James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights

Summary

Today the Bill of Rights is such a cornerstone of American democracy that we can scarcely imagine the nation without it. Yet the birth of the Bill of Rights was no foregone conclusion: rather, it was the outcome of furious debate and an epic political struggle that might have fragmented the American republic even as it was being formed. In these pages Richard Labunski offers a dramatic account of how an unlikely hero—the shy, soft-spoken, and scholarly James Madison—almost single-handedly brought the Bill of Rights to life against daunting odds, forever shaping, and perhaps even saving, the United States.

When the new Constitution was drafted in 1787, many Americans feared that the central government would trample individual liberties, while others bitterly contested the states’ loss of power. Nowhere was the battle waged more fiercely than in Virginia, the largest and most powerful state, whose vote for ratification would be vital. Labunski takes us inside the sweltering converted theater in downtown Richmond where, for three grueling weeks, the quiet Madison and the charismatic Patrick Henry—a patriotic icon dead set against the new plan of government—dueled over whether Virginia should ratify the Constitution. The stakes were enormous: if Virginia voted no, George Washington could not become president, New York might follow suit and reject the Constitution, and the young nation would be thrust into political chaos.

Madison won the day by a handful of votes, mollifying Anti-Federalist fears by promising to add a bill of rights to the Constitution. But this was only the opening round of the struggle. To fulfill his pledge, Madison would have to win a seat in the First Congress. A vengeful Henry first denied Madison a Senate seat, then forced him to run for the House against a war hero, James Monroe, in a district teeming with political enemies. Madison suffered frostbite as he stumped through the Virginia Piedmont in frigid temperatures, yet eked out a victory. Even then, his work had just begun. The Virginian would toil tirelessly in the capital to draft the promised amendments and steer them through the House and Senate in the face of hostility, conflicting interests, and sheer political inertia.

Rich with details of political life in early America, this compelling and colorful narrative returns an under-appreciated patriot to his rightful place among the Founding Fathers and sheds new light on a key turning point in our nation’s history.