Dan+E.+-+Jmad+-+SP10


 * __James Madison__**

(March 16, 1751 - June 28, 1836) George Clinton 1808- 1812 Elbridge Gerry 1813-1814
 * Democratic-Republican Party**
 * Terms**: 1808-1812 1812-1816
 * Vice Presidents**:

For his many successful accomplishments during his 2 terms as president, James Madison deserves an "A" grade. He came into the presidential office at a time when tensions were high and he had a large plate of things to take care of. He handled all these tasks with rationality and made many successful decisions. The successes of his presidency include the War of 1812 and the Era of Good Feelings. But, although he mad these great accomplishments, he wasn't perfect and made mistakes such as Macon's Bill no. 2. Because of these different outcomes of his presidency, Madison deserves a high grade, but not the highest.

When Madison inherited the presidency from Thomas Jefferson in 1809, he was left with many problems to deal with. The most important of his problems was the growing tensions between America and Britian, due largely to British impressment of American merchant ships and the hated Embargo Act that was established 2 years earlier in 1807. As a result of the Embargo Act the American economy was suffering heavily, as it's main source of money and goods had been cut off. The impressment by the British was just adding insult to injury by raiding American ships and further affecting the economy. Another pressing issue was the need for Americans to expand westward. Because of the Louisiana Purchase many American's packed up their homes and pushed farther west and, as a resut, inevitably ran into Indian opposition. Various attempts at peace making had failed and the cry for war rose through America. In 1812, under the pressing influence of James Madison, congress declared war on Britian and the Indians. By going to war, Madison was able to establish America as an independent nation that wasn't to be reckoned with, thus ending the majority of British impressment. Also, through the Treaty of Ghent, no land was lost and American Expansionists could continue their push westward. After the war, trade was resumed and America fell into an "Era of Good Feelings". So essentially, Madisons decision to go to war allowed him to accomplish virtually all of the goals he had been handed from Jefferson upon becoming president.

Although Congress was dominated by members of his same party, Madison's relationship with Congress can be described as somewhat shaky. As the object of war becaming more pressing around the year of 1812, Madison began to side with the American "War Hawks" in believing that war was the only answer to America's problems. But, the war effort was slow to take off because many members of Congress, although they were Democratic-Republicans, were unsupportive of the idea of war. As a result of Congress being unsupportive, Madison and the War Hawks lacked the necessary funding and naval power to go to war. To finally get war declared Madison fired his Secretary of State Robert Smith, who was largely opposed to war, and replaced him with James Monroe who quickly declared war on Britian. Besides the war Madison also had other issues with Congress which can be seen in the fact that he veto'd 7 bills during his presidency, which is more than the previous 3 presidents combined. Although his relationship was shaky, after the war ended in 1815 Madison's relations with Congress improved greatly and this lead to many successful outcomes, the most notable of which is the Second United States Bank which helped the blundering American economy.

The most notable accomplishment of Madison's 8 year presidency is his decision to go to war with Britain and the Native Americans in 1812. Agrivated by the Revolution and various trading laws, the british began to impress upon American merchant ships. Americans, already angry at the fact that the majority of their trading econmy had been cut off by the Embargo Act, were furious with the British impressment. In an under-handed attempt to "break" America, the British began to give the Indians weapons and supplies that the Indians subsequently used to raid American villages. Besides just being a nusance, the Indian attacks were very brutal in the fact that they spared no one, not even women and children. Madison, who had originally been particularly neutral to the idea of war, began to see it as the only answer. So, through hard pressing of Congress, Madiosn had war declared on Britian in 1812. Over the course of almost 3 years the British and Indians fought America in various battles at various places such as Canada and New Orleans. In 1815, the war was essentially a deadlock and the Treaty of Ghent was passed, ending all fighting, restored conquered land and resumed trade with Britian. By going to war, Madison effectively defended American territory and gained respect from oterh nations cross the globe. Also, he re-established trading with Britian and helped to restore a suffering American economy. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, he was able to ffectively repel Indian attacks and continue American expansion into the recently acquired western territories.

Another successful outcome of Madison's presidency came at the very tail end of his 2nd term. Because of the various successes of Madison's decision to go to war, people were now becoming more favoring of the views nationalism and of the Democratic-Republican Party. They saw the success of Madison in office as a prelude to what they hoped all other republican presidents would be like. Because of these outlooks, a republican (James Monroe) won the 1816 presidency by a huge margin of 183 to 34 Electoral College votes. Because of Madison's success, the Federalist party was all but obliterated and there became a certain peace and cooperation throughout America. So although it wasn't one of Madison's main goals, or even something he intended to bring about, Madison's successful run as president lead to more united America and a time of peace.

Despite these great outcomes as a result of Madison's decisions and presidential terms, he was not a "perfect president" and made some un-popular decisions such as Macon's Bill no. 2. One of the main problems Madiosn inherited from Jefferson was the issue of a dwindiling economy, due largely in part to the Embargo Act. This law prohibited all trade with foreign countries in an attempt to prove America's independence and to spike the amount of goods produced through American markets. But, since trading was such a vital part of the American economy, this act was a severe blow that lead to a staggering economy and the emergence of things such as soup kitchens. After the Embargo Act was followed up with the Non-Intercourse Act, the Americans were now allowed trade with everyone except Britian and France. Upon it's expiration in 1810, Madison passed Macon's Bill no. 2, which was essentially the same thing as the Non-Intercourse Act. It stated that if either France or Britian restored it's commercial restrictions on trade with America, America would in turn restore it's embargo on the "non-repealing" nation. Since Britian and France were the 2 main sources of trade, this bill was still heavily detested by the American people. This bill somewhat decreased Madison's popularity and became one of the factors leading to the War of 1812. The small blunder that was Macon's Bill no. 2 is the only thing that keeps Madison from earning an A+ presidential grade.

The decision of Madison that has had the most influence on America since his presidency is the establishment of the Second United States Bank. This came at the very end of Madison's presidency, after the expiration of the First United Stated Bank in 1811. At first Madison was opposed to the idea of the bank, as seen by his attempts to block the bank in 1791. But as time went on Madison saw how beneficial the bank was to the nation and also how funding the war would've been impossile without the bank. The idea of the benefits of a central bank have fluxuated over time, eventually leading to where America is now. The current state of banking in the U.S. is a combination of national and state banks that form a working and successful economic structure. Without Madison's efforts in establishing a bank in 1816, America might not have the successful system that is in effect today.

Upon conclusion of Madison's presidency in 1816 I think America was better off in almost every way. The War of 1812 ended most of the foreign oppression of America at the time, defended the country from Indian attacks and allowed for further expansion westward. The end of Madison's presidency lead to the "Era of Good Feelings" and a time of national peace in America. Madison's establishment of a Second National Bank gave a needed boost to a faultering economy and helped to fund the war debts. In total, despite the passing of Macon's Bill No. 2, Madison's presidency was almost a complete success and because of this I feel he deserves an "A" grade.

DeGregorio, William. __The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents__. Fort Lee: Barricade. 2005. "James Madison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia, 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. .
 * Bibliography**:

"Banking in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia, 3 Jan. 2003. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. []