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James Madison was the fourth president of the U.S., but he was also one of the Founding Fathers and writers of the Constitution; he is considered the "Father of the Constitution."

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During Madison's childhood, he enjoyed reading and studying and had a lot of knowledge about government and how the future should look.  This allowed him to become apart of the Continental Congress.

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Madison had ideas of a new government long before they actually came into effect. Four years earlier, in 1785, Madison had actually written an essay talking about separation of church and state so when the need for a new government change was needed, Madison was familiar with the material.

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In May 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held to amend the current Articles of Confederation.  Instead, they ended up disregarding them and constructed a completely new document in the Constitution.  On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed after four months of constructing and revising.

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At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison proposed the plan to divide the central government into three branches. He discovered this model of government from the Perfect Governor, as he read Isaiah 33:22; "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us."

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Madison was short and his appearance at first limited his role at the convention, but his knowledge impressed everyone, and he became the most valuable of all the delegates there.

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James Madison was representing Virginia and was appointed Chief Recorder of Information. Years before the convention, Madison had contributed to the Virginia Plan, which influenced the Constitution greatly. He argued for a strong central government, as he felt it would unite the country.

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Madison advocated for the ratification by co-writing the Federalist Papers, a series of essays that were contributed by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and obviously Madison.  These articles were put in several New York Newspapers, and eventually circulated  throughout the rest of the colonies.

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Madison drafted the 19 original amendments to the Bill of Rights in 1789.  Eventually, those 19 were cut  to 12, and then eventually, it was reduced to the ten that were actually ratified.

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Madison wrote 29 out of 85 of the Federalist Papers which led New Hampshire to be the last state needed to take the Constitution as the new national set of laws.

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HISTORY TALKS: Federalist Papers - New Ideas for a New Nation

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In a series of newspaper articles Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison explained the value of the new constitution that replaced the Articles of Confederation.

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All of Madison's contributions to the Constitution allowed him to be nicknamed the "Father of the Constitution."

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HISTORY TALKS: James Madison, Father of the Constitution

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James Madison did more than any other individual to create the U. S. Constitution and America's "checks and balances" form of government. He also was a pioneer in establishing political parties and negative political campaigning in the United States.

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Madison's writings are incredible because they were relevant then and they still are today. He helped create a brand of government built to last multiple generations.

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The Constitution is the foundation for the U.S. government. Even though there have been more amendments, the base government is still in place over 200 years later.