Calderwood Writing Course: U.S. History
The Bill of Rights

The Value of a Bill of Rights

James Madison wrote a letter to his friend and confidant Thomas Jefferson on October 17, 1788. In it, he explained two primary reasons why he now felt a bill of rights was a necessary addition to the Constitution.

1. The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with the national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion. 
2. The danger of oppression lies in the interested majorities of the people rather than in usurped acts of the Government, yet there may be occasions on which the evil may spring from the latter sources; and on such, a bill of rights will be a good ground for an appeal to the sense of the community.

A bill of rights would help protect minorities from being oppressed by majorities—something Madison felt was more dangerous in a democracy than the government becoming tyrannical. At the same time, if the government did ever infringe the rights of its citizens, a bill of rights would help protect all citizens.

In other words, the values expressed in a bill of rights would gradually become the essential values of the American community, stronger than any passing trend that might sway the people.

 

It should also be noted that, while he did not mention it in his letter to Jefferson, taking control of compiling a bill of rights was a savvy political maneuver for Madison. By putting the Federalists in charge of the process and focusing so much on the importance of individual rights, Madison prevented the Anti-Federalists from inserting changes into the Constitution that might weaken the strong national government he wanted to create. While he initially met resistance from his fellow Federalists, his compromise eventually won support from both sides.

Painting of James Madison in blue coat

James Madison, 1811

Take Notes

Why did James Madison, a Federalist, propose a bill of rights as an enumeration of individual rights and not a list of measures that limited the powers of the federal government?

Calderwood Writing Course: U.S. History

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