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James Madison Birth: March 16, 1751 Port County, King George, Virginia Death: June 28, 1836 Montpelier, Virginia Party: Democratic-Republican Terms: Two 1809-1817 Vice Presidents: George Clinton (1809-1812) and Elbridge Gerry (1812-1817) Theme: Slavery and its legacies in North America James Madison grew up in a family that owned slaves. Later in life he went on to owning over 100 slaves. He treated them well, and was never known to be violent with them said Paul Jennings. Paul was a slave and a favorite of Madison’s. Even though his slaves worked faithfully, he never freed them. Madison made his views on slavery clear. He found slavery to be wrong politically, economically, and morally. He would have rather it been abolished or at least restricted. He viewed it as an inefficient system of production. He did not endorse it in principle or as a productive system but simply believed that whites and blacks could not live in harmony with one another. Madison was quite the hypocrite. He saw slavery as this great evil, yet did nothing about slavery during his years in office. It was never mentioned in his inaugural address. He probably did nothing about it to keep the peace between the North and South. The father of the Bill of Rights is a well known nickname for James Madison. He was given a lot of credit for writing them. We can also give him credit for the War of 1812, a huge negative and positive action of his presidency. James Madison earns the respectable grade of B for all of his years in office. He was deeply concerned with the foreign affairs of the country, and tried his best to improve them.
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In his inaugural address ,one of his biggest goals was improving foreign affairs. He wished to retain friendly and diplomatic relations with other nations. If other nations were at war, he wanted America to remain neutral while still maintaining a friendly relationship. Granted differences still existed between America and other nations. Madison wished not to argue with the other countries to avoid war and keep peace. Another one of his goals was to keep the states happy. He followed the Constitution, and tried not to infringe on their rights, especially the freedoms of speech and press. He also wanted to maintain a good military, and be careful with money. He didn’t want to be wasteful and spend more than needed. He wanted to support and invest in business and agriculture. The last goal that Madison states is to maintain good relations with the Native Americans. Madison had several different goals he wished to achieve during his presidency. He did a moderate job in achieving them.

Madison’s relations with congress were less than ideal. His first cabinet was short lived, and the members were replaced. One of them was his Secretary of State Robert Smith. Smith was a radical Republican who opposed Madison. Oddly enough Smith’s brother was leader of the Senate, and was also greatly opposed to Madison. Smith was then replaced by James Monroe, who remained loyal and proved to be quite effective. Madison is the only president to have both Vice Presidents die in office. After all these changes in the cabinet they were then able to focus better. Unfortunate enough for Madison, his congress was mostly Republican and thus greatly opposed to him.

The biggest negative for Madison was the War of 1812. It was said to be one of America’s worst fought wars. The American army was not well organized and was scattered. The generals were old and senile, not the best qualified men to be leading thousands of troops. Their offensive strategy was poorly conceived, therefore it did not work. There was also disunity found between people in the states. One of the biggest missed opportunities in the war was to capture Montreal. If the troops had done so things would have played out more smoothly for them. Instead they tried a three- prong attack on some other forts, and lost to all of them. Instead the British gained control of the upper Great Lakes area. Not to mention that the British also burned the capitol city. In the end 6,000 Americans were killed or wounded. The war was a negative because it was another divide between political parties and also went against one of Madison’s goals, not to get involved in war. Despite all the losses the America troops suffered, the War of 1812 is still considered a great victory. The war had a handful of negatives, and yet a handful of positives, which is why the War of 1812 is Madison’s biggest positive. The aftermath of the war proved to be good for America. Since they were now cut off from British manufacturers, they no longer had to compete for cheap goods. The industry in America jump started. The pace of industrialization in The North accelerated. A railroad network called the American System was suggested and then started. Due to the Battle of Baltimore, America received its national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. Federal power also declined, and slowly disappeared. From the decline of federalism there was a boost in Nationalism, which led to the Era of Good Feelings.

The actions of Madison had a positive and lasting effect on America. The results of the war put America in a better place. The spike in industry helped America’s economy grow. The American system helped to improve communication and transportation for the states. The political parties were now at peace because of the era of good feelings. Madison was also a good role model for future presidents because of his goals, and how he changed the country for the better.

America was definitely better off at the end of Madison’s presidency than it was before. He improved the lives of Americans and changed America for years to come. President James Madison rightfully deserves the grade of a B.

Works Cited "Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States." //The American Presidency Project//. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . "James Madison: Biography, Facts, Speeches." //American Presidents — Biographies, Quotes, Timelines, Speeches//. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Andrew Bailey, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. //The American Pageant: a History of the Republic//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print. "Madison and Slavery | The Montpelier Community - James Madison's Montpelier... [|Restore] Montpelier, Rediscover Madison." //James Madison's Montpelier - Restore Montpelier, Rediscover Madison//. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . "Madison, James - Fun Facts and Information." //Fun Trivia Quizzes - World's Largest Trivia and Quiz Site!// Web. 22 Sept. 2011. . //SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular [|Study Guides]//. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. .