jefferson also established a foreign policy of the Embargo Act in 1807. When fighting between France and England intensified, Jefferson tried to craft a foreign policy that allowed the United States to trade with both belligerents without taking sides in their war. That was impossible, given that both sides considered trade with the other a de facto act of war.
Ethical Issues- In 1801, the Judiciary Act was passed shortly before the terms of office ended for Federalist legislators. The act created 16 new federal judgeships that John Adams filled before leaving office. This led to conflict when William Marbury, appointed justice of the peace by Adams, wanted his documents. Jefferson advised James Madison, the new secretary of state, to not give Marbury the documents. Marbury brought a suit into the Supreme Court, with John Marshall as chief justice. Marshall and Jefferson disagreed on many political issues, but Marshall noted that the Constitution gave the Court authority to hear only certain types of cases. A request like Marbury’s was not one of them so the law Marbury depended on was unconstitutional. In 1803, Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase. The price was $15 million, and even though it would increase the national debt, Jefferson argued that the opportunity to double the size of the nation was too good. Buying the Louisiana Territory also removed the threat of major European power from America’s borders. Despite Jefferson’s testimonials for the need of a free press, he was outraged at persistent attacks on his presidential policies. He instructed the attorneys general in the unruly states to seek indictments, a violation of principled commitment to freedom of expression. Soon after, Adam Burr was tried for treason after leading a mysterious expedition in the South. The charges weren’t proved but Jefferson ordered Burr’s conviction, even with the lack of evidence.
Biography – Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in present day Charlottesville, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762. He went on to study law under a respected Virginia attorney because there were no law schools in America at the time, and then began working as a lawyer in 1767. As a member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, he gained recognition for penning a pamphlet that declared British Parliament had no right to use authority over the colonies. In 1775, he was selected as a delegate of the Second Continental Congress and then was asked to draft the Declaration of Independence. He resigned from the Second Continental Congress in 1776, and wrote what would soon be passed in 1786, the First Amendment to the Constitution. In 1789, Jefferson went to an appointment with President George Washington, and became the first secretary of state. He ran in the presidential election of 1796 against John Adams but lost and became vice president. He ran against Adams again in 1800, and won against Adams and Aaron Burr, who he tied against, but Jefferson was still voted into office. During his presidency, Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. He ran for re-election and won against Charles Pickney. In his second term, he tried keeping the US out of Britain’s Napoleonic Wars but when Britain and France began harassing American merchant ships, he passed the Embargo of 1807. It was repealed in 1809, and even though he tried to keep the US neutral, they went to war against Britain in 1812. Jefferson didn’t run for a third presidential term, and he spent later years in Monticello. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Facts: even though he thought men were created equal, owned slaves. John adams (friend and formal rival died same day as him)
Editors, History.com. “Thomas Jefferson.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/thomas-jefferson#section_1.
Ellis, Joseph J. “Thomas Jefferson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson.
“The Jefferson Era.” United States History, pp. 266–287.
