Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison

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Letter To Edward Everett by James Madison

Charles K. Rowley, Ph.D., Daily Essay 2013 1. The Federalist Papers, 2. The Constitution, 3. The Amendments, 4. The Classics that Inspired the Constitution, 13. Guest Constitutional Scholar Essayists, Article VI, Charles K. Rowley PhD, Constitutional Amendment VI, Constitutional Amendment X, Constitutional Amendment X, Federalist No. 33, Federalist No. 39, Federalist No. 44, Federalist No. 78, Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison, Marbury v. Madison by John Marshall

Guest Essayist: Charles K. Rowley, Duncan Black Professor Emeritus of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute in Fairfax, Virginia

In this 1830 response to Edward Everett of Massachusetts James Madison maintains that a state does not possess the authority to strike down as unconstitutional an act of the federal government. If you find the essay long-winded, you are correct in this assessment. It is long-winded because James Madison was a hypocrite on the issue of nullification, supporting the notion when it suited him, and rejecting it when it did not. You may learn from this episode an important lesson about human nature. The greatest of founding fathers does not always make a great secretary of state, a great president, or a great elder-statesman. James Madison (and Thomas Jefferson) were no exceptions to this insight. Read more

April 24, 2013/3 Comments/by Janine Turner

Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison – Reprinted from The U.S. Constitution, A Reader, Published by Hillsdale College

Classics that Inspired the Constitution, Daily Reading 2013, Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison, The Original Documents 4. The Classics that Inspired the Constitution, Letter to Edward Everett by James Madison

In this 1830 response to Massachusetts statesman Edward Everett, Madison maintains that a state does not possess the authority to strike down as unconstitutional an act of the federal government. The contrary doctrine, known as nullification, would take on later significance.

August 28, 1830

I have duly received your letter in which you refer to the “nullifying doctrine,” advocated as a constitutional right by some of our distinguished fellow citizens; and to the proceedings of the Virginia Legislature in 98 and 99, as appealed to in behalf of that doctrine; and you express a wish for my ideas on those subjects. Read more

April 24, 2013/0 Comments/by Janine Turner