1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: As part of Founding Father's Week, I'm talking about the 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: lives and legacies of our original founders and the impact 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: they've had in our country. On this episode of Newsworld, 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: as part of Founding Father's Week, I'm talking about the 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: lives and legacies of our original founders and the impact 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: they've had in our country. James Madison was America's fourth 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: president from eighteen o nine to eighteen seventeen. But he's 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: so much more than them. He made a major contribution 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: to the ratification of the Constitution by writing the Federalist 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: Papers along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. In his 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: later years, he was referred to as Father of the 12 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,959 Speaker 1: Constitution because he composed the first drafts of the US 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He founded the Democratic 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: Republican Party with Thomas Jefferson in seventeen ninety two, and 15 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: when Jefferson became president, he served as his Secretary State. 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: At only five feet four inches tall, Madison was the 17 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: shortest president in the United States history, and I have 18 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: to say, having visited his home, that he's a remarkable figure. 19 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: He is in some ways one of the most interesting 20 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: of all the Founding fathers because he's so complicated, he's 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: so smart. His real contributions are all cerebral. He studied, 22 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: he read, he thought, he wrote, and over time he 23 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: had an enormous impact at every level. Remember, the Democratic 24 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: Republican Party that he and Jefferson founded still exists as 25 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: the Democratic Party, the longest surviving political institution in the 26 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: world today. The Bill of Rights is at the heart 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: of our freedom and he was the guiding force. In fact, 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: his role in the First Congress was amazing. He literally 29 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: drafted constitution, thought about it. It It was sort of a hobby, 30 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: and so he was tremendously prepared to help write the 31 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: Constitution when the founding fathers met in Philadelphia. And I 32 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: always try to remind people the Federalist papers are not 33 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: some stuffy academic document that we read them nowadays, really 34 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: a sort of policy in a way that is kind 35 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: of abstract and good for graduate students, but not a 36 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: hobby for most people. But the Federalist papers were written 37 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: as the most important pamphlet and political history. Now they're 38 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: very complicated there Long and Madison wrote some of the 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: most important of the Federalist papers, convincing people to have 40 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: two different things that they needed a federal government because 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: the individual states would autoly be gobbled up by France 42 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: and Britain and Spain. So they had to come together 43 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: to survive. And at the same time, you could write 44 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: a constitution that protected you from your own government. And 45 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: it's important to remember the founding were as worried about 46 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: domestic repression from the government as they were about foreign 47 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,679 Speaker 1: dangers to America. And Madison is the person who, more 48 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: than anyone else, balances those two. As he writes at 49 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: one point, you know, if men were angels, we wouldn't 50 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: need government. But since men aren't angels, how are we 51 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: going to govern the governors? And that he constantly thought 52 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: about protecting us from our own government, something which I 53 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: would argue is remarkably current today. So how did a sickly, 54 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: soft spoken man five foot four inches sent barely one 55 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: hundred pounds become the father of the constitution? Washington Irving 56 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: described him as a withered little apple. John Madison was 57 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: born March sixteen, seventeen fifty one, the oldest of twelve children, 58 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: of whom only seven survived to adulthood. His father, James 59 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: Madison Senior, had inherited substantial wealth and his mother, and 60 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: Ellie Conway, was the daughter of a tobacco merchant. Because 61 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: of wealth, young James Madison was afforded private tutors, including 62 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: a Scottish teacher named Donald Robertson, who instructed the young 63 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: boy between the ages of eleven and sixteen in mathematics, geography, 64 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: and Latin, and often sickly told, Madison suffered from what 65 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: he called sudden attacks, as Madison later wrote that he 66 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: had quote a constitutional tendency to sudden attacks somewhat resembling epilepsy, 67 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: which suspended all intellectual function. Imagine now frightening that must 68 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: have been in the eighteenth century. He planned to attend 69 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: the College of William and Mary, where his later friend 70 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson attended, but he thought that Virginia's humid climate 71 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: would worsen his attacks, so we opted to go north 72 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: to the College of New Jersey, which ultimately became Princeton University. 