initiate into this school of practice, because his follow-through in regard to the Constitutional Convention was extraordinary to a degree that can be described only as “nothing but net.”
His commitment to the ultimate American thesis, our Constitution, was superhuman. He refused to leave the site of the historic proceedings with the single exception of dire visits to the thunder closet, overextending himself financially to the point that he was flat broke by the end of the convention. These straits required him to borrow a hundred dollars just to get himself to New York, where, presumably, there would be an ATM at his disposal. Once the convention disbanded and the document was drawn up, it then required ratification, or considered approval, from the many delegates, who had returnedto their disparate home states. Madison proceeded to canvas mainly his home state of Virginia, debating the merits of the fledgling Constitution with his fellow lawmakers, resulting in a successful ratification in the summer of 1788. This taste of victory would prove to be a brief comfort, however, as riding home from a debate at James Monroe’s crib that winter, he exposed himself to the elements to the point that he suffered frostbite on the end of his nose. His commitment to the cause of our nation’s success left him suitably decorated for life, in the form of a scar on his noble sniffer.
So, great, all these erudite honkies had gotten together and come up with a revolutionary new democratic method by which to govern a country, but the finer points needed intense scrutiny before the system could be deemed “ready for consumption.” In letters he exchanged with Thomas Jefferson, Madison was hell-bent that (a) the plan be ratified by the citizenry, (b) the people’s representation in Congress be based upon population, and (c) the power be divided between different branches of government; all of which turned out to be quite potent and effective ideas. I believe he also insisted that (d) upon voting, citizens would each receive three “smokeable papers for the rolling of tobacco products
only
,” which never really caught on except in the states of California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska. Along with Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and other, less famous white people, Madison fervently campaigned for the newborn Constitution to be approved. They energetically lobbied, visiting fellow congressmen and constituents in person, but the three also published a series of essays in support of the document’s ratification, which came to be known as the Federalist Papers.
Comprised of eighty-five (originally) anonymous essays, the Federalist Papers are considered to be the most influential factor in seeing the Constitution ratified into existence—the most influential, that is, after the three “factors” visible through Hamilton’s wide-open “barn door.” Madison contributed twenty-nine of these written pieces, which contain some of his most quotable sentiments, such as “Those miscreants who break breeze within a shuttered chamber, particularly if there be no draught of exhauste cleansing the vapours of the vestibule, I finde to be categorized amongst the most scurrilous and contumelious of the brute creatures with which Providence has graced this verdant paradise,” or “The clock reads but noon of the day, and yet I am but fatigued near to prostration. I would that our new Constitution might foment a climate of creativity by which our apothecaries may brew me a physicke in a tiny vial for to replenish mine corporeal form with energy for a surpluss of say, four, or even five, hours of time. A five-hour energy draught, if you will.”
Much less interesting, but perhaps more poignant to our discussion, is this portion from essay number fifty-one, Madison’s most famous quote: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be
His commitment to the ultimate American thesis, our Constitution, was superhuman. He refused to leave the site of the historic proceedings with the single exception of dire visits to the thunder closet, overextending himself financially to the point that he was flat broke by the end of the convention. These straits required him to borrow a hundred dollars just to get himself to New York, where, presumably, there would be an ATM at his disposal. Once the convention disbanded and the document was drawn up, it then required ratification, or considered approval, from the many delegates, who had returnedto their disparate home states. Madison proceeded to canvas mainly his home state of Virginia, debating the merits of the fledgling Constitution with his fellow lawmakers, resulting in a successful ratification in the summer of 1788. This taste of victory would prove to be a brief comfort, however, as riding home from a debate at James Monroe’s crib that winter, he exposed himself to the elements to the point that he suffered frostbite on the end of his nose. His commitment to the cause of our nation’s success left him suitably decorated for life, in the form of a scar on his noble sniffer.
So, great, all these erudite honkies had gotten together and come up with a revolutionary new democratic method by which to govern a country, but the finer points needed intense scrutiny before the system could be deemed “ready for consumption.” In letters he exchanged with Thomas Jefferson, Madison was hell-bent that (a) the plan be ratified by the citizenry, (b) the people’s representation in Congress be based upon population, and (c) the power be divided between different branches of government; all of which turned out to be quite potent and effective ideas. I believe he also insisted that (d) upon voting, citizens would each receive three “smokeable papers for the rolling of tobacco products
only
,” which never really caught on except in the states of California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska. Along with Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and other, less famous white people, Madison fervently campaigned for the newborn Constitution to be approved. They energetically lobbied, visiting fellow congressmen and constituents in person, but the three also published a series of essays in support of the document’s ratification, which came to be known as the Federalist Papers.
Comprised of eighty-five (originally) anonymous essays, the Federalist Papers are considered to be the most influential factor in seeing the Constitution ratified into existence—the most influential, that is, after the three “factors” visible through Hamilton’s wide-open “barn door.” Madison contributed twenty-nine of these written pieces, which contain some of his most quotable sentiments, such as “Those miscreants who break breeze within a shuttered chamber, particularly if there be no draught of exhauste cleansing the vapours of the vestibule, I finde to be categorized amongst the most scurrilous and contumelious of the brute creatures with which Providence has graced this verdant paradise,” or “The clock reads but noon of the day, and yet I am but fatigued near to prostration. I would that our new Constitution might foment a climate of creativity by which our apothecaries may brew me a physicke in a tiny vial for to replenish mine corporeal form with energy for a surpluss of say, four, or even five, hours of time. A five-hour energy draught, if you will.”
Much less interesting, but perhaps more poignant to our discussion, is this portion from essay number fifty-one, Madison’s most famous quote: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be
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