Austin+A.+-+Jmad+-+SP10

(March 16, 1751 - June 28, 1836)
 * __ James Madison  __**
 * Democratic-Republican Party**

**Terms**: 1809-1812 1813-1817

George Clinton (First Term) Elbridge Gerry (Second Term)
 * Vice Presidents **  :

In the assessment of President James Madison I will be giving him a grade of a B+. I gave him this grade because of a couple of factors, he attempted to avoid war with European countries, he created a second National Bank, and help the overall economy of America to rise.

As Madison entered the White House he had some goals in check. His number one and biggest goal was to attempt to avoid all the conflict we have been getting in with France and Great Britain. With all the trouble already set in from the “lovely” embargo acts and the Non-intercourse act, Madison created Macon’s Bill number 2. This bill was set in place to let America trade with any nation in the world and this was his attempt to stop the conflicts with France and Great Britain. After these acts the British still wouldn’t lift their restrictions on America and were still impressing the American sailors and stealing their cargo. This forced Madison to put in place the Embargo Act back on but only with Great Britain. This attempt was still unsuccessful so Madison went to his last resort of asking Congress for approval of war with Great Britain which they accepted. This was what he didn’t want to do but he had no other choice.

President Madison, I would say had a good relationship with congress. Madison and Congress put into place the Embargo on Britain and went war with them which benefited the Americas more than the British. Also they created the second National Bank, and when first went into office he raised the non-intercourse acts.

The most positive action of Madison’s terms was initiating the War of 1812. This war helped send out the message that we won our freedom by fighting and we will fight to maintain our freedom. This war also ending our dependency on Britain in all matters. This war also helped in creating new industrial opportunities in America. This gave our nation a newly founded respect and helped a great deal into putting our country on the map. After the war we were able to finally have our trade with the rest of the world without impressment upon our ships and attack from other countries.

Although Madison was a good president he wasn’t perfect. He had the right idea with creating Macon’s Bill Number 2 but the outcome of this bill was negative on the country. This bill was to prove that America was fine on its own and a good independent country. They wanted to cut away their ties with France and Britain to show them that they didn’t need them to be well off. This was a good thought process but it didn’t pan out the way Madison expected. This cut of all trading with France and Britain. The problem with this was that America was getting many goods from imports and they were making the mass majority of their money of off their exports. This put them in an economic crisis, because France and Britain was their number one and number two main sources of importing and exporting. This bill stated that America would withdrawal it, and continue their trade with them if they would restore their commercial trade with America. This hurt America’s economy bad and they just lifted the Embargo acts and the non-intercourse acts recently so they were in a recovering economy as it was. One way that President Madison affected future Presidential terms and the country was in his brave actions against Britain and France. Even though the outcome of the Macon Bill number 2 wasn’t as planned it still went on record to show that America was now asserting themselves as an independent nation and weren’t going to just fall to the wayside and let the world powers such as, Britain and France push them around. This also helped the country in the aspect of gaining a respect from the other countries and now they knew that America was for real and meant business. This was a major part in history to help get our country of America to where it is today. This act of bravery and determination helped keep America a free nation and showed the rest of the world that America was going to be the next world power.

After Madison’s two terms of President of the United States of America I do believe that he set America off better than when he came in. He helped to set up another National Bank and show the rest of the world that America wasn’t going to be able to get pushed around. He was coming in to office as a peaceful person but set America to war and was arguably the most positive thing that he did in his presidency. With these facts this is why I would give President James Madison a grade of a B+. I believe that he is well deserving of this grade.

**__ Bibliography __** "James Madison." //The White House//. WhiteHouse.gov, Web. 18 Feb 2010. .

"James Madison." //The Federalists//. 1997. LeftJustified Publiks, Web. 18 Feb 2010. .

Summers, Robert. "James Madison." //ipl2//. 2008. POTUS, Web. 18 Feb 2010. .