73 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy one, Madison graduated with high marks and 74 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: classical languages, mathematics, rhetoric, geography, and philosophy. After only attending 75 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: for two years, he won a more education, so Madison 76 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: became the school's first graduate student studying Hebrew and political 77 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: philosophy under the university president John Witherspoon, who later on 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. When he 79 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: graduated with his graduate degree, Madison, unsure what to do, 80 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: started in local politics, becoming a member of the Orange 81 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: County Committee of Public Safety in seventeen seventy four. That 82 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: committee oversaw the local militia in the event of a 83 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: war of independence against the British. Remember the Second Amendment 84 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: rose out of these experiences. It is these Committee of 85 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: Public Safety who are arming and training militia which enables 86 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: the Americans to survive when the British tried to conquer them. 87 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: His seizure attacks actually prevented him from joining the military, 88 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: as on July twenty eighth, seventeen seventy five, at the 89 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,919 Speaker 1: age of twenty four, he collapsed during a military drill. 90 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: But in October seventeen seventy five, he was commissioned as 91 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: colonel of the Orange County Militia, serving alongside his father 92 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: until he was elected as a delegate to the fifth 93 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: Virginia Convention. Madison, in the most important friendship of his life, 94 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: met Jefferson in the fall of seventeen seventy six, when 95 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: they both were members of the Virginia House of Delegates. 96 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: Hard to imagine two people who were different. Jefferson was 97 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 1: six foot two and described as straight as a gun barrel. 98 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: Madison was five foot four inches and barely a hundred pounds. 99 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: Imagine the two of them hang out together. But what 100 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: brought them together was their minds. Jefferson was described as 101 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: quick witted and Madison was painfully shy and reserved. But 102 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: Madison thought all the time, and Madison could hold his 103 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: own With Jefferson, the pair connected and a friendship began, 104 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: which lasted for decades. In seventeen seventy seven, Madison lost 105 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: his seat in the House of Delegates because he refused 106 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: to participate in the long standing Virginia custom of treating 107 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: voters to whiskey, because he felt it was the same 108 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,159 Speaker 1: as buying votes. In other words, back then, you showed 109 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: up annually at the polling place, and you got free liquor, 110 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: and the candidate who gave away the most free liquor 111 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: got elected. Now, Madison was not alone Washington. When he 112 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: first ran, refused to buy any alcohol because he was 113 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: a military hero, very famous, and he came in last 114 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: because all the local neighbors said, wait a second, if 115 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: you're not going to buy me a drink, why am 116 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: I going to vote for you. The following year, Washington 117 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: bought more liquor for the voters than anybody else in 118 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: that particular race. So Madison was faced with trying to 119 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: deal with a country whose patterns were, shall we say, 120 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: a little different than Madison would have liked. But despite 121 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: all that, in seventeen seventy eight, Madison was elected to 122 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: the Virginia Governor's eight member Council of State. When Jefferson 123 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: was elected governor of Virginia in seventeen seventy nine, Madison, 124 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: as a member of the Council State, worked closely with him, 125 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: talking daily and offering his advice. And remember this is 126 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: in the middle of a war. In seventeen eighty, at 127 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: the age of twenty nine, Madison became the youngest member 128 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: of the Continental Congress. At the time, Jefferson was Minister 129 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: to France and did not attend the convention, but he 130 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: frequently sent Madison books and letters. Madison supported efforts to 131 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: strengthen the power of the federal government. He knew that 132 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: the Continental Congress system the Articles of Confederation simply wasn't work. 133 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: He made several unsuccessful attempts to compromise with delegates who 134 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: wanted strong state governments. He kept trying to convince them, 135 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: you can't have strong state governments and survive because these 136 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,719 Speaker 1: foreign powers are going to pick us off one by 137 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: one and gradually subvert all of North America. Madison took 138 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: detailed notes on not only who was present every day, 139 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: but exactly what was said and by who. Madison avoided 140 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: any long absences, did not miss a single day of debate, 141 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: later writing quote, it happened also that I was not 142 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: absent a single day, no more than a casual fraction 143 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: of an hour in any day, so I could not 144 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: have lost