James Madison, Father of America’s Constitution

The men who created America’s Constitution are often called the nation’s “founders.” But only one of those men, James Madison, is widely considered “the father of the Constitution.”

Madison was elected president of the United States in 1808. He served for two terms. But many Americans remember Madison more for the work he did to strengthen the national government before he served as president.

Madison was one of the writers of the state constitution in his home state of Virgina in 1776. Later, he proposed a more structured national government after the Revolutionary War. That conflict resulted in the American colonists separating from Britain.

Madison imagined a three-part American government – one with an executive, a legislature, and an independent Supreme Court. His ideas became the basis for the U.S. Constitution.

Tom Howard has served as an educator at Madison’s home in southern Virginia. He said Madison did not receive as much attention as some of America’s other founding members.

“He’s not somehow historically as well-known as other…founding statesmen,” Howard said. “But he’s certainly every bit as important…We are not even sure there would be a Constitution had it not been for James Madison,” he added.

Howard noted how James Madison used his own library to prepare for the nation’s Constitutional Convention. “He went up there and studied for months, and that’s having just a light breakfast and then studying throughout the entire day – before he finally took a break to rest up, to go back at it the next day.”

Historians say Madison took very detailed notes during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “He sat behind George Washington taking notes, and trying to determine how the debates were going in discussions that he could prepare for the next day, and how he would influence that.”

Madison understood his notes were important not only for him. He knew they would also be interesting for historians and other people who wanted to know what happened at the meeting. He included information on speeches and ideas expressed by other delegates.

After a new constitution was created at the convention, the legislatures of each state had to ratify, or vote to approve, the document. Madison and other supporters of the proposed government eventually succeeded in persuading the states to ratify the Constitution.

He was then elected to the House of Representatives in the first Congress under the new government. But it was his actions in support of a strong national government and federal laws that earned Madison a place in history as “Father of the Constitution.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Jill Robbins, Steve Ember and Faith Lapidus reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports.

founder – n. someone who establishes an effort or organization

determine – v. to discover the facts or truth about something

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