explores the evolution of first lady and fashion. >> join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. history bookshelf every weekend at this time. on september 25, 1789 congress approved the first numeral 10 amendments to the constitution known as the bill of rights. discusses his book "founding rivals." it was a central campaign issue when the huge president's face

off in a race for congressional seat in 1789. this was recorded in november, 2011 at the changing hands bookstore. it is an hour. [applause] >> thank you for being here tonight. thank you to our gracious host. independent bookstores are a treasure and we should support them. every copy over there is going to be sold. my book is "founding rivals." james madison versus james monroe. for those who showed up to see the lead guitarist of kiss, that was last night. as important as this project has become to my life, i can scarcely remember the first time i learned about this historic congressional race between

future presidents in 1789. i remember about reading about in a book. it was treated with the one or two sentences you would see about it. i thought come away to bury the lead. all of a sudden we are in this race between 2 future presidents. they are debating the most important issues with effort talked about. whether we should have a bill of rights, what union we should have. are innext page, they the first congress greatly to bury the lead. opens at the inauguration of george washington. when he took the oath of office two of the 13 states are outside of the union. north carolina and rhode island did not ratify the constitution because of their concern it was missing a bowl of rights.

-- bill of rights. this was common for the antifederalists read the common denominator, they opposed the constitution. many came at it from different angles. some believe that you could not have the union that covered all these diverse states. but believed independence, they didn't think that any government could ever be suitable to this entire continent. james monroe resident to the majority of intimate federalist -- anti-federalist opinion. while washington took the oath werefice 2 states agitating for a new constitutional convention. in the words of james madison and george washington they were terrified of this prospect read the believed it would be in for traded by enemies and the constitution would be scrapped and that are union would be fractured never come together

again. the book goes into the french and indian war, a conflict europe and the new world, between the french, english, and their allies. as a result english expel their opponents from the consonant. as a consequence what they did was remove a check that kept the colonists free from the threat of the french. they were not so reliant on great britain. great britain try to shoulder the enormous cost on the colonies. what followed was taxation, resistance, followed by a passion, past the point of no return where we ended up in a revolution against great britain. -- bothicine and role madison and monroe played important roles. wasn't excited by latin

grammar. he was drilling with his compatriot. the governor of virginia, the royal appointee, seized gunpowder of the militia, nobody but his excuse, with that he was fearing a slave or four. when that ratcheted up hostility to the point where james monroe and his compatriots rated the governor's mansion. monroe was sent north to new york to join with george washington's army. he would serve in many theaters of the war, like valley forge, germantown, the philadelphia campaign. most importantly, the battle of trenton. we know this famous portrait of george washington crossing the delaware and going over to face the has seasons -- the hession's. their drop in the morning before

the was to secure the town so be able to would alert the british and the allies. it was christmas. and then revelry predict that the hospitality's had ceased. and the prospect james monroe and his men alerted a doctor by the name of riker. he thought they were british. when he realized the patriots andtold them i am a patriot if something is going to happen tomorrow, i'm going to go with you. i may be able to save some poor souls. that turned out to be james monroe. during a credible moment, he charged the canon, was struck down by a bullet and would have bled out had it not been for dr. riker. james monroe narrowly escapes death two times in the book. one of the things i focus on is how precarious everything that happened was and how small and

minor and unrelated events conspired to make > and. during the revolutionary war james madison served in the u.s. congress. when he arrived in congress he found a ruinous state of affairs. nothing like you could imagine today. [laughter] the congress had taken an enormous crippling national debt when congress had exhausted they started printing money and giving it out to people. [laughter] our leaders today are too wise to do this. telling that he serves on the board of admiralty. a committee that ran the naval affairs during the war. one of the first things they do is to deny a three-month-old request for a sea captain for bread and flour. it was simply that they had no bread or flour or means to accurate.