a single speech, unless a very short one. 145 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: These notes are one of the few things that historians 146 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: have from this time, as delegates were forbidden from talking 147 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: about anything in the proceedings in fear of leaking it 148 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: to the public, the opposite of modern transparency, and the 149 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: notes themselves were not published until after he died. In 150 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty four. Madison returns to Mountpelier to study law 151 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: and to attempt an unsuccessful career in land speculation. He 152 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: was a genuine intellectual. He wasn't the kind of guy 153 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: who's going to be very good at going out and 154 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: figuring out the right places to buy land and then 155 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: holding out until he got the price he wanted. Who 156 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:46,959 Speaker 1: didn't interest him. He wanted to read books, he wanted 157 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: to think, He wanted to be part of the life 158 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: of the mind. He then served again in the Virginia 159 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: House of Deulgas from seventeen eighty four to seventeen eighty six, 160 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: while they helped to ratify Jefferson's the Statute of Virginia 161 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: Religious Freedom. At the time, Jefferson was serving as Minister 162 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: of France and were not able to advocate for his statue. 163 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: This was truly a great breakthrough moment. Madison wrote to 164 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: the General Assembly the Commonwealth of Virginia on June twentieth, 165 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty five. And I'm quoting this because it's so 166 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: important in such a key break in the development of 167 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: religious liberty. Quote. The religion, then of every man, must 168 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: be left to the conviction and conscience of every man, 169 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: and it is the right of every man to exercise 170 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: it as these may dictate. This right is in its 171 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: nature and unalienable right. It is unalienable because the opinions 172 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,839 Speaker 1: of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their 173 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,319 Speaker 1: own minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men. It 174 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: is unalienable also because what is here a right towards 175 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: men is a duty towards the creator. Now, remember Jefferson 176 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: and Madison are arguing for your right of conscience. And 177 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: a time when virtually every government had an official religion, 178 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: and for example, for a very long period of time 179 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: persecuted priests because they represented an alien Catholic religion based 180 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: in Rome and they did not represent the Church of England. Conversely, 181 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: there were Catholic countries which would prosecute Protestants because they 182 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: weren't obedient to the dominant religion. So this whole notion 183 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: that your conscience, not the government's rules, are what will 184 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,319 Speaker 1: define religion was an enormous breakthrough and a great expansion 185 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: of human freedom. Now, Madison kept working on how do 186 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: we get to a strong enough government, and in preparation 187 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: for the seventeen eighty seven Constitutional Convention, Madison drafted what 188 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: would later be known as the Virginia Plan. He spent 189 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: thirty six months think about that, three years in the 190 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: library studying political philosophy and past attempts at forming government. 191 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: The Virginia Plan outlined a government consisting of three branches 192 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: with checks and balances. This was really based on the 193 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: work of a French theoretician, Montesquieu, would come up with 194 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: this notion that you could maximize freedom by balancing power 195 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: between three different elements. If I could quote from the time, 196 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: quote resolved that his opinion of this committee that a 197 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: national government ought to be established consisting of a supreme legislative, judiciary, 198 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: and executive. And of course those are the building blocks 199 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: of the US Constitution, and we today work within the 200 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: framework that Madison had defined. He's often referred to as 201 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: the father of the Constitution, but he argued it was 202 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: a team effort, writing in a letter to William Cogswell 203 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: on March tenth, eighteen thirty four, quote, you give me 204 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:43,960 Speaker 1: a credit to which I have no claim in calling 205 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: me the writer of the Constitution the United States. This 206 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: was not like the fabled Goddess of Wisdom, the offspring 207 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as 208 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: the work of many heads and many hands. Now that sense, 209 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: I think was sincere in Madison's party realize it's something 210 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: we sometimes forget in the egocentric Washington of today, that 211 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: it takes teams for a free society to govern itself. 212 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: It takes teams to get things done. And Ronald Reagan 213 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: used to have a little sign on its desk to say, 214 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: it's amazing what you can get done if you don't 215 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,319 Speaker 1: mind who gets the credit. I think Madison thoroughly understood 216 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:30,359 Speaker 1: that principle. Hi, this is newt We have serious decisions 217 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: to make about the future of our nation. 