James Madison, the 4th person in history to serve in the position of President in the US, was from Virginia. Finding out more about his upbringing and what factors may have contributed to his accomplishments is part of understanding this celebrity figure.
Born at the Belle Grove Plantation in King George County, James Madison grew up among a large family on a large property. King George county is located in the community of Port Conway, Virginia. He moved several times during his formative years, to other places in Virginia.
Read below to find out more about the different places James Madison spent time growing up.
Family
James Madison’s parents were James Madison Sr. and Eleanor Rose Conway. His father was a planter and a politician, and he served in the military. Jame Madison Sr. earned the position of Colonel.
James Madison Sr. inherited Mount Pleasant, a large 5,000-acre tobacco plantation, from his father. James Madison Jr. would later inherit it as an adult.
Together the couple had 12 children, 6 of whom survived till adulthood. Another of the family’s children, William Taylor Madison, served in the military as a Lieutenant General.
Childhood Homes
The main locations James Madison grew up at include Belle Grove, and Mount Pleasant, otherwise known as Montpelier.
Belle Grove was a plantation in Port Conway, VA belonging to his mother’s stepfather, a fellow tobacco planter and merchant. His mother, Eleanor Rose Conway, was also born at Belle Grove in 1731.
James Madison Sr. was raised at Mount Pleasant, this family’s plantation in Orange County, VA. James Madison Jr. had his family’s house built only miles away on the property. They dubbed their home Montpelier.
Montpelier is an official National Historic Landmark. The video below shows footage of Montpelier.
Childhood Milestones
Madison spent his early childhood at Mount Pleasant until the family moved to Montpelier in the early 1760s. Some of the large family education was led at home with Eleanor’s help.
From ages 11-16, Madison studied with Donald Robertson, a popular tutor among wealthy families at the time. At 16, he came back to Montpelier and studied with Reverend Thomas Martin.
Education
Many students in Virginia would traditionally attend the city college in Williamsburg, but Madison chose not to attend these schools lest the city air potentially affect his poor health. He studied extensively and with much dedication at the College of New Jersey. (Now known as Princeton.)
He studied many subjects from mathematics to theology, and Latin other languages throughout the course of his academic career. Only 4 years before working on the Constitution during the American Revolution, he was studying political philosophy at school.
Career
James Madison was a creator of the group known as the American Colonization Society and reportedly a supporter of its agenda. To further its endeavors, the ACS founded the colony of Liberia, which is now a country, in Africa. He was a proponent of other important historical legislation like the Three-Fifths Compromise.
Also known as the “The Father of the US Constitution,” for his work on the famous titular document. Its creation was an instrumental part of the US getting to where it is today.
This president was a prominent part of many other famous events. Involved with such heavy matters as the creation of the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers, his decisions and philosophy mattered to our society. He was a key part of the co-founding of the Democratic-Republican Party.
Fortunately, privilege allowed James Madison to have access to this education and became an avid scholar. The video below features his impressive library.
Many places commemorate James Madison’s legacy. These towns and communities have named buildings, streets and more in dedication to this famous figure from Virginia.