What do you think was James Madison s greatest contribution to the Constitution?

Answer 1

Besides serving as the 4th President of the United States for eight years, James Madison also established or helped with the following achievements:

* Leader of the Virginia Assembly * member of the Continental Congress * helped frame the Virginia Constitution

* wrote the Federalist essays * helped frame the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution * Secretary of State during Thomas Jefferson's Presidency * actions in Congress helped form Jeffersonian Party (later known as Republican)

Answer 2

James Madison organized the Constitutional convention and persuaded George Washington to attend. He wrote up the basic plan of the Constitution, the Virginia Plan, and persuaded Virginia governor Edmund Randolph to introduce it. He prepared for the convention with extensive research of republics, ancient and modern, and thoroughly researched the defects of the Articles Confederation. He used this knowledge in debate. He was a key vote throughout the convention because eventually Randolph and George Mason had second thoughts, Madison's votes with Washington and John Blair carried the Virginia delegation. He was on the committee to write the final draft of the Constitution. He was pivotal in ratifying the Constitution in New York because of the Federalist Papers and where he met with NY delegates, in Virginia where he debated, and nationally because the Federalist Papers came out in book form and were printed in many newspapers. Madison's notes of the convention show that he was only on top of the proceedings unlike anyone else, but they preserve the best evidence for what happened there. And Madison was the greatest defender of the Constitution, spending 8 years in the House, 8 years as Secretary of States, and 8 years as president. Madiosn even followed the Constitution during the War of 1812, setting a precedent that the Constitution can and should be followed even during an invasion. Oh, and Madison wrote the Bill-of-Rights, too, and pushed it through congress.