James Madison And The Slavery Issue Essays -

James Madison And The Slavery Issue James Madison and the Slavery Issue The Revolutionary period of the United States was a time filled with much turmoil and confusion as to how this newly found nation, should be modeled. Many delicate issues were discussed and planned out to get the best outcome for all concerned. One of these issues that cast an ominous shadow over the new republic was the slavery issue. Some of the most prominent figures at the head of this nation wanted to bring about an end to it but continuously failed due to the inconvenience of finding a workable plan. The topic of this paper is a man who is thought to have little to do with the slavery issue but played a relatively large role. James Madison although a slave owner himself wanted to rid the nation of this constant nuisance to the one truth America was founded on, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Although he held many political offices, his opponents would contend tha t he did not take full advantage of them and should have been able to do more to eliminate the evil from society. In this paper, I plan to explain how James Madison was able to be very influential in the slavery issue. James Madison's ideas of slavery being an evil and needing to be done away with are ideas that have an indefinite point of origin. Two evens that may have had a profound influence on these ideas happened only a few years before his birth. In June of 1737, a slave named Peter was found guilty by a court of Oyer and Terminer of murthering his said master, and sentenced to be hanged (Scott, p. 134). Afterwards, Peter was beheaded and his head placed on a pole near a creek for all to see. The creek was renamed Negrohead Run and noted as a familiar place frequented by Madison. In 1745, a black female slave named Eve was burned to death for poisoning her master, Peter Montague. The sheriff who carried out Eve's sentence was the great uncle of Madison, Thomas Chew. His father related this story to Madison. Although these events may not have had quite an effect on Madison, the efforts of his parents were very influential. During Madison's youth, slavery combined the personal ease of the mast er with a life long consideration for the servant, (Brant, 1:44). Clement Eaton, author of A history of the Old South, describes many southerners as having a guilty conscience over slavery. It is uncertain whether Madison suffered from this but he did respect the slaves owned by his family. This respect was carried by Madison throughout his life and is often pointed to in the writings of his personal servant, Paul Jennings. After Madison's death he wrote that, [Mr. Madison] often told the story, that one day riding home from court with old Tom Barbour (father of Governor James Barbour) they met a colored man who took off his hat. Mr. M replied, I never allow a Negro to excel me in politeness, (Jennings, p.19-20). Madison would often write home asking about the family which to him included the slaves. One of the first direct references to slavery in Madison's writings came in a letter to Joseph Jones. In this letter, Madison responds to Jones' idea of offering slaves as a bonus to those who fight in the war for independence. Madison responds by saying: I am glad to find the legislature persist in their resolution to recruit their line of the army for the war, though without deciding on the expediency of the mode under their consideration, would it not be as well to liberate and make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves as to make them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It would certainly be more constant to the principles of liberty which ought never to be loss sight of in a contest for liberty, (Hutchinson, 2:209). Madison's solution offered liberty not only for the white men who enlisted, but opened a door for Negroes of the time, to fight for that same liberty.