Virginia plan, federalist papers

[sammyg2]

I've recently begun re-reading the works of James Madison.
I studied the Virginia Plan and the federalist papers many years ago in college and while I still regarded them as impressive, I forgot most of the meanings and details.

We have many heroic founding fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, etc. but their contributions pale in comparison to those of Madison.

He basically wrote most of what is contained in the constitution,
Then convinced the entire country to ratify it even though very few could agree on anything, especially a federal government with power over the states.
He was the architect of our government and the best salesman in history and I think he deserves a great deal more credit. He should be regarded as the real father of our country IMO.

If anyone is not familiar with his writings, they are well worth the time it takes. I guess you could say I'm in awe of the man.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by sammyg2
I've recently begun re-reading the works of James Madison.
I studied the Virginia Plan and the federalist papers many years ago in college and while I still regarded them as impressive, I forgot most of the meanings and details.

We have many heroic founding fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, etc. but their contributions pale in comparison to those of Madison.

He basically wrote most of what is contained in the constitution,
Then convinced the entire country to ratify it even though very few could agree on anything, especially a federal government with power over the states.
He was the architect of our government and the best salesman in history and I think he deserves a great deal more credit. He should be regarded as the real father of our country IMO.

If anyone is not familiar with his writings, they are well worth the time it takes. I guess you could say I'm in awe of the man.

Madison was indeed a major player, probably the biggest player, in creating the Constitution, being involved with the cabal that wanted the much better (for most of us) Articles of Confederation replaced at all costs. Just before final ratification, he had second thoughts about the power created by the Constitution, particularly what Hamilton, Jay, and Washington had in mind for the country, at which point he became the formost proponent of the Bill of Rights which removed a great deal of that power and returned a lot of it to the states. It's a damn shame the 17th Amendment passed, removing a tremendous amount of state power and handing it to the US government as almost unchecked power. More than a few of the treaties that grant the US government power it was never meant to have, along with many laws granting additional power, such as the War Powers Act, would not likely have been passed by Senators dependant on state legislators for their office, as it should be.

If anyone wishes to read a counter-weight to the Federalist Papers, read the Anti-federalist Papers written by those opposed to the Constitution.

George Mason's opposition to the unitary executive is particularly interesting in light of the current White House's assertion of that power.