James Madison: Raising an Army: Balancing the Power of the States and the Federal Government

Lesson Three of the Curriculum Unit: James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President

Guiding Questions

• What events during Madison's presidency raised constitutional questions?
• What were the constitutional issues?
• Where did Madison stand?

Learning Objectives

• Summarize at least one event during Madison's presidency that raised constitutional questions.
• Explain the constitutional questions raised by the event.
• Discuss Madison's opinions on the constitutional questions.

1. What Was the Problem?

Not all Americans, however, had wrapped themselves in the flag of patriotism. New England states seldom met their quotas of militiamen, and many New England merchants and farmers traded freely with the enemy. After the British offensive included northern ports, some New England Federalists talked about seceding from the Union. In an attempt to block secessionist sentiment, moderate Federalists called a convention in Hartford, Connecticut, to propose a series of constitutional amendments protecting sectional rights. The convention leaders brought their proposals to Washington just as news broke of New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent. To most of the nation, the participants of the Hartford Convention looked like traitors, or at least unpatriotic troublemakers. Their antiwar criticism and regional concerns helped to doom the weakened Federalist Party as a national entity on the political scene.

2. What Does the Constitution Say?

• The Preamble
• Article 1, Section 7 (especially #1)
• Article 1, Section 8 (especially #1, 11-16)
• Article 1, Section 10 (especially #3)
• Article 2, Section 2 (especially #1)
• Tenth Amendment

• Does the Constitution say anything specific that would relate to the raising of an army?
• What is meant by the phrase "provide for the common defense," which is included in The Preamble?
• How does the power to raise revenue (Article 1, Section 7, #1) relate to the power to raise an army?
• Article 1, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war and raise an army. Does it explain how an army would be raised?
• What was meant by a militia? (A military unit comparable to a modern-day reserve that was raised and trained by a state.)
• What part are the states supposed to play?
• In what way does Article 1, Section 10 (especially #3) limit the power of the states?
• In what way did the Tenth Amendment assign power to the states?
• Article 2, Section 2 states that the president is the commander-in-chief. Does it give the president the power to raise the army he will command?

3. A Brief Look at the Documentary Record

• Read the brief declaration and the chart in Quotas of Militia from the Several States. How is the army being raised?
• Share the following excerpts from the Refusal of Massachusetts to Furnish Its Quota, written by the governor, Caleb Strong:

  The people of this State appear to be under no apprehension of an invasion… [T]hey expressed no desire that any part of the militia should be called out for their defense, and, in some cases, we were assured such a measure would be disagreeable to them…
  
  You observe, in your last letter, that the danger of invasion… increases… It can hardly be supposed that, if this State had been in great danger of invasion, the troops would have been called from hence to carry on offensive operations in a distant Province…
  
  I though it expedient to call the Council together… I requested their advice… The Council advised, "that they are unable, from a view of the constitution of the United States… to perceive that any exigency [any urgency] exists, which can render it advisable to comply…
  
  The Governor and Council have authority to require the opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court,… upon the following questions:
  
  1st Whether the commanders in chief of the militia of the several States have a right to determine whether any of the exigencies contemplated by the onstitution of the United States exist…
  2nd Whether…the militia…can be be lawfully commanded by any officer but of the militia, except by the President of the United States?
  
  (The council) advised me to call into service of the United States three companies of the detached militia… I have this day issued an order for calling out three companies of the detached militia… Two of the companies will be stationed at Eastport, and one company at Robinston, [both under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts] until the President shall otherwise direct.

  What objections on constitutional grounds did the governor raise? What practical objections did he raise? Did the governor have a strong constitutional argument? (NOTE: If desired, students can read the entire text of the Refusal of Massachusetts to Furnish Its Quota.)
• In the Refusal of Connecticut to Furnish Its Quota, Page 1, the governor of Connecticut asserted that, "The Constitution of the United States has ordained that Congress may provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions." He refused to furnish his state's quota because he claimed none of the specified conditions existed. He also objected to the statement that Connecticut's men would be placed "under the immediate command of an officer or officers of the army of the United States." Did the governor have a valid constitutional argument? (NOTE: If desired, students can read the entire text of the Refusal of Connecticut to Furnish Its Quota, Page 1, which continues with the Refusal of Connecticut to Furnish Its Quota, Page 2.)

4. What Did Madison Say?

Keep in mind the American distaste for standing armies. In the Declaration of Independence, available on the EDSITEment-reviewed website The Avalon Project, Thomas Jefferson complained that the British king "kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures." "Legislatures" in this case refers to the various colonial legislatures.

