I. Introduction a. Anecdote b. Facts c. Without him d.

Thesis James Madison was perhaps the most active and important founding father. II. Childhood a. Topic Sentence - - Ever since James Madison was young he had his mind on being important. b. Family and birth c. College d. Studies ***Transition Paragraph*** III. Adulthood a. Topic Sentence - - By now Madison had a great education and career. b. Slaves and ranch c. Marriage d. Home they lived in ***Transition Paragraph*** IV. Government a. Topic Sentence James Madison had decided to start up a career in politics ever since he became interested in college. b. First government participation c. Debates d. President ***Transition Paragraph*** V. How James Madison changed history a. Topic Sentence - James Madison became one of the greatest founding fathers in history when he practically formed our government with his clever ideas. b. Federal Papers c. Constitution d. Checks and Balance idea VI. Conclusion a. James Madison was obviously an important founding father. He participated in many government activities.

JAMES MADISON A FOUNDING FATHER

JAMES MADISON Imagine an old rancher named James Madison that owned a bit of property and some slaves. Obviously he wouldnt really have much purpose. He was a scrawny little man that was called a withered little Apple-John. He only weighed one hundred pounds and was five feet and 6 inches tall. He was also very sickly throughout his entire life. It would be supernatural for someone like that to do something important for the world. Well think again. James Madison was Americas third vice president and our fourth president. He was a very smart student in college and went to Princeton University. He attended college from 1769 to 1772. Without James Madison America would be nowhere. He did so much for our country that he was considered one of our own founding fathers of America. For the Constitution he practically wrote it! Although he didnt like it, he was called the Father of the Constitution. He had also written the most notes and most accurate notes during the debating of the Constitution. James Madison was perhaps the most active and important founding father. Ever since James Madison Jr. was young he had his mind on being important but many things stood in his way. For example he was always so sickly with psychosomatic, where seizures and fits because of lots of stress. His most real and frightening memories were in his childhood when he was constantly afraid of attacks by the Indians. He was so afraid that he was constantly by his mothers side. He was the very first child out of twelve other children in his family. Five of those children never made it to childhood, either dying in infancy or childhood. Madison was born in Belle Grove Plantation March 16, 1751. He was raised in

Montpellier Virginia. His father was named James Madison. That is how James Madison Jr. got his name. His mother was named Eleanor Rowe Conway. She was why the family had so much money. Her father was a wealthy man who worked as a tobacco trader. When he passed away, Eleanor Rowe Conway inherited most of his money. Therefore, the Madisons had a large ranch with about one hundred slaves. The Madison's even lived in a mansion! His younger brothers and sisters looked up to him in awe. James Madison would study and read as much books as he could as a child. He also adored learning about the classic languages. By the time he was in college at what is now known as Princeton University an Ivy League school, he was a master at Greek and Latin with the help of private tutors. James Madison went to college from 1769 to 1772. He completed college in two years, but he decided to stay for one more term. During this time he started the studies of the Jewish language, Hebrew, and also philosophy. Back in Montpelier in 1772 he studied law. Not very long after he started to study law, he quit and decided it wasn't right for him. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesmadison With a good childhood and a solid education behind him combined with financial stability from his mother and father, James Madison now moves on to the next phase of his life. He inherits his father's ranch along with all the slaves that have lived in his life for so long. He even meets a nice girl and decides to settle down and start a family. By now Madison had a great education and a head start with his parent's money and ranch that they passed down to him. He even still owned the slaves. Although his entire life he did not like slavery and thought it was cruel he never set them free.

However, when James Madison was in the government he attempted to pass laws in favor of the slaves. He was making a good living and he lived alone. At day he would commonly tend to the farm and at night he would play chess or devour knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages. Every now and then he would take a nice and relaxing horse back ride alone in the woods. When James Madison started his next career in the government, as one of Philadelphias congressmen, he met a nice woman named Dolly. She had a young boy and her husband had died as well as her father and she had no brother in law leaving her absolutely no one to take care of Dolly and her young child. James Madison felt sorry for her and he loved her. On September15, 1794 they were married and a happy couple. James Madison never had any real children of his own, but Dolly had a child named Payne Todd that James big-heartedly accepted into the family as if Payne was his own child. But as Payne grew into a young adult his parents were not pleased with him. He consumed large amounts of alcohol and he was attracted to and dated low class women. Payne even gambled as an addiction. James rented a large three story house in Philadelphia. Dollys mother and sister moved in with them along with their husbands and their children. After years of living together the families had all either died or left. That left dolly with only James Madison, her son Payne Todd, and two remaining sisters. http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/dmde/bio-intro.xqy

