James Madison has always been designated The Father of the Constitution.

James Madison: A Brief Run-Up

James Madison (1751-1836) was the eldest son of a well-to-do planting family in central Virginia. Slight of stature (between 5’1 and 5’6” depending on your source), he was very large in intellect.

An early image of James Madison

His parents sent him to the College of New Jersey (Princeton), where he not only earned a classical degree, but he continued his education, earning an equivalent of a masters’ degree in today’s political science. Most historians rank him as the best educated of our Founding Fathers.

After serving in local capacities during the Revolutionary War, Madison was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and subsequently named to the Virginia governor’s Council of State where he became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, a foot taller, and an equal in intellectual excellence. Their friendship was for life, and their thinking became one of the great political partnerships of all times. Madison remained in the Virginia State Legislature for several years.

Thomas Jefferson, mentor and lifelong friend.

By the time ex-Governor Jefferson was sent to France as a diplomatic envoy of the new United States, the Articles of Confederation that had been adopted by the thirteen erstwhile British Colonies, had begun to fray in many ways. Legislator and delegate Madison was hugely instrumental in providing the historical and scholarly analyses to determine the whys and wherefores of the Articles’ flaws.

By 1786, Madison was corresponding regularly with Jefferson in Paris, along with dozens of other legislative and judicial minds throughout the new States. Most of his fellow-correspondents agreed that the Articles required serious amendments. Some (Alexander Hamilton, in particular) believed they should be scrapped entirely, and a new constitution written.

The Great Convention

The Constitutional Convention began in 1787, and it was not at all great, nor was it well planned. Circular letters were sent throughout the states, urging representatives be sent to Philadelphia to consider amendments to the Articles of Confederation. No thought had been suggested that a brand new governing constitution might be needed; merely amending the obvious flaws in the Articles.

Only seven states were represented when the talks began, but it was a quorum. Transportation was slow. Other state representatives dribbled in on succeeding days.

George Washington

It began by debating draft rules for the convention itself, with substantial authority placed in George Washington, unanimously chosen as President of the Convention and perhaps the only man in the country who commanded unanimous respect. His presence guaranteed that the meetings would be taken most seriously.

New Country, New Rules

Perhaps the most important rules were the ones suggested from the floor, a deviation from normal parliamentary procedure.

Rufus King

Rufus King of Massachusetts suggested that the convention refrain from recording the votes of individual members. He believed it would inhibit them from speaking their minds, or even playing devil’s advocate. It also allowed delegates the freedom to change their minds if they saw fit.

Another deviation from the usual, came from Richard Dobbs Spaight of North Carolina, who urged that any member be allowed to request the Convention to revisit matters previously decided.

Pierce Butler of SC

But perhaps the most important new idea came from Pierce Butler of South Carolina, who moved that the Convention’s proceedings be kept secret. The Convention agreed that “no copy be taken of any entry on the journal,” and that nothing discussed in the meetings “be printed, or otherwise published, or communicated without leave.”

Thus centuries before journalists, commentators and self-styled “talking head” experts weighed in willy-nilly on practically everything, making it nearly impossible for consensus building, the Convention chose to be a secret one. Sort of an 18th century view of loose lips sinking ships. And that included ships of State.

George Washington scrupulously adhered to the secrecy rule. Early on, and only once did he communicate to his diary that the Convention had dictated no communications without doors (outside the meeting room).

James Madison was one of the strongest supporters of the rule of secrecy, writing to Jefferson in Paris that he believed the rule was thought expedient in order to secure unbiased discussion within doors, and to prevent misconceptions and misconstruction without…

James Monroe

Madison reiterated this view to James Monroe. “I think the rule was a prudent one not only as it will effectually secure the requisite freedom of discussion, but as it will save both the Convention and the Community from a thousand erroneous and perhaps mischievous reports.”

Fifty Years Later

Elder Statesman James Madison

James Madison had kept copious notes of the Constitutional Convention, including all the who-said-whats. But true to his oath of secrecy, and other than in personal conversation with trusted parties, his diaries remained private. But he was the last survivor of the convention, and believed those diaries to be an important gift to the Country. It took some 600 pages to revise and rework them.

By that time, Madison was nearly 85 years old. Always small in size, he was now withered. His eyesight was failing from cataracts. He had a palsy, making it impossible for him to handle a quill pen. Much of the annotated manuscript was in his wife’s handwriting.

According to James Madison, many years later, “No Constitution ever would have been adopted by the Convention if the debates had been public.”

Fifty years is a long time, and much had occurred in the interim, including the way people age and recollect things. Modern historians sometimes tend to judge the past by present-day mores, culture, and politics, and nitpick their imperfections, often, as the saying goes, “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” James Madison, like all our Founding Fathers – and even those of later years – were human, and thus imperfect. They could only work with the tools at hand. Madison was among the best we had, and for more than 200 years, it (and he) has served us well.

Sources:

Brookheiser, Richard – James Madison – Basic Books, 2011

Labunski, Richard – James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights – Oxford University Press, 2006

Larson, Edward J. – The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789 – William Morrow, 2015

https://blog.consource.org/post/87198940335/the-constitutional-convention-the-rule-of-secrecy