An especially good day to everyone on this unqiue Independance Day! Today marks 250 years of the official existence of the United States of America. Instead of focusing on a candidate today, I thought we would take a look closer at the forefathers that created this election system in the first place. As such, today we’ll be looking at the Father of the Constitution: James Madison
Today’s Special Guest: James Madison
A Founding Father, One of the main writers of the Consitution, the writer for the Bill of Rights, an author on the Federalist Papers, and to top it off, the Fourth President of the United States. Shortly after the Articles of Confederation created a weak federal government that was able to sustain the needs of the Union, Madison and the other Founding Fathers met under the guise of revising the Articles, but in reality were prepping to completely replace the Articles. What came of it was a document that has thoroughly changed American cultures and identity by creating a stronger union between the 13 states at the time.
Even with Madison being the main author of the Constitution, he changed his political affiliation during the discussion between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists argument while drafting and amending the Constitution with the Bill of Rights. Originally, Madison was a staunch Federalist when it came to the idea of specifically adding an enumeration of rights to the Constitution, but in 1791, he became its main writer. Because of his work, we gained the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, which are:
First Amendment- Freedom of speech, religion, press, assemby, and petition
Second Amendment- The right to keep and bear arms
Third Amendment- the right to not have soldiers forced into your home during peactimes
Fourth Amendment- Protection against unreasonable search and seizure
Fifth Amendment- protects the right to due process, protects against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and stops the government from taking your property for no reason with Eminent Domain
Sixth Amendment- Provides the right to a speedy trial, a jury, the right to legal representation, and the right to confront witnesses who speak out against you
Seventh Amendment- The right to a jury trial in civil cases
Eight Amendment: the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment and excessive fines or bail
Ninth Amendment- All rights not mentioned in here or in the constitution are reserved to the people
Tenth Amendment- Any power not given to the Federal government are delegated to the states, respectively
This concludes this special post for the 250th Anniversary of our nation. I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun break. Please enjoy the festivities, and if you intend on participating in the more explosive activities with fireworks, please take care of yourselves so we all make it home and to July 5th. Oh, and don’t get burned on your barbeques! Once again, Thank you, and God bless America!
-Diego