they sent him a note saying that he should keep up the good work. a gunboat was sitting in the dock instead of fighting the british. go toumbull was ready to sea. worst of all, the board of admiralty had to deal with the issue of several common criminals breaking into a warehouse and stealing all but a of the supply of canvas. one christmas night they broke campus,st all the congress had directed them to distribute this to the places where it was needed. admiraltythe board of arch humerus if it isn't so serious. we have killed three of the men responsible. we think we know where to find the ortho. congress wrote back saying we

just want our canvas back. madison and monroe fight each other in 1784 and they begin a correspondence that will stretch decades. by this point madison was back in the virginia legislature and monroe had gone to congress and frustrations. talking about the articles of confederation, 1777, the continental congress put together a plan to unify the states. the continental congress existed to air grievances against great britain. now they had to conduct a war against the most powerful country in the world. they said the article of the confederation to the states. the letter that accompanied it sounds with an apology. this was the best that can be adapted to the circumstances of all. not very promising. friendship league of was unable to raise revenue, unable to raise troops, unable

to conduct any rational trade policy. even after the war the european powers would punish our merchants and producers, hit them with taxes and tariffs. because the national government had no capacity to create a revenue, a trade policy, they lay the states against each other. one state would say we're going to lower our tariff and have them come to our state. it was impossible for them to do anything. of northof some sort american union started in 1754 with the albany congress. benjamin franklin's idea. it was not created with the idea of independence in mind. it was created in response to the fears generated by the french and indian war. it was to be a body that could

coordinate to the response of the pending war. this was attended by 17 delegates and one lobbyist. the meeting broke up inconclusively. that framework was later adopted into the articles of confederation. the national government was so weakened, at one point it was laid low by the sheriff of pennsylvania. to give you an idea of how weak this was, george washington issued a passport to the british to feed andsupplies clothe their prisoners of war. they are bringing the wagons and, and the sheriff stops them. they plan to sell on the black market. he sees their merchandise. congress was powerless to stand up to the greedy sheriff. thesheriff standing up to national government of the united states. point congress has to

deal with a mutiny. with no revenue, the soldiers lose their patience. they are not feeling any better about their chances of getting paid. once hostilities are done, they weren't optimistic about what might happen. they went to philadelphia, they are pointing guns in windows of congress, menacing members of congress. congress is inside trying to figure out what to do. [laughter] all they could do was to appeal to the governor of pennsylvania. it's not my problem. john dickinson wasn't willing to help the mound. but congress decided to do was they would fully like common debtors to new jersey in reconvened in james madison's old dormant princeton. -- dorm at princeton.

they had to do with the question of the mississippi. the spanish were of a believe that they were entitled to the mississippi river. james madison wanted out under the international law that existed, free and peaceful people could move across international boundaries without impunity. why should american people who are not at war with spain be more restricted than any other place? imagine what it would have done to the united states. the westward expansion, the ports of entry create the growth of the american west. it is unimaginable. confederacynorthern led by john j, the minister to spain. northerner,e was a

this mississippi river was a far-off place. he uses it? who needs it? we are going to risk a war for river we can use? he was firmly of a mind that he was going to give this river away to the spanish. this gets at the heart of the problem. the congress had no capacity to bring together the military might of the nation. the spanish would have never dared to provoke us into a war. but it is the quick thinking of madison and monroe that prevents it from being lost forever. problems oft the congress under the articles of confederation. madison and monroe worked hard to alter them. imposeone, to pass and so that trade he comes into the united states could be taxed and the national government would have a source of revenue and

stand on its feet and pay its debts, particularly its war whos for the brave soldiers won the revolution. it never passed. it had to be unanimous. the second thing they wanted to do was to regulate trade policy. we have talked about that. the european powers were belligerent toward the united states merchants and producers. they wanted congress to respond in kind. another serious issue, there are , 13 forms of currency, 13 standards for weights and measures. currency was subject to dramatic fluctuation. the courts, there was no national judiciary. if you were a new yorker trying to buy something in virginia, you would be sure you were be hometowned. they had to unleash the economic

engine to create the productivity of the american people that has allowed us to become the most prosperous country in the history of the world. the states would not had that that would not have it. it is the first call for the national convention of the states. james madison gives vista john the futurefather of president to pass. james madison is a member of congress suspected of having gone federal. john tyler, had more credibility to call for this national convention. unfortunately when the delegates met in annapolis the states didn't send the best people they had. some didn't send anybody. nobody sent their full delegation. they met for a few days and decided the best we can do is to write up a letter of the