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To 229 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: pre order my new book today, go to Gingwich three 230 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: sixty dot com slash book to order your copy now. 231 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: Orderers today at Gingwish three sixty dot com slash book. 232 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: Once the Constitution was presented to the States for ratification, Madison, 233 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: along with Jefferson and Jay, published a series of newspaper essays, 234 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: and Madison, Jay, and Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers, writing 235 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: under the pseudonym Publius. Madison authored twenty nine of the essays, 236 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: published between October seventeen eighty seven and May seventeen eighty eight. 237 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: In his twenty nine essays, Madison argued the case for 238 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: a strong central government with checks and balances. No want 239 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: to emphasize this. The founding fathers were as concerned about 240 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: government being too powerful as they were concerned about government 241 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: being too weak, and they wanted to protect you from 242 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: the very government that they'd set up to protect the nation. 243 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: In Federalist Paper number fifty one, Madison wrote, and this 244 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: is the very famous quote, if men were angels, no 245 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, 246 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: neither external nor internal controls and government would be necessary. 247 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: In framing a government which is to be administered by 248 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: men over men. The great difficulty lies in this. You 249 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: must first enable the government to control the government, and 250 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: in the next place oblige it to control itself close quote, 251 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: and I would argue that that is the central crisis 252 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: of the American system today. There is none of the 253 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: sense of balance that Madison and Jefferson believed in so deeply. 254 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: After the ratification of the Constitution, Madison attempted to run 255 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: for the Senate, but Patrick Henry, who had been opposed 256 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: to the Constitution and wanted a strong Virginia, successfully worked 257 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: against him. Instead, Madison won the election to the US 258 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: House of Representatives in seventeen eighty nine, ironically over James Monroe, 259 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: who later only become president following Madison. Madison served in 260 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: the US House until seventeen ninety seven, at a time 261 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: of enormous initial creation of all the principles of the House. 262 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: So he's there as somebody very widely respected, very well known, 263 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: and at first he doesn't want a Bill of rights. 264 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: He argues that quote, the government can only exert the 265 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: power specified by the Constitution. But his friend Jefferson was 266 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: adamantly in favor of a Bill of rights. Thought the 267 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: Constitution was too strong and would become a danger to freedom. 268 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: Jefferson's view was spreading throughout the States, and there was 269 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: a real danger that the Constitution could only be ratified 270 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: with a Bill of Rights. So Madison, accepting reality, compiles 271 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: a list of nineteen proposals out of hundreds of suggestions 272 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: they got from the state's ratification debates. In his notes 273 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: for speech in Congress, written around June seventeen eighty nine, 274 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: Madison outlined his reasons for urging the amendments. These included 275 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,959 Speaker 1: first to prove the Federalists of the Friends to liberty, Second, 276 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: to remove any remaining worries, Third to bring in North 277 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: Carolina and Rhode Island, and fourth to improve the constitution. 278 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: Notice the practicality, it's North Carolina and Rhode Island that 279 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,120 Speaker 1: won't come in. Therefore you have to have some kind 280 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: of compromise. In these notes, Madison wrote that the Bill 281 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: of Rights was useful, not essential, and that's because he 282 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 1: actually thought the Constitution that he had helped draft already 283 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: limited government. But people like Jefferson wanted a little extra guarantee, 284 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: if you will, that even a bad government would be restricted. 285 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,919 Speaker 1: And most of the time, the Supreme Quarters interpreted the 286 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: Bill of Rights to in fact restrict government. The Bill 287 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: of Rights was the rights of individuals against governments. Something 288 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,159 Speaker 1: we tend to forget that our founding fathers were as 289 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: much afraid of strong central government as they felt the 290 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: need to have the government strong enough to defend us 291 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: from foreigners. The Congress looked at the nineteen proposals ultimately 292 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: adopted twelve of them as amendments. On October second, seventeen 293 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: eighty nine, President George washingtonson copies of these twelve amendments 294 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: to states, and by December fifteen, seventeen ninety one, three 295 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: fourced the states, who ratified ten of them, and they 296 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: became what we call the Bill of Rights. While in 297 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: the House Representatives, Madison worked with President Washington and Thomas Jefferson, 298 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: but in seventeen ninety one and seventeen ninety two, Madison 299 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: disagreed with Secretary of Treasury Hamilton's proposal to establish a 300 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,120 Speaker 1: national bank. He further broke with the Federalist Party over 301 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: their support of Great Britain during its war with France. 