James Madison was now a very happy man, he had a wife, child, and two sisters in laws. He had found a nice place to settle down and planned on staying there. But

there was a spark in his interest for politics. Especially freedom of religion. This is the beginning of James Madison's government career that changed America forever. James Madison had decided to start up a career in the government ever since he became interested in politics. One of his very first jobs in the government was being in the state legislator for Virginia from 1776-1779. While he was here, a very shy and quite twenty nine year old man had become very important. James Madison was always very much respected for several reasons. One of which is he was always the most prepared person for the debates that went on. This is also where he met his life long fiend Thomas Jefferson. Madison took a major roll in the making of Virginia's law for freedom of religion by writing the rough draft. He found himself caught up in most debates and he had many other great ideas. People had been noticing how well and hard James Madison had been working. The peoples votes really showed in 1784 when James Madison was elected to be in the Virginia House of Delegates. Several other government activities went on through out his career but nothing could compare to what was coming up next. In 1800 James Madison received a once in a lifetime opportunity. His life long friend, Thomas Jefferson had been campaigning to be president. Thomas Jefferson knew that together they could win and be good for America so Thomas offered James Madison to work by his side to try and become the vice president. Together they worked very hard for over a year persuading people of America to vote for them. By 1801 the duo had won the election and were in office. James Madison was officially the third vice president of America. As a team they worked so hard attempting to make America a better place. It showed to, the people were very pleased with them and voted them back in for

another four years. When the next term was up Jefferson still wanted to be in office. So he once again campaigned and not surprisingly he won and became the fourth president of the United States. He also served for two terms from 1809-1817. During his time of Presidency many obstacles were thrown at him such as the war of 1812. He still came over just about every obstacle in his way. http://totallyhistory.com/james-madison/ http://millercenter.org/president/madison/essays/biography/2 http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_vol_2/jamesmadi_bhb. html James Madison by now was one of the most well-known and important people in America. Every opportunity that involved politics he was soon to be there. For example he was a vice president but that wasnt enough so he decided to go off and become a president. Madisons hunger for government and politics become bigger by the day. In 1787 he really outdid himself by becoming the Father of the Constitution. James Madison became one of the greatest founding fathers in history when he practically formed our government with his clever ideas. First of all, one of his big accomplishments was the helping in the making of the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers were used to ratify the constitution so the people of America would agree to follow the constitution and come to know it as the best form of government for America. This long process was eighty five essay's long and it took only one year to complete. These essays were printed in the Ney York State news papers. Throughout the writings three authors were involved. There names were

John Jay who contributed with five essays, Alex Hamilton who contributed the most by writing fifty two essays, and lastly James Madison who contributed with twenty eight essays. Together as a team they had finally finished all of the essays. The people of New York State were buying it. This soon later led to a success of making the constitution a set of laws. An even bigger thing that was accomplished by James Madison was when he became know as "Father of the Constitution" for being the main creator of the Constitution. It all started when James Madison was only thirty six years old. He had been invited to the Constitutional convention. In the very beginning of the convention James Madison was a quite and very shy man but later on he had quite a frequent voice in the many debates that were held here. One of the most important things that James Madison debated about was about checks and balances. The way that this works is basically the government consist of three main governments, the Judicial, Legislative, and the Executive. Each part of the government has an equal amount of power, therefore it's not based on one person's decision. It helps us not have kings or rulers. This is one of James Madison's clever idea's that most likely holds together America as it is today. http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/ http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/billofrightsintro.html http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesmadison In conclusion, James Madison had a thrilling life of events. He became one of the most important people ever in American history. He practically framed our government. Madison even became the president and vice president of America. He

was a very smart man and he had a wonderful family. He is obviously the most important founding father out of all the rest.

John Knight Mrs. White Due Date: 12/17/12

James Madison