JAMES MADISON AND THE CREATION OF THE
AMERICAN REPUBLIC
If we could put ourselves in the shoes of our Founding Fathers as they
attempted to fashion a document --- almost from a blank slate --- that would
outline a republican form of government unlike anything in the world at that
time, we may get a better understanding of how incredible was their
accomplishment. It was all the more so when we consider that the final
document represented the diversity of opinion of representatives from
twelve different states, an achievement hard to imagine in our ideologicallydivided nation today. We know how they achieved their goal, because we
have the notes of their discussions written every day by James Madison,
the future president. Focusing on the role he played in Philadelphia during
that hot, sweaty summer of 1787, and making allowances for his authorship
of the notes, one still can argue that he indeed deserves the title "Father of
the Constitution."
About the instructor: Betsy MacLean, Professor Emeritus of History,
spent twenty-three years teaching at Otterbein. American political and
cultural history, primarily of the late 19th and 20th centuries, was then, and
is still today, the focus of her research and writing. She is now working on
a study of three "intellectual" presidents, Jefferson, Wilson, and Obama,
each having served during the early years of a new century. The question
raised by the study: how have attitudes toward intellectual leadership
changed from the early days of the nation until today --- and why?