302 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: Remember we've just been fighting with Britain a decade earlier 303 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: for our freedom and here we were now siding with 304 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: against the French Revolution. Madison, with Jefferson and some anti federalists, 305 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: founded the Democratic Republican Party. Madison spoke often on the 306 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: idea of political parties. In a speech to the Constitutional 307 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: Convention on the Right of Suffrage in August seventeen eighty seventy, 308 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 1: said quote, no free country has ever been without parties, 309 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: which are a natural offspring of freedom. A generation later, 310 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: in a June twenty fifth, eighteen twenty four letter to 311 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: Henry Lee, he wrote, quote, the Constitution itself, whether written 312 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: or prescriptive, influenced as its exposition and administration will be 313 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: by those causes, must be an unfailing source of party distinctions, 314 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: and the very peculiarity which gives pre eminent value to 315 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: that of the United States. The partition of power between 316 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: different governments, as well as between different departments of government 317 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: opens a new door for controversies and parties. So Madison 318 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: understands the reality that in a free society people organized 319 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: themselves into parties, and his study of political systems over 320 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: the ages had convinced him it was almost a natural evolution, 321 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: something which Washington wished would not have happened, but in fact, 322 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: Madison knew it would inevitably happen. In seventeen ninety nine, 323 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,399 Speaker 1: Madison returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he 324 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: campaigned for Thomas Jefferson to be the third President of 325 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: the United States, and when Jefferson won, Madison became Secretary 326 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: of State and stayed there until his own election of 327 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: the presidency in eighteen o eight. As Secretary of State, 328 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: Madison helped to persuade Congress to ratify and fund the 329 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the side of the country. Look 330 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: at a map some time and realized that when the 331 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: French decided they couldn't defend their control of what had 332 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: been Spanish territory starting with New Orleans, and that they 333 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: would sell the United States the Mississippi and all of 334 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: its tributaries, which includes the Missouri. They were literally for 335 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: fifteen million dollars, giving up half of a and it's 336 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: an enormous moment, and Madison is one of the people 337 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: who convince Congress to pay for it. And in July 338 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen o three letter to Robert Levingston, Madison wrote, 339 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,719 Speaker 1: it will be of great importance to take the regulation 340 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: and settlement of that territory out of other hands into 341 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: those the United States, who will be able to manage 342 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,679 Speaker 1: both for the general interest and conveniency. Despite their efforts, 343 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: Jefferson and Madison could not convince the Spanish to sell 344 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,679 Speaker 1: West Florida. Had they not bought the Louisiana purchase, and 345 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: had either the French or the Spanish or some other 346 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,239 Speaker 1: country maintained it, the United States who would have been 347 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: truncated stopping at the Mississippi River. That's how big a 348 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: decision it was. As it is, they went all the 349 00:21:42,760 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: way to the Pacific, in line with what Washington had done. 350 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson refused to run for a third term, endorsing 351 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: Madison instead. The Federalist Party candidate Charles Coatsworth Pinckney unsuccessfully 352 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: ran for president in the election of eighteen o four, 353 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: losing to Jefferson. Almost immediately, anti Madison newspapers published across 354 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:25,360 Speaker 1: the country with cartoons ridiculing Madison's small stature and Jefferson's 355 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,120 Speaker 1: embargo of all trade with England and France. The Federalist 356 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: Party charged that Madison supported the embargo to build up 357 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: domestic manufacturing at the expensive foreign trade. One critic asked, 358 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: why is the embargo like sickness, because it weakens us. 359 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: It was not just the Federalist Party that was against Madison. 