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On Presidents Day in 2020, I visited Montpelier and met James Madison. His nickname, Little Jimmy. It was so memorable that a year later I wrote a blog about him. Now on Constitution Day of 2026, I’m still curious, so I decided to research the books that helped him write the American Constitution. The 2021 blog link: https://www.rindabeach.com/blog/the-things-i-remember-from-my-visit-with-james-and-dolly-madison  Copilot said in 1787 Jimmy was busy drafting the Virginia Plan, the foundation for the US Constitution. Jimmy didn’t use his own ideas. He researched government through the centuries, and he started with his own library. Then he asked friends across the country for more books. He sent letters to friends in Europe for still more I googled the books Jimmy read and the governments he studied. The only place that had answers…Copilot Chat. So, I matched the governments Copilot listed to the books in his library. My goal, to use common sense to figure out what Jimmy was reading. 1. Ancient Republics: The Greek city-states and the Roman Republic  I read Jimmy studied the Greek city-states, especially Athens. Athenians didn’t need representatives. They voted for themselves, until they broke into factions, arguments, and eventually chaos. Jimmy also examined the Roman Republic. Their mixed constitution divided power between consuls, assemblies and the senate. It worked until fights and factions led to an emperor. The conclusion, pure democracies can lead to tyranny and instability, so Jimmy didn’t put them into our new Constitution.  In The Library: Jimmy had a copy of Epistles to Atticus by Marcus Tullius Cicero. I’ve heard of him! Cicero wrote about political thought and rhetoric during the last years of the Roman Republic. You can still find his book on Amazon. 2. Confederations & Leagues: The Amphictyonic League, The Archaean League, The Swiss Confederation, and the Dutch Republic  Copilot said Madison looked at all four governments. The Amphictyonic and Archaean Leagues grew up in ancient Greece. Neighbor states near Thermopylae came together in the 7th century BCE as the Amphictyonic League. Twelve cities in northern Greece created the Archaean League 400 years later. That was the 3rd century BCE. (BCE stands for Before the Common Era or before Christ.) The Swiss and Dutch formed governments much later. The Swiss Confederation came together in the 1400s. They were a group of small independent states who once belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. As for the Dutch Republic, another group of states built a coalition in 1588. They remained in power until 1795 when a revolution ended the republic. The conclusion, loose alliances in those confederations and leagues led to weak governments that failed. That’s what happened to the first American government under the Articles of Confederation too.  In The Library You’d find Jimmy’s copy of Treatises on Government by John Locke. I’ve heard of him too! Locke’s book was influential in its time—his ideas provided the foundation for both the American and French Revolutions. Tomorrow: How the British Government influenced our Constitution 3. The British Government England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland  Copilot showed Madison studied England’s government, right after we won our independence. Jimmy read about Parliament’s bicameral legislature with its House of Lords and House of Commons. Jimmy looked at the checks and balances between the King and Parliament. He noted British traditions for liberty and representation. Then he drafted ideas to apply, improve on, and discard. The conclusion, Madison kept England’s separation of power between branches of government but avoided their king and aristocracy.  In The Library Jimmy kept a copy of The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England by Edward Coke. Coke wrote to explain, then to preserve the principles of English common law. Academics today believe its pages form the foundation for Western society. 4. American State Constitutions Virgina, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts  Note: Maine, Ohio, and West Virginia were not yet states in 1789. Copilot said James Madison took a look at state governments in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. He studied their strengths and weaknesses. Jimmy even reviewed Virginia’s constitution, including the Declaration of Rights he helped revise. Madison considered Pennsylvania’s unicameral legislature with one house. He probably compared it to Massachusetts’ bicameral legislature and its two chambers. Do you suppose Jimmy compared Massachusetts’ Body of Liberty to Virginia’s Declaration of Rights? The conclusion, Madison saw danger in a legislature with too much power. And in direct democracy, where factions could destabilize and destroy a government.  In The Library Copilot said The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine was in Jimmy’s library in 1787. The only problem, it was published in 1794. So I found another book by Thomas Paine, Common Sense. It debates the battle of ideas between Britain and its colonies—king and colonialism versus a free republic with opportunities for all. Colonists could be punished if the Redcoats caught them with Common Sense. Tomorrow: How problems with America’s first government led to the Constitution 5. America’s First National Government The Articles of Confederation Note: Maine, Ohio, and West Virginia were not yet states in 1789. By 1787, problems with the Articles of Confederation brought 12 states together for a Constitutional Convention. Copilot pointed to three problems Madison had with the Articles. The two biggest, the Congress of the Confederation couldn’t tax the states or enforce its will on them either. The third, there was no sense of unity between the states. They saw themselves as Virginians or New Yorkers first, then as Americans. The conclusion, Madison used the Articles to tell him what not to do. He used his findings to draft something different, something better.  In The Library The Spirit of Laws by Baron de Montesquieu was in Jimmy’s library. Copilot said it explained separation of power, along with checks and balances. In the Federalist Papers, #10, Madison wrote about disagreeing with the Frenchman. The Baron believed separation was only possible in small states. Madison said it could work in large countries too. The new US Constitution would manage factions with separate branches of government who’d check and balance each other. Tomorrow: How Madison used his reading to draft the Constitution 6. How James Madison Applied What He Learned  Note: James Madison, age 32, four years after the Constitutional Convention Copilot said Jimmy searched for four things in his reading: 1. Democratic bodies that could endure. 2. Ways to manage factions. 3. Power balanced between government branches. 4. A strong national government with limited authority. The conclusion, those four ideas became the backbone of Jimmy’s Virginia Plan. Later he drafted them into the US Constitution.  Find This One…in the Newspaper
The Federalist Papers looked nothing like this book. They were essays published in New York newspapers under the name Publius. They ran from October of 1787 until May 1788. Their goal, to convince New Yorkers to ratify the new Constitution. They were also reprinted in several city papers outside New York. Publius wrote 85 essays during those seven months. The real authors: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Hamilton revised and had all 85 printed into a book later that year, but Madison waited 30 years to do his revision. That edition identified the author of each essay for the first time ever. Different editions have different wording, essay numbers, even author names. It’s no wonder considering all the revisions and reprintings the Federalist Papers have gone through over time. My Source: https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text
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AuthorWhen I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine. A little noise is fine. But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones. Then I can write on! Categories
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