4th President James Madison: (Annaliese Davis, Daphne Aguilar)
Political- At age twenty-nine, Madison became the youngest member of the Continental Congress, and within a year, the small, soft-spoken, shy young man had emerged as a respected leader of the body. It was a tribute to his hard work and understanding of the issues. For three years, he argued vigorously for legislation to strengthen the loose confederacy of former colonies, contending that military victory required vesting power in a central government. Most of his appeals were beaten down by independent-minded delegates who feared the emergence of a monarchical authority after the war. Along with Jefferson, the young Virginian persuaded his home state to cede its western lands, which extended to the Mississippi River, to the Continental Congress, a move which undermined numerous land-grabbing schemes by hordes of greedy speculators. Returning to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1784, Madison battled Patrick Henry’s attempts to tax citizens in support of the Christian religion. Henry, though a strong supporter of independence, nevertheless believed in state support of religion. Among the proposed laws that fell victim to Madison’s relentless pressure were those designed to establish religious tests for public office and to criminalize heresy, though this later measure was not one that Henry supported. Believing that weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation rendered the new Republic subject to foreign attack and domestic turmoil, Madison persuaded the states’ rights advocate John Taylor to call for a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, to address problems of commerce among the states. The poorly attended assembly issued a call for a national convention “to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” Madison led the Virginia delegation to the Philadelphia meeting, which began on May 14, 1787, and supported the cry for General George Washington to act as its chair. When Washington accepted, the body achieved the moral authority it needed to draft a new constitution for the nation. In the weeks that followed, Madison emerged as the floor leader of those forces supporting a strong central government. His so-called Virginia Plan, submitted by Delegate Edmund Randolph, who was then governor of Virginia, became the essential blueprint for the Constitution that eventually emerged. Its major features included a bicameral national legislature with the lower house directly elected by the people, an executive chosen by the legislature, and an independent judiciary including a Supreme Court. Madison’s extensive notes, which are the best source of information available of the closed-door meetings, detailed the proceedings and his activist role in shaping the outcome. By September 1787, Madison had emerged from the Constitutional Convention as the most impressive and persuasive voice in favor of a new constitution, eventually earning the revered title “Father of the Constitution.” Once the document was presented to the states for ratification, Madison, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, published a series of newspaper essays that became known collectively as the Federalist Papers. Writing under the pseudonym “Publius,” Madison authored twenty-nine of the eighty-five essays. He argued the case for a strong central government subject to an extensive system of checks and balances wherein “ambition” would be counteracted by competing ambition. This collection of documents, especially Madison’s essay No. 51, are classic statements on republican government and stand as a significant early interpretation of the meaning and intent of the U.S. Constitution. In achieving ratification, Madison confronted his old opponent Patrick Henry, who successfully worked to keep Madison from gaining a seat in the newly created U.S. Senate. Instead, Madison won election to the U.S. House of Representatives over James Monroe in 1789. For the next several years, Madison served as Washington’s chief supporter in the House, working tirelessly on behalf of the President’s policies and politics. Most importantly, Madison introduced and guided to passage the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified in 1791. Known as the Bill of Rights, these amendments protected civil liberties and augmented the checks and balances within the Constitution. In achieving the ratification of the Bill of Rights, Madison fulfilled his promise to Jefferson, who had supported the Constitution with the understanding that Madison would secure constitutional protections for various fundamental human rights- religious liberty, freedom of speech, and due process, among others- against unreasonable, unsupported, or impulsive governmental authority. One of his major successes was the founding of the Democratic-Republican Party with Jefferson.
Economic- Madison issues a declaration of war against Britain. In addition to concern over British actions about international trade, some proponents of war also endorse territorial expansion into British Canada and Spanish Florida; they also hope to end suspected British support of Indian attacks. Without the Bank of America and with an Army of only 6,700, the United States faces dire economic and military straits at the war’s outset. The U.S. Navy, with a fleet of only sixteen vessels, delivers the nation’s only victories in the first year of war.
Social- James Madison attended the College of New Jersey in 1771 which is now known as modern Princeton University. After graduating from college, he returned to Virginia. Madison chased after a career in politics and supported the patriot cause in the time of the American Revolution. Madison served as a member of the Orange County, Virginia, Committee of Safety, a patriot organization and in 1776 he attended and participated in Virginia’s first stat Constitutional Convention. In the year of 1779, Virginia choose James to represent the new state in the Continental Congress. During all these years, Madison came to be very good friends with Thomas Jefferson. Just like Thomas, Madison committed himself to earning religious freedom for his neighbors and community in Virginia. When Madison was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1784, Madison helped Jefferson guard religious freedom in the year of 1786. James Madison was a loyal friend who supported other congressmen and politicians to go for what they thought was right to the country and the people.