360 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: A small group of Democratic Republicans were also against Madison 361 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: as a candidate, fearing that Madison's quiet nature meant he 362 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: was a Hamiltonian Federalist in disguise. Jefferson stood up for 363 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: his friend and convinced some members of the Democratic Republican 364 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: Party to vote for Mais. George Clinton, Jefferson's vice president, 365 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: was among these, and he, after accepting the vice presidential 366 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: nomination with Madison, announced his own candidacy for president. But 367 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: Madison won by a landslide of one hundred and twenty 368 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: two electoral votes against Pickney's forty seven. Clinton managed to 369 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,919 Speaker 1: squeeze six electoral votes from his home state. Madison carried 370 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: twelve states to Paintneys five, which means, of course, four 371 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: of the first five presidents were in fact from the 372 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 1: state of Virginia. After Madison was elected, but before Jefferson 373 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: left office, Congress passed the Non Intercourse Act of eighteen 374 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: o nine, replacing Jefferson's embargo. This allowed world trade except 375 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: for Britain and France, to resume. The bill also said 376 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: that if England and France removed their trade restrictions, the 377 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: president could resume trade. However, when neither country responded to 378 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: the request to remove restrictions, Congress passed Mason's Bill number two, 379 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 1: a bill that removed their trade restrictions for three months, 380 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: stating that just one of them removed their restrictions on 381 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: American trade by March three, eighteen eleven, and the other 382 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: one failed to do so within three months, the president 383 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: would reinstate the restrictions on the other country. France decided 384 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: to remove their restrictions through the Codare Letter of August 385 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: eighteen ten, leading Madison to implement Machen's Bill number two 386 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: and two stages, first in November of eighteen ten and 387 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: then in March eighteen eleven. The British insisted that American 388 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: ships would continue to be seized until France lifted their 389 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: restriction on a British trade, thus treating US exports as 390 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: part of their war strategy. Congress responded by voting for 391 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: military preparations, and in April eighteen twelve, on ninety day embargo, 392 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: Madison came before Congress with his list of complaints against 393 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: the British, including the arming of Indians and trade restrictions. 394 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: The House voted for war on June fourth, eighteen twelve. However, 395 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: the Senate debated for more than two weeks and would 396 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:10,120 Speaker 1: not vote for war until June seventeenth. For Madison, this 397 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: issue of war provided the opportunity to seize Canada and 398 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,120 Speaker 1: drive the Spanish from West Florida, which they unsuccessfully tried 399 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: to obtain during the Jefferson administration. Madison and the pro 400 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: war members wanted a land invasion of Canada. Their plan 401 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: was to separate Upper Canada around modern day Ontario from 402 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: the northwest part, cutting off the pro British Indian tribes 403 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: from British colonies which supported them. This plan ended in 404 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: a disaster, and by the fall of eighteen twelve, one 405 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: American force surrendered at Detroit, another was defeated near Niagara Falls, 406 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: and a third never made it across the Niagara River, 407 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: and just a few months much of the Northwest territory 408 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: fell to British forces. In the spring of eighteen thirteen, 409 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: things were looking up when commodore Oliver hazard Perry defeated 410 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: a British fleet on the south western tip of Lake 411 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: Erie followed by a sacking of the Canadian capital of York, 412 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: which is the present day Toronto. This allowed for Madison 413 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: to send a force commanded by future President William Henry 414 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: Harrison against the Native American leader Tecumpsa at the Battle 415 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: of the Thames in western Ontario. They beat the Indians badly, 416 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: and of course that set the stage for Harrison to 417 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: become a hero and eventually president. However, things went back 418 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: against the United States in late spring eighteen fourteen as 419 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: the British, who had now defeated Napoleon, shifted their resources 420 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: against the Americans and went on the offensive. British troops 421 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: raided an American ports from Georgia to Maine, and they 422 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: occupied half of Maine. British troops then targeted the nation's 423 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: capital in Washington, d C. The American government fell, with 424 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: British troops torching the White House and many other federal 425 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: buildings in retaliation for burning the Canadian Parliament buildings the 426 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: year earlier. In fact, in my entire congressional career, I 427 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:04,120 Speaker 1: kept going up down a very curvy stone stairway which 428 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: is called the British stairway because that's what they ran 429 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 1: up with. The torches in order to burn down the capitol. 430 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: British were stalled in Baltimore. They were unable to get 431 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: past Fort McHenry, and actually it was a great ironic moment. 432 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: They had taken Francis scott Key on board the British 433 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: ship and we're holding him because they thought he knew 434 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: some secrets and they didn't want him to reveal them 435 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: in terms of where the British were going to land. 436 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: So he's watching the night long battle in which the 437 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 1: British tried to bombard Fort McHenry and force it to surrender. 