CHAPTER ONE SHAPING A NEW NATION After arriving from England in the mid-seventeenth century James Madison’s great-great grandparents made their home in the colony of Virginia By the time James Madison Sr father of the future president married Nelly Conway in 1749 the family owned a plantation called Montpelier with thousands of acres and dozens of slaves to work it On March 16 1751 Nelly gave birth to James Madison Jr called Jemmy as a child He was the first child in what would be a large family Young James was plagued by illness and seizures possibly caused by epilepsy or a similar disease But his parents made sure his poor health did not stand in the way of an excellent education James attended a boarding school in Ki ng and Queen County Virginia where he studied advanced math and learned Latin Greek and French The school’s extensive library served James’s overflowing intellectual curiosity He became an avid reader writing down thoughts and questions as he read and then seeking out further reading materials to answer them Several years later the Madison family hired a tutor to work with all their children at home This tutor saw great potential in James and recommended sending him to the College of New Jersey which later became Princeton University There surrounded 10
Madison grew up on his family’s plantation near Orange Virginia This 1818 illustration shows the main house at the Montpelier plantation by his intellectual peers Madison shed some of his lifelong shyness He became known for both his brilliance and his sense of humor as he composed insulting poems about members of opposing debate teams Instead of preparing himself for any particular profession Madison studied philosophy and society He graduated in just two years having done well enough on his entrance exams to skip his freshman year and later completing his last two years curriculum in a single year After Madison returned home to Montpelier in 1772 he took up a lifelong interest in religious freedom The colony of Virginia’s official religion was the C hurch of England also called the Anglican Church and the law did not allow the practice or spread of other religions Madison was appalled when Virginia’s government started to arrest and punish Baptist preachers for promoting their faith Madison was an Anglican and did not 11
approve of Baptist teachings but he supported Baptists right to practice their beliefs In letters to a friend he argued that the colony should not have an official religion at all Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise he wrote in 1774 His passion about religious freedom inspired him to study law Madison believed that a diversity of ideas in religion and politics alike would help prevent corruption Many competing voices would prevent one voice from becoming too powerful in society or in government Early Career Before Madison could make headway on the issue of religious freedom he became involved in a larger fight In the 1770s the American colonies were still under British rule The British government had imposed several taxes on the colonists to pay debts from the French and Indian War 1754 1763 Many colonists objected to being taxed by Britain when they had no representatives in the British government No taxation without representation became their rallying cry By 1774 colonial protests had grown louder larger and increasingly hostile Madison supported resistance to British rule Hoping to enter politics the twenty-three-year-old started studying governance He was especially interested in writings on limited government religious freedom and natural rights freedoms he believed all people should possess Madison also joined his county’s Committee of Safety a group that oversaw the local militia and enforced a boycott of British goods It was Madison’s first experience in public service The militias groups of private citizens who volunteered emergency military service began to train There will by the spring I expect be thousands of well-trained high-spirited men ready to meet danger whenever it appears Madison wrote of their preparation 12
In the 1770s American colonists were growing more angry about taxes they had to pay to Great Britain Protesters in Boston threw tea into the harbor in a protest known as the Boston Tea Party By spring in fact the American Revolution 1775 1783 had broken out between colonists and British forces As the hostilities continued the colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776 The same year Madison was appointed to the Virginia Convention the body that would draft the new state’s constitution The twenty-five-year-old Madison argued for a stronger protection of religious freedom in Virginia His position was that religious freedom was a natural right one that should not be limited by government He wanted to change the wording in Article XVI from All men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion to a stronger protection All men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion Aware of his youth and inexperience Madison did not present the amendment himself He enlisted the help of Patrick Henry a politician known for his skilled oratory and Edmund Pendleton an active member of the Church of England who Madison 13
