James Madison: The Founding Father Of The Constitution

When people think of the Founding Fathers of the United States, many think of Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson; but very few people think of James Madison. James Madison was an American politician, the fourth President of the United States, and considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", he was the main author of the document; a document that has lasted over 220 years, through tough times including wars and economic struggles. This is why he is America’s most valuable Founding Father.

The United States Constitution is the very foundation of our government. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States because no law may be passed that contradicts its principles. The purpose of our Federal Government, as found in the
A very large part of it was due to one man in particular, James Madison. At the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, James Madison drafted what is known as the Virginia Plain. All of the delegates were convinced that something must replace the weak Articles of Confederation, but what Madison planned was an altogether different form of government. The Articles of Confederation were a lose alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states, with no one centralized government. The Virginia Plan proposed instead a central government with a legislative branch consisting of two chambers, based on population of the different states. However, the small states obviously were not in favor of this, so the convention settled on the Connecticut Compromise between this and the New Jersey Plan. The New Jersey Plan proposed a single chamber legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, as under the Articles of Confederation. The Connecticut Compromise created a House of Representatives that was divided up by population and a Senate in which each state is equally represented. In addition to dealing with legislative representation, the Virginia Plan called for a national government of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial. The concept of checks and balances was embodied in a provision that legislative acts could be vetoed by a council made up of the executive and selected
Madison studied the history of republican and federal governments throughout history. In his book, Ketcham said that “Madison’s intense study at Montpelier in 1786, after his sparse breakfasts and before the evening games of whist for half bits, left him as well informed on the workings of confederate governments as any man in America.” Madison compiled his notes on “ the facts and lessons about the ancient and modern confederacies in a booklet of forty one pocket size pages, easy to use in debate of writing.” Madison concluded that republics would perish without strong central governments. Among other contributions, Madison wrote Federalist Paper number 10, in which he explained how a large country with many different interests and factions could support republican values better than a small country dominated by a few special interests, and could endure best because conflicting factions would make majority tyranny unlikely. These essays that Madison wrote were not only helping to just ratify the Constitution, but were helping to form a