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James Madison

March 16, 1751 in King George County, Virginia – June 28, 1836 in Montpelier estate, Virginia

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

Terms March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1817

Vice President: First term - George Clinton in 1809-1812; Second term - Elbridge Gerry in 1813 – 1814

The American Identity was greatly strengthened throughout Madison’s presidency because when he first came into office, not only did foreign countries doubt our strength of a country, but many American citizens did as well. This is because as America went into the war, they were not very unified. New England seriously thought about secession from the union, and the States were going into this war more separate than the Revolution. However, this just made the “victory” more satisfying to those that were together. This shows American Identity because after the war was over, there was a huge Nationalism increase in the country and this is part of the American Identity that is still known presently. The Americans were proud of their country being able to stand up to the strongest country in the world when some of the states, like New England, refused to fight if the battle was not inside their borders, and it just gave them more confidence. This confidence is another thing that was added to the American Identity after the war. This affected the presidency because it made the government a little less cautious and a little invincible. However, this was not necessarily a good thing because that might lead to a poorly thought out decision. Another development within the theme was also right after the war, but it was not felt mostly by the citizens, instead it was a foreign development. The foreign outlook on American Identity changed after this war because the country received more respect from the world. This is because of how they stood up for themselves against Britain and did so quite admirably. This lessened the pressures in the presidency because if more countries respect America, then the more willing they are to cooperate and work with it. Trade would become easier because nobody would want to hold back a strong country from what they want if they are a lot weaker, but other things would change as well, like the foreign aid (being for and against the United States). American Identity might not have done a complete turnaround during the Madison administration, but a few events did have some significant influence on how others perceived the United States of America, as well as their own perspective.
 * Thematic Context**

James Madison and his administration deserve a B+ for their efforts in office. Madison was thrown into a period of a warlike atmosphere when the Americans were in no condition to fight. His own realizing that was the main reason that the United States did not engage in war until the end of his first term; he held the war back for as long as he could. However, when war did break out, his Democratic-Republican-influenced ideas held back the army and navy’s production, and that hurt the Americans in the long run. He also set up America for financial success in the future due to his support of a national bank. These decisions make him not the greatest president but better than average.
 * Thesis**

In James Madison’s first inaugural address, peace was, appropriately, used quite often. At that time period, the United States was staying neutral even though both Britain and France were harassing the young country in both overseas and on land. His main goal was to continue that tradition. However, that was not easy to do considering the British were continuously ignoring the American liberties and their neutral status. An example of him trying to accomplish this is through his strict enforcement of the Non-Intercourse Act. This was passed a few days before the end of the Jefferson administration and was passed to replace the horrendous Embargo Act. It stated that the Americans could trade with anyone but the French and British, and also that if a country (or countries) decided to respect America's neutrality, they would exempt that country from the act. This act was unsuccessful, but it was a huge improvement to the Embargo Act and was a reasonable act to support. Even though it did not work, it still allowed a small amount of economical growth. In his second inaugural address, Madison pointed out that the war that had just recently begun was incredibly justified. He stated, “… As the war [of 1812] was just in its origin and necessary and noble in its objects, we can reflect with a proud satisfaction that in carrying it on no principle of justice or honor, no usage of civilized nations, no precept of courtesy or humanity, have been infringed” (Madison). This sentence sums up how Madison felt about the war because he clearly says that they started the war in complete fairness, and it did not ignore any liberties of other countries that were not already being ignored on the British side. The goal from this is to secure America’s liberties on foreign seas and countries, and Madison showed that in office by supporting the War of 1812.
 * Goals**

The relationship between Congress and Madison was a good one; mostly because of Madison eventually giving in to war and Congress being made up of the “war hawks.”The war hawks were the majority of people that made up the twelfth Congress, and they were mostly from the frontier. This caused their belief that war was the only option because the British were funding Native Americans on the frontier with weapons that they used to attack the Americans. They all called for war and an immediate storming of Canada. Once Madison agreed with them, Congress did not neglect to pass just about anything that Madison advocated for. One example of this is the chartering of the Second Bank of the United States. This was not the most supported idea, but Madison believed in it. Due to his support, Congress also believed it was necessary, and it was passed in 1816 and lasted for twenty years. This type of relationship was apparent throughout Madison's whole presidency, and it meant that Madison got things done when they were necessary which proves his grade of a B+.
 * Relationship with Congress**

