Shaping a Federal Union, Essay Example

In Madison’s Congressional Record he states that the Constitution of the United States is a way in which a new form of government can deliver liberty to a body of people. Madison argues that people have a right to veto state legislation and further proposed changes that some feared legislation would abuse. Madison was a proponent of change and people countered his arguments for the Constitution. This paper will seek to represent Madison’s correct view of the Constitution, it’s intended audience, its importance in American history, and its expression and meaning.

With anything that is recorded by Congress, it is recorded for posterity in order for there to be an accurate record of events and to know on which side America’s founders fought, and the reasons they fought for what they did. In Madison’s case, he’s fighting for the American people to have a right to happiness and liberty as drafted in the Constitution. In order to do this Madison believed that America should have a federal government that is able to change with the changing times and that protected its members. Madison also proposes that the Constitution should imbibe in its members the ability to overall a president that no longer seeks their common happiness and well being and that an unanimous vote from all of them have gives them the right to alter such a government. The audience that Madison was speaking in front of however was an audience of his peers in Virginia during discourse about ratifying the Constitution and its adoption as the Federal Constitution.

What is interesting about the document is the way in which Madison argues for the Constitution, but for a Constitution that has the ability to change. Another element in the document is when Madison argues for the cause of taxation in order to support wars and their funding. It is interesting because the American Revolution started because of taxation without representation (among other reasons) and here Madison is pointing out the necessity for taxation in order to have a strong government that produces a strong army that in turn protects the burgeoning nation. Madison argues smartly for this cause by making reference to the British tea tax and then by stating that it isn’t necessary to unnecessarily tax citizens but instead to preserve the government’s power by making it possible for the general government to execute the necessity of taxes. Madison goes on to state that this new government is a government of the people stating that every voice is heard, then every state, and they must concede together in order to form this unity. Madison means that if the nine states that made up the Union at the time could not agree then the Constitution must have defects and he was in favor of ratifying the Constitution until it was seen as something that all states agreed upon.

Madison states that Virginia has always represented itself with and with respect to the other states. It is interesting to note that Madison is such nepotistic tendencies. He uses Virginia has a metaphor however meaning that Virginia is a representation of the potential whole of the states. It’s interesting that Madison uses this extended metaphor throughout his argument. Virginia for him was the ideal that America was capable of unity within itself by state and by government. Virginia in a sense was his utopia by which standards should be set when dealing with ratifying the Constitution.

Madison’s arguments on this Congressional Record allow for a peek into the common dialogue and discourse of the time. Madison is arguing very passionately about ratifying the Constitution but he isn’t yelling: he’s making a formal speech about ways in which the Constitution should be approached and how it measure for measure can be incorporated into the possibility of a federal government. One thing that it definitely signifies is Madison’s capacity for hope for he keeps talking about liberty and the will of the people as well as the will of the state. This signifies a culture that was ruled by its potential for greatness because it has not yet become great (i.e. America the free). Madison sought common ground with his audience by the way that he spoke and this states that his peers were well-educated men that had the same values as him and this speaks for the cultural as a whole during this time. Madison’s verbosity, poise, and ability to properly argue to get his point across speak volumes about that period in history.

In conclusion Madison’s speech tells about his ability and depth of feeling for the potential for America to be a free nation governed by a federal government. Madison cites that the necessity for taxation is only a way in which the country can further defend itself from an autocratic government that doesn’t take into account the needs and wishes of its people and states. Madison’s argument for the potential ratifying of the Constitution suggests that he sees a future need for change and is an advocate of that change in his government because it allows for the changing demographic needs of the country to be heard at a future date. By making the Constitution flexible, Madison was paving a way for future liberty in the country.