50 Fun Facts About James Madison

James Madison was which number president of the United States?

He served from 1809 to 1817, between Jefferson and Monroe.

Madison is popularly known by which paternal nickname?

He also drafted and pushed through the Bill of Rights.

What was the name of Madison's plantation home in Virginia?

His family moved into the newly built house in the early 1760s; he died there in 1836.

Madison's proposal that formed the basis of the convention's debates was called what?

It called for three branches and a bicameral Congress apportioned by population.

With which two men did Madison write The Federalist Papers?

The 85 essays appeared under the pseudonym Publius.

Under what pseudonym were The Federalist Papers published?

Hamilton recruited Madison after John Jay dropped out of the project.

How many essays make up The Federalist Papers?

36 argued against the Articles of Confederation and 49 for the new Constitution.

Which Federalist essay, Madison's first, warns of majority factions and argues for a large republic?

Federalist No. 51 is his essay on checks and balances.

Where did Madison enrol in 1769 instead of William & Mary?

Williamsburg's lowland climate was thought to threaten his health; the school is now Princeton.

Madison completed Princeton's three-year degree in two years alongside which classmate?

Burr later introduced him to Dolley Payne Todd.

Which Princeton president deeply shaped Madison's Enlightenment thinking?

Madison stayed on after graduating to study Hebrew and political philosophy under him.

How many children were in Madison's family, of which he was the eldest?

Only six siblings lived to adulthood.

Madison's sudden attacks of nervous incapacity have been likened to which condition?

Modern historians have compared the episodes to epilepsy; he otherwise enjoyed good physical health until his final years.

In October 1775 Madison was commissioned colonel of which local militia?

He served as his father's second-in-command but never fought in the war.

Which 1786 law drafted by Madison and Jefferson disestablished the Church of England?

Madison drafted it with Jefferson.

By what vote did the Virginia convention ratify the Constitution on June 25, 1788?

It came a week after New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify.

Which former Virginia governor led the anti-Federalist case against ratification?

Henry later gerrymandered Madison's district and recruited a rival to run against him.

What percentage of the vote did Madison win in the 1789 race for Virginia's 5th district?

He won by promising to support amendments protecting individual liberties.

On what date did Madison introduce the Bill of Rights in the House?

He had studied more than 200 amendments proposed at the state ratifying conventions.

How many amendments were finally ratified on December 15, 1791?

Madison was disappointed his proposal to bind the states was dropped by the Senate.

The Compromise of 1790 traded Hamilton's debt assumption for what?

Congress passed the Residence Act establishing Washington, D.C.

Which Philadelphia newspaper did Madison and Jefferson help Philip Freneau found?

It attacked Hamilton's proposals.

Which 1794 agreement with Britain ended Madison's friendship with Washington?

Robert R. Livingston wrote that it 'prostrates the honor of our country'.

Whom did Madison marry on September 15, 1794?

She was a 26-year-old widow whose Quaker husband had died in a yellow fever epidemic.

Who formally introduced Madison to his future wife?

Burr knew her from a Philadelphia boardinghouse.

What was the name of Dolley's surviving son whom Madison adopted?

His mismanagement later helped ruin the plantation's finances.

Madison's response to the Alien and Sedition Acts favoured which doctrine over nullification?

A state would declare a law unconstitutional without actively blocking its enforcement.

What did Madison call his rebuttal that became the party's platform against Adams?

It became the unofficial Democratic-Republican platform that year.

Which 1803 Marshall ruling over undelivered commissions established judicial review?

Marshall held Madison had wrongly withheld commissions but that the Court lacked jurisdiction.

Which act banning all exports did Madison and Jefferson push through Congress in 1807?

It proved unpopular and was replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act in March 1809.

Whom did Madison defeat in the 1808 presidential election?

The Federalists had little strength outside New England.

Who administered the oath at Madison's 1809 inauguration?

Outgoing President Jefferson looked on from the House chamber.

Madison's vice president George Clinton became the first to do what?

He had been Jefferson's vice president too.

Whom did Madison settle on as Secretary of State in 1809 when Gallatin was blocked?

Madison did most of the job himself for two years because of Smith's incompetence.

On what date did Madison ask Congress to declare war on Britain?

Congress obliged on June 18 along sectional and party lines.

Which general surrendered Fort Detroit without a fight in August 1812?

Court-martialled for cowardice, he was spared execution by Madison.

Who ran against Madison in the 1812 election with Federalist backing?

Madison won 128 electoral votes to 89.

Which Massachusetts governor was Madison's running mate in 1812?

He survived only two years after the election.

Where did the British rout Winder's army before burning Washington?

Dolley saved the Washington portrait before fleeing.

Where did the Madisons live after the British burned their residence?

They moved in on September 8, 1814.

Which peace agreement ending the War of 1812 did the Senate ratify on February 16, 1815?

It was signed December 24, 1814, before Jackson's victory at New Orleans.

New England Federalists met at which wartime gathering that damaged their party?

It did not explicitly call for secession but became a millstone for the Federalists.

What was Madison's final act in office, a veto of what?

He argued internal improvements were outside the enumerated powers.

How long a charter did Congress grant the Second Bank of the United States?

John Randolph said Madison's proposals 'out-Hamiltons Alexander Hamilton'.

Which 1809 land deal negotiated by Harrison angered Tecumseh?

Tecumseh asked, 'Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea?'

Madison became the second rector of which institution after Jefferson's death?

He held the post for ten years until his death.

What were Madison's reported last words?

He said them to his niece Nellie after failing to swallow his breakfast.

How much did Madison's will leave to Dolley?

She still ended up selling the plantation and its slaves to pay debts.

Which enslaved footman later wrote A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison?

He served the Madisons for 48 years and later sent provisions to the impoverished Dolley.

Madison at one point forged whose handwriting while editing his own archived letters?

By his late seventies, self-editing his papers had become an obsession.