438 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: Francis scott Key writes a poem, the Star Spangled Banner. 439 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: It's attached to a British drinking song and becomes the 440 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: national anthem, but it's based on real history, which is 441 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: this night where he really could see the Star Spangled 442 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: Banner still waving despite all the effort of the British bombardment. However, 443 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: the British then turned their sights to New Orleans and 444 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: wanted to use that city in the coming peace negotiations. 445 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: They thought if they could seize New Orleans that would 446 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: give them a bargaining ship. About six thousand British soldiers 447 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,640 Speaker 1: moved against the city. These were professional soldiers who had 448 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,679 Speaker 1: done very well in the Peninsula campaign, had stood up 449 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: against the French army. By any reasonable projection, they were 450 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: going to win. New Orleans was protected by four thousand 451 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: American soldiers commanded by Andrew Jackson, and with New Orleans 452 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: citizens rallying to the cause. Now, this was one of 453 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,919 Speaker 1: those cases where the British didn't understand that Americans had 454 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: lived a lifetime with rifles. Because the Americans almost universally 455 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: had been involved in hunting, and because they had rifles 456 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: which fired much longer than muskets, and because they were 457 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: basically protecting themselves behind cotton bales, the British were just 458 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: going to get slaughtered, and they didn't get it. As 459 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: something they would never have done against Napoleon. They charged 460 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: across the field because they had contempt for the Americans. 461 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: Of the six British soldiers, about two thousand died within 462 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: a few minutes. The remaining British soldiers were demoralized, through 463 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: down their weapons and surrendered immediately. For two thousand British dead, 464 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: about seventy Americans died. However, the peace treaty had already 465 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: been made about two weeks earlier, but because of communications, 466 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: nobody knew it, so what happened was in an unnecessary battle. 467 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: The British were both defeated and lost a number of 468 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: very fine soldiers. The Americans won a great victory, and frankly, 469 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: from the standpoint of American history, it is winning in 470 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: New Orleans that launches Andrew Jackson into a career which 471 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: becomes one of the most powerful in the first half 472 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: of the nineteenth century at changing America and creating a 473 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: more populous nation. While the war automnly failed, the few 474 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: victories did return Madison to a high point of popularity 475 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: around the country. Throughout the war, many New England merchants 476 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: ignored trade embargos, traded freely with both France and Britain 477 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: during the War of eighte twelve, and some Federalists talked 478 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: about seceding from the Union. As far as they were concerned, 479 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: their future was in the Atlantic Ocean, dealing with the British, 480 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: not dealing with Washington, d c and Virginians. However, the 481 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: Federalists ultimately understood that the country was going to survive, 482 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: and many Americans came to the conclusion that the Federalists 483 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: were sort of traders or on patriotic There was already 484 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: a party that had been weakened by Jefferson and Madison 485 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: and had collapsed after this effort to talk about secession. 486 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: During Madison's presidency of the War of eighteen twelve, international 487 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: affairs took up a lot of his time, but the 488 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: one domestic issue of the country dealt with was the 489 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: rechartering of the Bank of the United States, whose charter 490 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: was set to expire in eighteen twelve. Remember, the charter 491 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 1: of the original bank had been Alexander Hamilton's great effort 492 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: to create a national financial system that would enable the 493 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: economy to grow. Now, the rechartering of the bank had 494 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: three different camps in Congress, Democratic Republicans who thought the 495 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: bank was unconstitutional, state backing interests that were tired of 496 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: having a federal bank, an anti British federalist who objected 497 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: to stock in the bank held by Britons. So the 498 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve started without a national bank that 499 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: could support war loans. In eighteen sixteen, with Madison's support, 500 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: which was a switch from his opposition against Hamilton the 501 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: generation earlier, the second bank was chartered with a twenty 502 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: year term. Critics of Madison claimed that his support of 503 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: a national bank revealed he was really a federalist. And 504 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: it's interesting that Madison, I think, partly because of his style, 505 