The action that had the most positive outcome during Madison's administration was the decision to declare war on Britain in the War of 1812. This war is often known as the Second War of Independence, and this is justly said. Before this war, America was being tossed around by the two major world powers like it was not one of the fastest growing countries in the world. This was not taken lightly from the Americans, who were perhaps overconfident after they won the Revolutionary war. This stirred many of the people to want war for more than one reason. There was the maritime issues, which included impressment by the British and economic dilemma from both countries. This put the American economy at a standstill because those two countries contained a majority of the American trade. There was also the push from the War Hawks on the frontier because of the British-fueled attacks by Native Americans. The lure of Canadian land was also a motivator for some agricultural land-lovers. However, the former two are the most important because they justify Madison's decision for war. These causes of the war also allowed some of the positive events to surface, like the huge boost of Nationalism. The War Hawks on the frontier helped this happen because they felt as if they had proved American strength by not being defeated by the superpower of the world, and it gave them self confidence that was dearly needed after the disastrous events in the beginning of the war. Although this decision did not fix all of the problems of the time because the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, did not change the Anglo-American relations, it brought around many unforeseen successes that cannot be overlooked.
 * Positive Event**

The action that caused the most negative outcome during Madison's administration was Macon's Bill No. 2 in 1810. This was the worst decision because the only thing that happened as a result was America being tricked by France. This bill repealed the Non-Intercourse Act and stated that the United States would resume trading with the country that repealed its own trade-restricting legislature. It also stated that the United States would continue the non-intercourse with the country that did not repeal its legislature, unless that country did repeal it within three months. Napoleon decided to trick the United States by agreeing to their demands, knowing that Britain would never repeal theirs as well, and he liked the fact that Britain would be cut off from one of its main suppliers. This then caused America to reinstate the non-intercourse with Britain, thus making the relationship between the countries deteriorate even further. To make matters even worse, Napoleon ended up not trading with America anyway, so the United States gained absolutely nothing but lost a great deal. Therefore, this bill just made a situation go from bad to terrible, and is the main reason why James Madison's administration only deserves the grade of a B+.
 * Negative Event**

One decision made by Madison that affected future presidencies was the idea to support the chartering of the Second Bank of the United States. This decision was not a sure one that Madison had always been sure of. He was swayed by the idea of a National Bank because of the difficulties America had with funding the war with Britain. However, after the trouble that was experienced through that, Congress and Madison both agreed that it was necessary. This affected future presidents because it is always a very controversial subject, as it is not clear if it is constitutional or not. The main presidency it affected was the Jackson presidency because that was when the charter expired. That meant that the controversy would start over again on whether it should be continued or not. This had a special influence on Jackson’s presidency because he extremely disliked the National Bank, so he went through excessive measures to make sure the bank would stay gone for a long time. This also affected the people of future years because it deeply scared the agrarian south because they said it was unconstitutional and gave the federal government too much power. This decision was a good one because it allowed the economy to grow and prosper through the continuous cash flow, but it did lead to a lot of controversy and some problems for future presidents.
 * Influential Decision**

Concisely, the country was in a better position after Madison left office compared to when he entered. However, the main reason for this was because war was inevitable when he was sworn in, and by the end of the term, America was peaceful again. The relations between Britain were terrible when he took office, and he made the hard decision of war when he had to. Luckily, it was the right choice, and he ended up leading America into the Era of Good Feelings. He also set America up economically and financially by reinstating the charter for the National Bank and other small things that were put in place before the end of his second term. He wanted to secure the independence of America and stabilize the republic as well, and he also succeeded in doing that, which is also proven by the Era of Good Feelings that came right after Madison's presidency. Overall, Madison's contributions to the infrastructure of the republic government and the economic branch were successful from postwar legislations, and his declaration for war was timely and just, proving that his administration deserves a B+ for their efforts in office.
 * Conclusion**

DeGregorio, William A.. //The complete book of U.S. presidents//. New York: Dembner Books :, 2005. Print.
 * Bibliography**

"James Madison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. < [] >.

Ketcham, Ralph. "Madison, James." Presidents: A Reference History. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 57-70. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 23 Sep. 2012.

Madison, James. "James Madison: First Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. < [] >.

"Wordle - Create." //Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. < [] >.