problems we see my distributed, and agreed to meet in next may. that is the constitutional convention. madison goes as a delegate. the father of the constitution. he uses someone else to introduce his policies. it is something he always did throughout his career if he thought it was more likely to succeed coming from someone else. imagine having leaders like that today who don't care who gets the credit that they care about getting things done and getting results. that was james madison. he has edmund randolph introduce the virginia plan, the first debate of the constitutional convention. the basic framework for our government today. and two branches of the legislature, and the judiciary. all the characteristics and powers we associate with the

national power today. there are serious fights. both sides nearly walk at different points. the biggest issue is one of her presentation -- one of representation print every state had one vote. could send a bigger delegation. 700,000 people. delaware has less than 50. the virginians didn't understand why someone in delaware had it right to so much more representation. those are the big problems. the smaller states will not yield on this point. it is a question of yielding to them and a spirit of commendation. did agree the house of representatives will be based on population and the senate will be based on equal representation among the states. from philadelphia comes the constitution. history books tend to gloss over this and history.

it goes straight from the constitutional convention in philadelphia to george washington taking the oath on the about any of powder all hall. what transpires is a knockdown fight across the continent over to ratify the constitution. a conventionects to sit in judgment. i focused to chapters on the virginia ratification convention. culturally, most important, commercially important state, it is important virginia ratifies the constitution. the antifederalists try to .ambit they decide they're going to hold the ratification debate in june. they figured some aides would approve it and someone. there will be virginia to broker some sort of compromise. that is what they thought. the problem was they created a third-party in the

constitutional convention. people who were so concerned about preserving the union they were over to overcome their objections to the document and both ratification. edmund randolph was one of only several delegates to refuse to sign the constitution. there is suspense over what he is going to say when he speaks up in richmond. what side he is going to come down on. these objections have been changed, my principles haven't changed. i have my doubts. at this point, seven states have ratified the constitution. had ratified the constitution, excuse me. i'm not going to separate us. at the end of the day, there is a lot of debate. henry leading the internet federalists --

leading the anti-federalist. -- there had to be a bill of rights. he reluctantly comes out full force against the constitution. , richard henry lee, the most important people in american history are in this room. at the end of the day, antifederalists try again that. why don't we stop what we are doing, recommend some amendments, and pick it up later. this would have had the effect of ending the process. the momentum would have stopped. the vote in new york was going to be so close that alexander hamilton kept writing saying all was lost if you don't pass this constitution. no pressure. but everything is lost. new york only ratifies after a

month debate after virginia ratifies. in the call for new constitutional convention unless there is a bill of rights. what they do is say let's set this aside. that measure fails by 88-80 votes. just eight votes. james madison didn't know he was going to participate in the eradication -- in the ratification. madison wouldn't have been able to make it. he gives his first speech in a long career in public service in support of his candidacy to be a part of this ratification. are we glad? the constitution gets out of there alive by eight votes. it seems inevitable today. that is how close it was.

is awing the convention legislative session that has dominated by patrick henry and antifederalists. it is a chapter called the terrible session. if you weren't federalist that is how you would have seen it. a number of things happened. virginia calls for a new constitutional convention. patrick henry, who could be petty and personal, took a supporter of james madison, came up with a pretense not be eligible to be a legislature, and then was referred to a committee. floor saidrted the that he was eligible. patrick henry offered an amendment saying he was not eligible. he made a long speech. he was expelled from the virginia legislature. this is what you were dealing

with if you weren't antifederalists -- a federalist. one of the problems, the leading federalist of virginia, the people who had spoken at the ratification were part of the legislature. , who commanded a majority with obedience was able to get these measures through the legislature. at the end of the session, james saying.ent and colleagues thought he went insane. enough to drive you crazy. other important things happen. this was back when under our original constitution the state legislatures elected senators. james madison is offered up as a senator. patrick entering talks about

