February 5

February 5-Anniversary of the Constitution

There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied…than the current, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.

James Madison, 4^th President, 1809-1817

-From letter to James Monroe October 5, 1786. Madison, from Virginia, was very well educated and an extremely hard working scholar. In his younger days he studied mathematics, geography, and modern and ancient languages, becoming proficient in Latin. Attending college at Princeton in New Jersey, he continued his studies in Greek, science, rhetoric, and philosophy. After graduation in 1771, he continued his studies, becoming proficient in Hebrew and political philosophy and law with an interest in public policy. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the Virginia State Legislature from 1776-1779 and there became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson. He also served a term in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1784-1786 where he became more acquainted with Monroe after the war ended in 1883. Madison favored a stronger Federal government than provided for by The Articles of Confederation, which Madison believed gave too much autonomy to the states, thus weakening the union and the efficiency of the new nation as a whole. A balance was needed between centralized governmental organization and individual states rights. Clarification was needed regarding government where the majority ruled as opposed to securing individual inalienable rights, no matter the "will" of the majority. In one such case, apparently in 1786, there was a growing controversy as to who would control navigation rights on the Mississippi River: Would it be controlled by Spain, France, the United States government, or individual states for their own benefit? He writes to Monroe: "...Should the measure triumph under the patronage of 9 states or even of the whole 13, I shall never be convinced that it is expedient because I cannot conceive it to be just. There is no maxim in my opinion which is more liable to be misapplied, and which therefore more needs elucidation than the current one that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong."...In (that) sense, it would be the interest of the majority in every community to despoil and enslave the the minority of individuals; and in the federal community to make a similar sacrifice of the minority of the component states." "To him, concepts of right and justice were paramount to expression of majority rule. Foolish or unjust measures sanctioned by the majority were no more legitimate than such measures decreed by despots. An entire region or state in a large federation could be as much oppressed as individuals or groups in a small republic." James Madison: A Biography By Ralph Louis Ketcham, The University Press of Virginia, The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 1990, First published in 1971 by Ralph Ketcham