Foreign Policy- Just prior to James Madison’s assumption of office, Congress passed the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, which replaced Jefferson’s failed embargo. It allowed the resumption of world trade with the exclusion of trade with England and France, thus barring French and British vessels from American ports. If one of these nations removed its restrictions against American trade, the President was empowered to remove restrictions against that country, leaving the restrictions in place against the other. When neither country replied, Congress passed Macon’s Bill No. 2, a perplexing law that removed all restrictions on American trade, including those against France and Britain, empowering the President to reimpose the restrictions on France or Britain only after one of them had repealed its restrictions on American trade and the other had failed to follow suit within three months. France met the challenge through the Cadore letter of August 1810, leading Madison to implement the provisions of Macon’s Bill No. 2 in two stages, first in November 1810 and then in March 1811. The British insisted that American ships would continue to be seized until France lifted all restrictions on British trade. This proclamation essentially treated U.S. exports and the merchant marine as part of the British war strategy. Congress voted for military preparations and, in April 1812, a ninety-day embargo. When Madison came before that body with his list of complaints against the British, which included the continued impressment of American sailors, the arming of Indians who attacked American settlers, and the trade restrictions embodied in the British Orders in Council, the House lost little time debating the issue, voting for war on June 4. The Senate, however, debated for more than two weeks and would not sanction war until June 17. In a regionally divided vote, Congress declared war on Britain the following day. A House–Senate Conference Committee then convened to resolve the numerous differences between the two Bill of Rights proposals. On September 24, 1789, the committee issued its report, which finalized 12 Constitutional Amendments for the House and Senate to consider. This version was approved by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789.
Ethical Issues- Madison eventually broke with Washington over the chief executive’s foreign and domestic policies. He criticized Washington’s support of Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, who sought to create a strong central government that promoted commercial and financial interests over agrarian interests. He also found fault with the administration’s handling of commercial relations with Great Britain and its seeming favoritism of Britain over France in the French Revolution. Madison’s displeasure with the direction of national policy led him to join with Jefferson—who resigned as secretary of state in 1793—to form an opposition party known as the Democratic-Republicans. During the presidency of John Adams, Madison led the fight against the Federalist-supported Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws, which attempted to suppress opposition to a Federalist foreign policy that favored England over France, were viewed by Democratic-Republicans as fundamental violations of the Bill of Rights. Madison authored the Virginia Resolution, adopted by the state legislature in 1798, which declared the laws unconstitutional—Jefferson authored a similar Kentucky Resolution. Returning to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1799, Madison campaigned for the election of Thomas Jefferson as President. When Jefferson won, Madison became secretary of state, a position which he retained until his own election to the presidency in 1808. As secretary of state, Madison supported the Louisiana Purchase, the war against the Barbary pirates, and the embargo against Britain and France in response to their constant harassment of American ships and impressment of American sailors. Although it is difficult to know with certainty, due to Madison’s tendency to avoid the spotlight, most historians agree with the French foreign minister at the time who said that Madison “governed the President” in foreign affairs. Rather than suggesting a weak President, Madison’s domination of foreign policy rested upon the President’s confidence in Madison and their mutual agreement on all matters of diplomacy. By 1808, the man behind-the-scenes stood poised to succeed Jefferson as the fourth President of the United States.
Biography – James Madison was born on March 16, 1751, in Port Conway, Virginia, to James Madison Sr. and Nellie Conway Madison. The oldest of 12 children, Madison was raised on the family plantation, Montpelier, in Orange County, Virginia. At age 18, Madison left Montpelier to attend the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Madison was a founding father of the United States and the fourth American president, serving in office from 1809 to 1817. An advocate for a strong federal government, the Virginia-born Madison composed the first drafts of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and earned the nickname “Father of the Constitution.” In 1792, Madison and Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican Party, which has been called America’s first opposition political party. When Jefferson became the third U.S. president, Madison served as his secretary of state. In this role, he oversaw the Louisiana Purchase from the French in 1803. During his presidency, Madison led the U.S. into the controversial War of 1812 (1812-1815) against Great Britain. After two terms in office, Madison left Washington, D.C., in 1817, and returned to Montpelier with his wife Dolley (1768-1849). Despite the challenges he encountered during his presidency, Madison was respected as a great thinker, communicator and statesman. He remained active in various civic causes, and in 1826 became rector of the University of Virginia, which was founded by his friend Thomas Jefferson. Madison died at Montpelier on June 28, 1836, at the age of 85.
Brant, Irving. “James Madison.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/James-Madison.
Editors, History.com. “James Madison.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/james-madison#section_6.
“James Madison.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 7 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/people/james-madison-9524786.
5th President James Monroe: (Mary, Mikayla)