James Madison

From the official White House website

"Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly.

"When delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, the 36-year-old Madison took frequent and emphatic part in the debates.

"Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. In later years, when he was referred to as the "Father of the Constitution," Madison protested that the document was not "the off-spring of a single brain," but "the work of many heads and many hands."

"In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Out of his leadership in opposition to Hamilton's financial proposals, which he felt would unduly bestow wealth and power upon northern financiers, came the development of the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party.

"As President Jefferson's Secretary of State, Madison protested to warring France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was contrary to international law. The protests, John Randolph acidly commented, had the effect of 'a shilling pamphlet hurled against eight hundred ships of war.'

"Despite the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which did not make the belligerent nations change their ways but did cause a depression in the United States, Madison was elected President in 1808. Before he took office the Embargo Act was repealed."

Federalist Papers Authored by James Madison

FEDERALIST No. 10 The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (con't)

FEDERALIST No. 14 Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered

FEDERALIST No. 18 The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union (con't) (with Hamilton)

FEDERALIST No. 19 The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union (con't) (with Hamilton)

FEDERALIST No. 20 The Insufficiency fo the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union (con't) (with Hamilton)

FEDERALIST No. 37 Concerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government

FEDERALIST No. 38 The Same Subject Continued, and the Incoherence of the Objections to the New Plan Exposed

FEDERALIST No. 39 The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles

FEDERALIST No. 40 The Powers of the Convention to Form a Mixed Government Examined and Sustained

FEDERALIST No. 41 General View of the Powers Conferred by The Constitution

FEDERALIST No. 42 The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered

FEDERALIST No. 43 The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered (con't)

FEDERALIST No. 44 Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States

FEDERALIST No. 45 The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments Considered

FEDERALIST No. 46 The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared

FEDERALIST No. 47 The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts

FEDERALIST No. 48 These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other

FEDERALIST No. 49 Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention (Hamilton or Madison)

FEDERALIST No. 50 Periodical Appeals to the People Considered (Hamilton or Madison)

FEDERALIST No. 51 The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments (Hamilton or Madison)

FEDERALIST No. 52 The House of Representatives (Hamilton or Madison)

FEDERALIST No. 53 The House of Representatives (con't) (Hamilton or Madison)