rivulets of blood in the land. this great turmoil if we elect a federalist to congress. you will never support your rights. james madison loses the election by a narrow majority. patrick henry is not finished. the issue of redistricting is on a lot of people's minds. no more so than here in arizona. the virginia legislature at this time perpetrated the first act of gerrymandering. that patrick henry salah they didn't think to call it henry mandarin -- henrymandering. what we had was the results of the elections, to delegates selected from every county. because of the late date, delegates were more or less on their positions

on the constitution. he created a district or medicine that was 3-1 antifederalists to federalist read a lot -- federalist. it is a testament that the only district he could have lost in virginia was the one created by his enemies to defeat him. they passed something called the residency law which said you have to live in your district for year. they targeted it at one man. they had a fight over whether to strike the residency law. -- thealist were out on federalist were outgunned. medicines that i don't want this to be an issue in a different district. the legislature was one of the oldest institutions on the continent. they had more credibility. the constitution says you only have to live in your state if you want to run for congress.

they lived close enough that it is fine with their constituents. madison decides no, he's going to stand and fight in the district that he lives them. the antifederalists are shopping for a candidate to take on james madison. they are lucky to convince his thend james monroe to carry antifederalists banner. he was a combat veteran, former member of congress, extremely experienced and probably would have stood out head and shoulders above any opponent other than his friend who also had a long tenure in office. ,hen monroe gets into the race he gets into it full force. while he was in congress he lost an election in virginia for the legislature by four votes. his campaign manager cap saying come back and campaign in person.

he ended up losing by four votes. if you work with politicians for long enough you realize their losses are seared into them. fever membered what it was like to lose that race. he was not going to lose this by want of trying. he was busy writing letters. james madison would write these letters, they would go to one of his supporters, and the supporter would distribute them to different people to know where they stood on the issues. newspapers were critical source at the time. essaysuld recall these to the anonymous blog commentor. they were written in the newspapers. one of the enduring myths is that this is the nastiest

campaign ever, you hear it every election. i challenge you read about the election of james madison and james monroe which featured a false and negative communication. , jamesifederalists monroe had no part in this. but his supporters said james madison has said not a word of the constitution can be spared and he will not get you your amendments. james madison realized he represented the federalist opinion. he got a bill of rights was dangerous. we have a government of enumerated powers. if we don't give them the right to regulate speech by what we need an amendment to do that? might imply powers were never meant them to have. thereby commit rights to people. it was premature. this is a vessel just launched. let's try it out and take it for a test drive and see what happens and whether or not we really need these amendments. resultadison realized as

in the election of 1789, there was a significant sentiment in the country and these people would never be satisfied until a bill of rights was passed and adopted. in order to gain the confidence of this new constitutional government which he saw as a last best chance for creating some sort of union that could work for the state, he acquiesces. he first announces his support for a bill of rights as part of a campaign promise to a man eaves. they were created like many political groups because the government rescued them. baptists were arrested in private residence for prayer as we were declaring all men are created equal.

people were being arrested in ,hurch, preaching the gospel and these folks were extremely concerned about this national government. there was a revolution among the baptists. the resolution said the constitution does not sufficiently protect religious liberty. they deadlocked on a revolution on if the yoke of slavery should be made lighter. they believed -- you can imagine this is real virginia. in 1789. there is one that is minister that goes to many different churches. eaves was in tune with medicines sentiments on religious freedoms . madison had always been a friend to free exercise of religion. they knew that.

he said if i'm elected i will support a bill of rights and among that will be the freedom of religion. where an intense meeting one of the congregations gathered to decide who to endorse, he was able to pull out his letter and rebut the antifederalists liars distorting his opinion for the benefit of all. he did great damage to their cause. james madison and james monroe, i have talked about the things that were similar. one of the things we don't see enough of is that james madison and james monroe maintained a high level of civility toward one another in the course of the campaign. they traveled together, stayed in the same hotel rooms. they engaged in long and heated debates. churchthose debates at a , the oldest lutheran church in the united states, they stood up for hours in the cold, madison

got frostbite. he would report it as his only war wound. james madison and james monroe were reporting to jefferson that there friendship never abated. they disagreed passionately and fellow -- fell out over issues pretty were civil. supportersst zealous were uncivil to each other. madison by co-opting the has ispular issue monroe able to win. one of james madison's biggest supporters wrote him and told him if this had happened a fortnight sooner you would have lost. you deftly would have lost. what are the consequences of

this election? what is important? we talk about federalist opposition. the federalist when lopsided majorities. staying outside of the union. virginia and new york are agitating for a new can creation -- new convention. only james madison seem to appreciate the threat was posed by the anti-federal movement. in the beginning of congress he announces there are going to be a bill of rights considered this election. i plan to introduce them. moment,on goes to china james madison is able to bring the federalist majority to his side and passed the bill of

rights. it was remarked among his haverters that the antis a new supporter, james madison. the bill of rights passed. the union was cemented. we are all here today in the countryost prosperous in the history of the world. this is set against an unpromising context. try to imagine a crippling national debt, government paralyzed bipartisanship, that seemed wholly inadequate pre-leaders that seemed inadequate. you can't imagine it. [laughter] it is impossible to think about. one of my favorite quotes, history doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes. [laughter] madison and monroe found themselves trying to make this work against the most favorable context that may be anybody has ever faced. they rose to the occasion. every generation in american history has faced challenges.

the first generation did read every subsequent generation did. pestilence, war, economic calamity. each in a ration rose to the occasion and passed on to the next generation of a country that was better, stronger, freer and more prosperous than the one before. we are in trouble now is country. founding rivals is an optimistic note of history. how we as a nation can go forward. we have to get out of this mess. we have to work together to do it. book,nal line of the "remember." in ther how things look past, america's always risen to the occasion. i hope you will have some optimism about the way we are going. i would be happy to take questions. [applause]

any questions? >> the size the creation of the bill of rights, what is another consequence of the election? >> two important consequences in addition. enough, there not are other significant events that happen only because madison was there instead of monroe. madisonm convinced, if had not been there, the country may have faltered. the question and the decision of 1789. when they introduced cap legislation to create the president's cabinet position. there is a phrase in there that .ays there'll be a secretary what he had done was he had

touched off the greatest constitutional debate of the first congress. some said the constitution was silent. other people thought you need to use the impeachment method to get rid of a subordinate. that is the only method we have. thought you can only use impeachment. others believed you with movies people the same way you appointed them. the advice and concurrence of the senate. any of these scenarios would have been a dramatic blow to the separation of powers we have created. these are so critical to our government. the tendencythat of people in power was to coalesce and get more power. he created three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. the legislative is broken into two houses. they are pitted against each

other with checks and balances. it is important to maintain that system to avoid tyranny. madison engages in a long debate . it is uncertain as to what is going to happen. the first vote was an amendment to strike the language saying to be removable by the president. madison will get behind the same amendment, but not for the same reason. what he did was he struck the language from the bill to be removed by the president and the added language that said there will be a click of the department which shall serve as secretary in the event the secretary is removed by the president. it is such an offhand reference no one would mistake it for a grant of our from congress. it makes it clear the defense of the congress, the president can remove his subordinates at will. it would be unimaginable to think of a president who could not remove a cabinet official

who wasn't implementing the agenda they were elected to work on. the second important consequence , the location and debate over ol and the's capit assumption of the national debt. for those of you watching, in washington dc, you were there because james madison one this election. madison emerged as the focal point of the opposition in the first congress for the plan of the states to assume the debts of the state. hamilton realized this would get every state off to a good footing. it would restore public credit. it would cement the union and keep the union together. the southern states had more or less paid off their bills. the northern states had not. the southern states wanted to know why they should play -- pay twice for their war debts when they have worked hard to pay down their debts.

the northern states said what is the point of being in this union at all? people were talking about secession. influenza nearly killed george washington. it is a precarious time for the country. thomas jefferson runs and alexander hamilton, who is usually very polished and well dressed. he looked none of those things three jefferson says what is wrong? he says i'm going nuts over this plan. broker-dealrson over wine and food at his house between james madison and alexander hamilton. madison wasn't going to vote for the plan. he was not going to be too strenuous and his opposition. there is speculation he and jefferson found the additional votes hamilton needed. hamilton would turn around and use his influence, his leverage with the northern states to select a potomac site for the

nation's capitol. this cap the peas and cap the country together. what would have been different? number one, aside from the bill of rights, the biggest objection was the power of these negative. he had risked his life to throw off a tyrant. he wasn't going to vote for another one. he was concerned about the power of the presidency. he would not have carried a banner the way madison had. it's my belief that people who believed that the president didn't have the power to remove his subordinates would have carried the day. they would've upset the balance of power. if the president is beholden to every employee in the executive branch? id of stateo the debts. he could not have emerged as a focal point of opposition.

madison, it is important to note the difference, the speaker of the house was the leader of his party. the most powerful member. in the first congress the speaker was largely confined to a ceremonial role of the british house of commons. they weren't the leader. james madison is the leader of the federalist arty. leadere leader -- the opposing the plan, he was able to block the legislation in a way james madison would not have been able to. these three critical things, the bill of rights, the first great compromise, and executive ofsian were decided because the election. >> where did you do your research? with libraries, museums, give examples? >> i spent time in the madison reading room. they were named after james madison. it was fun to research james

madison in a room that was named after him. they have fantastic resources. unlike the library of congress delimit check home books that i had no business being able to take home. for the bookurce are the letters themselves. i let them speak for themselves whenever possible. madison was meticulous. james monroe not as much. there was a lot there that i could use to get a sense of who he was and how he interacted with his compatriots. arizona state university was an excellent resource. the library of congress was an excellent resource. i tried to go to places like the hadron lutheran church. i got to spend a lot of time in virginia while i was writing. i was working on election there. it was wonderful to read trace

the same stats and work in election in what used to be the fifth congressional district. the principal places. any other questions? this raceyou think was so overlooked by other stories? >> a great question. the problem was, it was historically he a significant. first of all thank you for not appreciating the significance of this race or writing about things that are more important. byanything it is book ended such consequence no that's consequential events on either side. washington is taking the oath of office. all is well. one of the things i tried to point out is that nothing is inevitable. the things you do have consequences for the actions you take in public life. the thing that is in your power

is to never give up. madison and monroe despaired of ever getting a government equal to the union states. when everyone shows up in philadelphia, when it looks like the congress and ratification convention might not approve the constitution, it was desperate. it was close. they did not give up. thing thatimportant we don't consider. it looks inevitable. the steady march of history where we throw off the bonds of the most powerful empire the anld had seen an established orderly government. not a monarchy, not tyranny. an orderly, free republican government. that was without precedent. this is important and it is badly overlooked by history. when i first started to read about this, i went through three volume life of madison written

, who was a contemporary. i thought this will be a third account.d we think of congressional elections as part of transferring reactions to financial panics, to wars, to unpopular presidents. we think of them as trends with the exception of the race between abraham lincoln and stephen douglas. that is one race we do a know but we talk about. the places they debated orwell marked -- are well marked. in virginia can go anywhere without seeing a gray and black sign to denote someone famous... battle, mymous famous is the church of the blind preacher. it is great they take their history so seriously. you will never find anything to denote the spots where they debated each other. hopefully we can change that.

>> to questions. out whatle to tease parts of the district of the the congressional district of virginia were supported one or the other candidate? certain segments of society? what was any role at all of thomas jefferson and george washington? >> those are quick questions. first, why did some people fall in the federal aside ? to generalize, federalist people engaged in the mercantile trade who can see the benefit of having the same currency when i go two miles north. i can see the benefit of having a government with national trade policy for the british to stop taxing my goods.

people who were not engaged in trade, some of those folks said i don't know about this new government. i think it is going to invade my liberties. i don't see any consequence to the confederacy stand the way it is. to generalize, that is why they fall in one place or another. sometimes it isn't that need. it is just conclusions people drew. they were in our charted -- they were in uncharted territory. madison,roe and james who had similar upbringings, but both very well-educated. they came to different conclusions even though their service only mirrored each other. they serve on the council of state. april executive. -- a plural executive.

madison and monroe both served with the governors of virginia. they both served in the continental congress and the congress of the confederation. he had almost the same residence that came to different conclusions. that was true for a lot of the countrymen. the second question, thomas jefferson is in paris as the minister to france during this time. he does receive the most complete postelection analysis from both madison and monroe. he was their mutual friend. he once referred to madison and monroe as the twin pillars of my happiness. times jefferson invested in trying to convince madison to move next to him. he arty had monroe. if the three of us can live together we can hang out and retire and we will be happy. reading books, talking about big ideas.

he called them the twin pillars of his happiness. he was leased to get messages from both of them. -- our our finish in friendship was never set aside. is in france. george washington wanted madison to win the race. one of the first letters is congratulations from george washington. nothing he had against monroe. he was responsible for promoting monroe for the rights of the continental army. i think i quote a different book where it talks about valley forge. a name associated with misery since the 18th century. it was. they lived through the worst fighting of the war together. because washington relied on madison, his advice, his counsel, madison is the principal adviser to washington

in the first year of his presidency. to some degree that role shifted to alexander hamilton. in the beginning it is james madison. one of the first congratulations write mynow help me inaugural ar addressed. and he does. it calls for the constitution to satisfy the federalist. congress has to madison to draft the response to washington. madison writes his response. he says well i don't know how to respond. [laughter] to sendon says i have reply to congress. will you help me write it? madison was happy to oblige. i offer that not because it is humorous but it test the high standard james madison had among his colleagues in the congress

and the president united states. everybody wanted to be a part of george washington's inner circle. only madison had the caliber, the trustworthiness, the intellect to be his principled ose criticalng ther early days. >> was there a great deal of debate about what would be in the bill of rights? or was it generally understood that it would be religion, speech, etc.? >> there was an enormous amount of debate over what it would look like. many of the state ratification conventions, virginia included send recommendations to congress long -- a long list of recommendations. hundreds of different ideas. madison focused on a few things. he wasn't one to do anything structural. some focus on weakening the executive. stripping important powers from congress.

the power to revenue trade. we were one of focus on fundamental liberties. madison is trying to take the wind out of the sales of the antifederal movement. he is trying calculate what measures are going to do that. you can look to the rights of free englishmen, the great tradition of english history. the freedom that people had as englishmen. one of the great things about living under a tyrant, they have been subject to king george the third. you have a good idea to if you had a mad government, what are the things that would try to do? when they were trying to tax the colonists in the french and indian war, one of the things, smuggling whether the roof. they decide we are going to send soldiers and your house without warning, without notice. without any sort of sanctions from the judiciary. theire going to stay to hearts content. people knew what they needed to protect against if there was a

mad tyrant. the example is fresh in our mind. madison selects from these fundamental liberties that have a long tradition and the most grievance offenses that great britain had inflicted. that is how we get the list. it more or less passive is exactly how he introduces it. the bill of rights was 12 amendments. 11 have passed. one past the 1990's. you have the bill of rights. in the 1990's, enough states ratified an amendment that says the following -- if congress wants to increase its they that is fine, but it will go into effect until there has been an election for the house of representatives in between so people could just vote themselves lavish salaries and retire. what happened was, there was a student in the 1970's at the

university of texas who wrote a paper about this. he says this is still out there. they could pass this. his teacher gave him a failing grade. he said this is the worst idea ever. [laughter] never underestimate the power of spite. he wrote a letter to every legislature in america say in case you want to you can still do this. why wouldn't you? it is a winning issue. states1990's enough ratified this. the 12th amendment, thank goodness whenever passes, would have guaranteed one representative for every 10,000 citizens. -- you think they can't get anything done now? wait until there are 10,000 representatives. >> what did monroe do after losing the election? >> is a happy ending for monroe. not at first. you may be after sentiments if

you are a friend of mine, he was a freshman attorney. he didn't enjoy the practice of law. at one point he said i'm getting a law degree so i can run for office. it's going to be helpful. never going to practice. as he is championing the bill of rights, james monroe is winning an indictment against a man from stealing the mare. some things never change. what happens is there is a death, one of the senators from virginia dies. he is chosen to fill the vacancy. he gets to serve after all. monroe goes on to do a fantastic rear. he is an ambassador to france france.

