James Madison And The Enlightenment

2 Pages 383 Words

Enlightenment was a movement that prevailed ideas about nature. This happened around the 1700’s. This movement played a major part for the world at that point in time. There were many enlightenment personalities that influenced this movement. The person that I would like to enlighten you about is James Madison. Along with that, I would like to share with you how he contributed to the enlightenment.
James Madison first interaction with the enlightenment was when he made up the Virginia plan. The reason for the formation of this plan was to give fair representation to the larder and smaller states. In 1776 he made his first contribution which was, that the exercise of religion is a right not a privilege.
He served in Congress since March of 1780. He was one of a few who thought the confederation Government needed to be invested with more power at the state’s expense. Though he engineered compromises, the confederation continued using power. Before he took up the task of reformulating the American government system, he left the national office and served in the Virginia House of delegates. He did this to block the establishment of states supporting churches.
In 1787 Madison drafted a plan for a more powerful national government. He took s leading role in shaping the constitution. He devoted himself fully to the constitution being ratified. Then he and some colleagues wrote The Federalists. James Madison helped Virginia become the tenth ratified state. He promised his Virginia Constituency that he would sponsor a series of amendments. These amendments in return would provide a safeguard for the people. Ten of these amendments were ratified and is now know as the Bill of Rights.
With Madison and Hamilton in a middle of a dispute, it lead to the formation of two groups; the Federalist and Republican parties. He drafted the Virginia Resolutions. During his final years, he paid attention to the domestic affairs. He establishe...