ABSTRACT
James Madison is one of the most significant figures in advancing and protecting civil liberties in the history of the United States. Madison served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress, a member of the House of Representatives, and secretary of state. Madison held office as the fourth president of the United States 1809–1817, succeeding his friend Thomas Jefferson. Madison was a member of the Constitutional Committee that helped draft the Virginia Constitution of 1776. He was a leading advocate within the state for religious freedom. Madison's concerns with the developing revolutionary government in America date to the end of the Revolutionary War. Madison was one of the central figures at the Constitutional Convention, and his papers are still the most important records of what occurred there. Madison argued that a representative system, containing a larger array of people and interests, could check the power of factions.