Download, copy and distribute the worksheet "Madison on Rights of the States vs. Rights of the Federal Government," (see Preparing to Teach This Curriculum Unit for download instructions), which includes excerpts reflecting Madison's general thinking on this issue, as well as on the specific issue of raising an army. The goal of the class is to create a statement the students consider to be a cohesive summary of Madison's opinion. (NOTE: Help your students as they work as a group to formulate a correct, clearly worded generalization. This is a good opportunity for them to discover or rediscover the importance of choosing just the right words to express their ideas.) Did Madison's position seem to indicate that he would agree with the actions of the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut in refusing to fill their quotas? With regard to the impending War of 1812, if a larger army was necessary, why did President Madison have to ask Congress? See the Assessment, below, for a follow-up to this discussion.

5. A Brief Postscript: What Happened?

Share the following excerpts from The United States Army, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library, which offers an analysis of the raising of an army for The War of 1812 and the aftermath of the resulting controversy:

Congress did not lack the will to prepare for war…

In addition to increasing the Regular Army, Congress had authorized the President to accept volunteer forces and to call upon the states for militia. The difficulty was not planning for an army, but raising one…

A significant weakness in the American position was the disunity of the country. In the New England states public opinion ranged from mere apathy to actively expressed opposition to the war. A good many Massachusetts and Connecticut ship owners fitted out privateers-privately owned and armed vessels that were commissioned to take enemy ships-but New England contributed little else to the prosecution of the war, and continued to sell grain and provisions to the British…

The militia, occasionally competent, was never dependable, and in the nationalistic period that followed the war when the exploits of the Regulars were justly celebrated, an ardent young Secretary of War, John Calhoun, would be able to convince Congress and the nation that the first line of defense should be a standing army…

Assessment

• Why were the Founders so concerned about keeping a standing army?
• What does the Constitution say about how an army should be raised?
• Is a standing army prohibited by the Constitution?
• In what ways did the federal government have problems getting states to furnish their quotas of troops?
• What constitutional issues did the governors of the refusing states raise?
• Were these concerns valid?
• What was Madison's position on a standing army? On the rights of states to refuse to comply with an action of the central government?
• (NOTE: Additional discussion questions may be found in the text for the lesson.)

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Selected EDSITEment Websites

• American Memory
  [http://memory.loc.gov/]
• On the Bill for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia of the United States
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field
  (DOCID+@lit(ed00430))]
• Quotas of Militia from the Several States
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=016/
  llsp016.db&recNum=324]
• Reduction of Standing Army 1800
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/
  hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ed00436))]
• Refusal of Connecticut to Furnish Its Quota, Page 1
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=016/
  llsp016.db&recNum=330]
• Refusal of Connecticut to Furnish Its Quota, Page 2
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=016/
  llsp016.db&recNum=331]
• Refusal of Massachusetts to Furnish Its Quota
  [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=016/
  llsp016.db&recNum=328]
• The American President
  [http://www.americanpresident.org/]
• James Madison
  [http://www.americanpresident.org/history/jamesmadison/]
• Madison's Presidency: Domestic Affairs
  [http://www.americanpresident.org/history/jamesmadison/biography/
  DomesticAffairs.common.shtml]
• Madison's Presidency: Foreign Affairs
  [http://www.americanpresident.org/history/jamesmadison/biography/
  ForeignAffairs.common.shtml]
• The James Madison Center
  [http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/]
• James Madison Reflects on the Division of Power
  [http://www.jmu.edu/madison/gpos225-madison/zdivispower.htm]
• U.S. History Curriculum: Chapter IV
  [http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/teacher/
  curriculum/chap4.htm]
• The War of 1812
  [http://www.jmu.edu/madison/gpos225-madison2/war1812.htm]
• The Avalon Project
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm]
• Declaration of Independence
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm]
• First Inaugural Address Of James Madison
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug
  /madison1.htm]
• United States Constitution
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/usconst.htm]
• Article 1, Section 7
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art1.htm - 1sec7]
• Article 1, Section 8
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art1.htm - 1sec8]
• Article 1, Section 9
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art1.htm - 1sec9]
• Article 1, Section 10
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art1.htm - 1sec10]
• Article 2, Section 2
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art2.htm - 2sec2]
• Article 6, Section 2
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art6.htm]
• Tenth Amendment
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rights1.htm - 10]
• Internet Public Library
  [http://www.ipl.org]
• The United States Army
  [http://www.army.mil/]
• The War of 1812
  [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/amh/amh-06.htm]