On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were in the midst of the eleventh week of a long, hot summer spent hammering out a new government for the United States. One young delegate from Virginia never missed a session. He sat up front so he could hear every word and take notes on every speech. At the end of each day, he went back to his boardinghouse to read over what had been said and write out new arguments.
The young Virginian was James Madison. A graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), he was a short, slight man with a soft voice. Someone once observed that he seemed “no bigger than half a piece of soap.” But his influence on this country was profound.
Madison had come to Philadelphia with a plan for a central government with three branches. He envisioned a nation where citizens would vote for their representatives. He had spent months studying ancient democracies and republics, and he knew that the strength of the government must come not from harsh laws or armies, but from the people.
That summer, Madison made more than 150 speeches in his soft voice. His fellow delegates sometimes had to shout “Louder!” but when he spoke, they knew he would bring sound reason to the debate. Madison answered questions and proposed solutions. He worked on every detail. At the end of the convention, the new Constitution that the delegates signed largely followed his plan.
Madison spent the rest of his life making sure the Constitution worked. His labors included cowriting the Federalist Papers, authoring the Bill of Rights, and serving as congressman, secretary of state, and the fourth U.S. president. For his ideas and hard work, history remembers him as the Father of the Constitution.
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