The Revolutionary Character of James Madison

James Madison once said, "The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, where there is or is not a cause for declaring war". This quote explains how Madison was in favor of a republic rather than a monarchy because he believed a powerful decision-making king would declare more wars than a republic's leader. In addition, Madison wanted to have a strong structured national government, which were explained in his famous Virginia Plan. However, Madison was skeptical at first about the legislative branch because he feared that the rights of the minorities would be violated. He also feared that the elected officials were more meaningful than they really were, and he thought they were too representative. Fearing ideas, such as electing officials, is very appealing because it shows how Madison thought of everyone before proposing his Virginia Plan. Madison cared about the opinion of everyone involved in the government and the people of the United States. Madison was a very appealing revolutionary character because of his ideas considering republics and strong centralized governments.

James Madison was an attractive radical character because of his ideas about republics, and how he explained that republics were better than monarchies. Madison valued authority and stability, and decided that a republic was better than a monarchy Madison explained how war was most likely inevitable, but if wars were declared exclusively by the people and not just one person, there would be a satisfactory result to all situations. Madison claimed that all foolish wars would be avoided and only brief wars of defense and inescapability would remain if every nation was a republic. Madison's ideas of being a republic were very appealing because he mentioned how republics would make the world (and the country itself) more peaceful, as long foolish wars would not be present. In addition, the republic idea of Madison was very attractive because this republic, would save lives and money (theoretically) because war would not occur as often, and they would be short. It was also interesting to see that Madison favored a republic and claimed these ideas when in his time period, many thought monarchies were the strongest type of government. Madison's republic ideas were brilliant, and those ideas helped shape the United States government system as we know today. James Madison was an attractive revolutionary character because of his ideas regarding a strong centralized national government. In the early years of the United States, the government resembled more of an alliance between the states.

The states did not act as a single government, but acted more like the current day European Union. The country could not tax, pay its bills, or provide an army/navy. Madison knew the United States had a weak government and things needed to change. Madison and his Virginia delegates came up with the Virginia Plan to fix the government. Madison wanted a system of checks and balances along with a bicameral legislature, executive and judicial branch. Madison also came up with the idea that when each state has a vote in something, the bigger, more populated states should have more votes than the smaller, less populated states. The Virginia Plan was successful and it formed the basis of the Constitution. Without Madison's Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan would have likely been selected, and no one know what may have happened to the government today if the Virginia Plan was not made or selected. Madison went on to draft a Bill of Rights after the Virginia Plan, and was successful in making ten amendments. Madison was much more appealing than other revolutionary leaders because he was able to make the foundation of our government around two centuries ago, and have those ideas work in the past and present day.

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Madison's idea of a three branch government system is also very appealing because the checks and balances allowed no branch to gain more control of the government than the others. Checks and balances allowed equality to occur in the government, as no branch could take control of the country and its decision making. It is interesting that Madison was in favor of a republic in his time period because he was a high class noble. He had all the rights he needed, but he wanted equal rights for all, not just himself. Madison was a great politician, and his Virginia Plan helped create a successful constitutional republic known as the United States of America. Madison's idea of a democracy and well-built national government made him stand out more than other revolutionary characters. Madison explained how democracies were better than monarchies because they were less likely to go to war, considering a king is not making the only decision.

In addition, Madison claimed thatif every country was a democracy, it was very possible that less wars would be present, or at least the wars would be brief. Madison made his ideas of a democracy look very promising because who would want a world filled with monarchies causing extensive lethal wars? Madison not only made democracies look promising, but he made a well- built national government with checks and balances look great as well. Madison's idea of a constitution republic was so successful, that his idea for the United States government back then, works now, centuries later. Madison's idea was appealing at the time because the country did not have a military or the authority to tax citizens. Madison was the main contributor to the Constitution and Bill of Rights with his ideas regarding a strong national republic government, which lead him to become the fourth United States president.

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