James Madison's Role

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at how the US Founding Fathers were faced with a number of important issues as they debated the form and content of the Constitution, not the least of which was ensuring that their own individual interests would be addressed in the new country. According to the paper, although it represented the work of many minds, the primary author of the first ten amendments to the Constitution was James Madison, but his reasons for advocating these civil liberties was substantially different than many modern observers might believe.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
Perspectives Articulated at the Constitutional Convention
The Changing Views of James Madison
Analysis and Discussion
Implications of the Ratification of the Constitution without a Bill of Rights
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Moreover, in spite of significant across-the-board gains for many formerly disenfranchised citizens during the latter half of the 20th century, the Bill of Rights continues to experience the ebb and flow of political thought in the nation today. Indeed, the civil liberties contained in the Bill of Rights have been subject to the arbitrary vicissitudes of executive whim and fancy more than once in the nation's history, and the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act is just a recent example of how these rights can be adversely affected even with the constitutional guarantees therein contained. In the final analysis, then, it is reasonable to say that James Madison did a better job of executing his responsibilities at the Constitutional Convention and thereafter than many of his peers could have done, and the implications of his failure to do so have also been the subject of much scholarly debate over the years and these issues are discussed further below."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Banning, Lance. The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
• Binkley, Wilfred E. and Malcolm C. Moos. A Grammar of American Politics: The National Government. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1949.
• Bernhard, Virginia, David Burner and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. A College History of the United States, St. James: Brandywine Press, 1991.
• Brant, Irving. The Bill of Rights: Its Origin and Meaning. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965.
• Burns, James MacGregor. (1990, December). "What turned Madison around?" American Heritage, 41(8), 53.

More papers on James Madison's Role:

• Essay # 68655 : "James Madison"
• Essay # 16789 : "James Madison and "The Federalist Paper Number 10"
• Research Paper # 96239 : "James Madison and Civil Liberties"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: