Hello, and welcome back to my blog!

This week, I will be focusing on James Madison. Not only was Madison the 4th President of the United States and Thomas Jefferson’s compatriot, but he was also Alexander Hamilton’s frenemy. In the musical, it becomes very clear that Madison and Hamilton do not get along together. After all, they are both from different political parties, and Madison is a good friend of Jefferson’s. However, not as much animosity is shown between the two. It seemed as though the two men were always able to be civil with each other and even work together at times.

Madison, like almost every other character, participates in the opening act of the musical. In the song, Alexander Hamilton, certain characters alternate when singing about Alexander’s background story. Madison is one of the characters who sings a section, which is about how after his town in the Caribbean was devastated by a hurricane, Hamilton never gave up and continued to pursue an education. Although there might not be a specific reason why Madison sung this part about Hamilton’s past, I found it interesting because it showed me a key aspect of their relationship. Even though they didn’t like each other that much, James Madison was still able to acknowledge Hamilton’s persistence and passion for everything he did.

For the remaining part of Act I, James Madison doesn’t really make an appearance. His name is mentioned in Non-Stop, the last song of Act I, regarding his participation in the writing of The Federalist Papers. These 85 essays were written by Madison, Hamilton, and John Jay, all with the purpose of defending the new Constitution for the United States. At this point, we can see that Madison and Hamilton were able to work together, set their differences apart, and fight for something they both believed in.

It isn’t until Act 2, however, that Madison starts participating more. After the Revolutionary War had been won, and Jefferson came back from France, Madison quickly partners with him. He informs Jefferson in What’d I Miss that Hamilton has an outrageous financial plan, and together hope it will not obtain congressional approval. This is where we see the rivalry between Hamilton and Madison. Eventually, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison all compromise in The Room Where It Happens and again, demonstrate how despite being political enemies, they are able to treat each other with civility. Yet, they still get irritated by the constant support that Washington gives Hamilton, and try to damage his reputation in Washington’s eyes (“Washington On Your Side“). As a result, Madison and Jefferson come together in We Know, and accuse Hamilton of financial fraud – and drove Hamilton crazy to the point where he exposed himself as a response of fear. This is Madison’s last appearance in the musical, yet when thinking about the real Madison, he continued to influence Hamilton’s life for a while after that.

Known as the “Father of the Constitution,” James Madison was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and the fourth United States President. In his role as a U.S. Founding Father, Madison fought hard for writing, building, and defending the U.S. Constitution. Despite the animosity, he joined forces with Hamilton to write The Federalist Papers in an attempt to get the Constitution ratified. After this was achieved, Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and submitted it to Congress in an attempt to amend the Constitution for the first time. If you want to know more details about James Madison, you can read his biography here.

In real life, Hamilton and Madison were never really friends either. Like I said before, they were able to work with each other, but never really got along. While researching more about the real James Madison, I stumbled upon this article that details very well what the Madison-Hamilton relationship was like. Basically, Madison believed that Hamilton was the type of man who’d be a monarchist that seeks to destructs his own country. In Hamilton’s eyes, Madison was foolish and simply followed int0 Thomas Jefferson’s steps. The author of the article claims that due to their enmity, it is likely that Hamilton and Madison would have never sorted their differences and try to become colleagues – had Hamilton not been killed early in his life.

That concludes my blog for the week. Stay tuned for more!