-- some of the opposition to thomas jefferson coalesced behind monroe to go against jefferson. madison eventually brings monroe despite this into his cabinet. they preside over the war 1812 together. they will be the best of friends in retirement when their careers are over. they will serve at the end of their lives in a state constitutional convention in virginia. all these young hotheads. they are fighting over presentation of virginia. there were few flames west of a certain line. west virginia didn't have the representation that easter virginia did. madison monroe tried everything great how about one branch, the senate can be based on equal, and the house we are not to take slaves into account. he said you guys don't know how

you are talking about. -- andt james an then both sides are turning to succeed. they didn't appreciate the fact that the union had once been so paralyzed. madison and monroe knew what it was like to live in a time where it was a question if america could exist as one country. >> did madison remain in the federalist camp? >> there is a lot of discussion. i think it is clear he moves out of the federalist orbit. the two parties were roughly defined by their position on the constitution. once madison passes the bill of rights you really remove the source of the divide.

, tothat the constitution keep the constitution is out of the way, they find new issues to fight about. the new party falls along different lines. i think you can see a split in washington cabinets between jefferson and alexander hamilton. james madison was firmly on jefferson side of that split. all right, looks like no more questions. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> on history bookshelf, here from the country's best-known american history writers of the past decade every saturday at 4:00 p.m. eastern. to watch these programs at any time, visit our website, www.c-span.org/history. you are watching american history tv, all weekend every

weekend on c-span3. >> each week, american history tv brings you archival films that helped trouble story of the 20th century. about a week after president kennedy's assassination, president johnson established a commission to investigate the circumstances surrounded that day. headed by chief justice earl warren, the commission released its report and concluded that lee harvey oswald had acted alone in killing the president. >> i stepped out into the street. i took the camera and aimed it, focused it, and stood there and looked through it for quite a few seconds because i wanted to be sure that they were looking it for -- i followed oh, so many seconds -- and i did take the picture. >> just as the shutter snapped, there was a shot, and this is

what she found in her polaroid camera. >> i heard the shot -- and i say shot because i immediately thought it was a shot. i immediately thought it was a rifle shot. i've hunted a great deal in my life, and i immediately thought it was a rifle shot. why, i don't know, but i it was any thought assassination attempt. it's the only thing that crossed .y mind fear just swept through me, and i immediately fall -- thought of him, of course. i was sitting on the jump seat immediately in front of him, and i turned thinking that the shot had come from back over my right soldier. i turned to look in that direction, i think motivated by two in, first to see if i could see where the shot came from, see if i could see anything

unusual, but equally or more important to me in my thought process was a desire to see him, if anything had happened, if he was all right. i turned and i up usually saw nothing but a tremendous crowd of people -- i obviously saw nothing but a tremendous amount of people. nothing unusual, nothing out of the way, except people also had startled looks on their faces. they were turning, they were looking, and i did not catch him in the corner of my eye, so i was in the process of turning to my left to look back over my left shoulder to see if i could see him in the backseat, and the impactn i felt of the bullet that hit me. there was no -- there was no great pain associated with the bullet that hit me, notwithstanding it win in my back shoulder and cannot. i felt that someone had just hit me in the back with a doubled up

this, and impact rather than any sort of a certain pain. it more or less knocked me over at least enough to where i looked down, and, of course, i was covered with blood. likely, i thought that i had been fatally hit. said, as i recall, "my god, they're going to kill us all." >> this weekend on the c-span networks, tonight, at 8:00 p.m. eastern, a national town hall on the critical and historic impact of voting. sunday evening at 8:00, washington post columnist sally quinn. , a pulitzer0:00 prize-winning reporter on the distractions of technology and its impact on society. sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, the ninth annual brooklyn book festival. tonight at 10:00, on american history tv, author jonathan

wight on the role of the union army in abraham lincoln's 1864 reelection. sunday afternoon at 8:00 p.m. eastern, author and that dunlap explores the evolution of first lady fashion. find our television schedule at www.c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. call us, e-mail us, or send us a .weet join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. on american history tv, political science professor michael nelson explains how and why richard nixon's victory came at a pivotal time in american politics. that year was marked by the assassinations of robert f kennedy and martin luther king jr. nelson describes how nixon won over and alienated electorate.