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: being quiet, being studious, being intellectual, he didn't feel like 506 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: the kind of populist that Jefferson and the Jeffersonians were 507 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: the most comfortable, but in fact he was probably their 508 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,719 Speaker 1: best thinker as a Jeffersonian. Madison's nomination for a second 509 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,959 Speaker 1: term came fifteen days before the announcement of the War 510 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve. Madison won the endorsement of Congress, but 511 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: about one third of the Democratic Republican legislators boycotted the 512 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: nominating caucus altogether. For second place, the caucus chose John 513 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: Langdon of New Hampshire. However, Langdon declined, and they then 514 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: chose Eldridge Gary, a signer of the Declaration Independence. Remember 515 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: it is Elbridge Gary who alternately draws a map in 516 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve in Massachusetts, which had a congressional district that 517 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: looked really weird, and somebody said that looks like a salamander, 518 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: and somebody said, no, no, that's a Gerryman. And that's 519 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: where the term. Jerrymander comes from a group of New 520 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: York Democratic Republicans who participated in the boycott supported DeWitt Clinton, 521 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: the nephew of former Vice President George Clinton, who had 522 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,360 Speaker 1: died during Madison's term. They were hoping to form a 523 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 1: coalition opposed to Madison for not moving decisively towards war 524 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: an American citizens who wanted almost anyone in office but Madison. 525 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: These Democratic Republicans met with the Federalist Party to discuss 526 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: a unification strategy, and Clinton was nominated for president for 527 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: the Federalist Party, with Jared Ingisoll for Vice President. Clinton, 528 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: who unlike Madison, was only a New York mayor and 529 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: had no national claim, chose to tailor their election against Madison, 530 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: saying quote one thing to war Democratic Republicans, another to 531 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: peace Democratic Republicans, and something else again to anti war Federalists. 532 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: Their message actually turned Federalist John Quincy Adams against his party, 533 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: and he decided to endorse Madison. Madison easily won, carrying 534 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty eight electoral votes to Clinton's eighty nine. 535 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: Madison chose not to run for a third time, which 536 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: reinforced George Washington's president and in fact, up until Franklin 537 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 1: Delnar Roosevelt, nobody would run beyond two terms. Madison goes 538 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: back home to his plantation, Monthelier to live out the 539 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: rest of his life. While he was retired, he was 540 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: a real strong supporter of Jefferson's University of Virginia, serving 541 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 1: on its board. Succeeded Jefferson as head of the university 542 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty six. Three years later, Madison served again 543 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: as a delegate at the Virginia Constitutional Convention, negotiating compromises 544 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: between the large slave holding plantations and western farmers. While delegate, 545 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,359 Speaker 1: he denounced the right of states to declare federal laws 546 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,160 Speaker 1: unconstitutional when they went against state interests. He was also 547 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: a founding member of the American Colonization Society, which favored 548 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,479 Speaker 1: the gradual abolition of slavery and resetting slaves and free 549 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: blacks back to Africa. On June twenty eight, eighteen thirty six, 550 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,319 Speaker 1: after being bedbound for chronic rheumatism and livered dysfunction for 551 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: six months, Madison died. His family hoped he would make 552 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: it to the fourth of July because he wanted him 553 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 1: to die on that day. Like President Jefferson, President Adams 554 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: and President Monroe, all of whom had managed to die 555 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:57,120 Speaker 1: on our national holiday. I think it's important to recognize 556 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: that Madison shaped so much of our politics. So he 557 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,279 Speaker 1: shapes the Constitution, he shapes the Bill of Rights, He 558 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: really shapes the way the House functions as an institution. 559 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 1: He is a perennial figure who, over a period of 560 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,720 Speaker 1: almost forty years, is decisively involved in creating the America 561 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: that we now live in. And I think that Madison, 562 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: in that sense clearly is an immortal. Thank you for listening. 563 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,080 Speaker 1: You can read more about James Madison and get links 564 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: to my other Immortals podcast on our show page at 565 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,480 Speaker 1: newtsworld dot com. News World is produced by Gingwich three 566 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Garnsey Slow, our 567 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:46,040 Speaker 1: producer is Rebecca Howe, and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 568 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penwill. 569 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Gingwich three sixty. If 570 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 571 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 572 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn what it's all about. 573 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 1: Right now, Listeners of Newtsworld can sign up from my 574 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 1: three free weekly columns at gingwist sixty dot com slash newsletter. 575 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 1: I'm Newt Gingrich. This is news World.