Happy Birthday James Madison, Founding Father and President
Intro Copy
Friday (March 16, 2018) is the 267th anniversary of the birth of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States. Madison served in the Virginia House of Delegates, the Continental Congress and the U.S. House of Representatives and was secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson before getting elected president in 1808. The dude was legit. So, in his honor, here are some facts and eLibrary Research Topics related to this extremely important Founding Father. -His wife was the hostess with the mostest. Dolley Madison was widely known among the political elite for the social events she put on, and this reputation helped increase her husband’s popularity. Legend has it that she tore a White House portrait of George Washington from the frame to save it from the British as she fled during the War of 1812. (Apparently, though, that story is apocryphal.) -He is called the Father of the Constitution. Madison drafted the Virginia Plan, which called for a bicameral legislature and became the basis for the Constitution. In addition, he proposed and was pivotal in creating the Bill of Rights. -He was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. After the Constitution was written and agreed upon by the Continental Congress, it needed to be ratified by the states. In response to criticisms known as the Anti-Federalist papers, Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote a series of promotional essays under the pseudonym “Publius.” -He had two vice presidents. And, if that is not unusual enough, they both died in office: George Clinton, who was an Anti-Federalist opposed to the ratification of the Constituion ... … and Elbridge Gerry, who lent his name to gerrymandering, the practice of shaping voting districts to aid political candidates. Madison seems overshadowed somewhat by fellow Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, but, as you saw above, eLibrary and its Research Topics can bring him to the fore with your students. Search around to find more great Research Topics, primary documents, images and other resources.