Retirement
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Madison
stepped down from the Presidency in 1817 and was succeeded by
James Monroe. There was no opposition party; Monroe was
easily elected and reelected. John Quincy Adams, son of
the Federalist John Adams, was Monroe's choice for Secretary of
State and his successor as President.
Madison
was active in retirement, serving as Rector of the University of
Virginia (once more succeeding Jefferson), and as a delegate to
the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830. He
was President of the American Colonization Society and he worked
long on hours on his Notes on the Constitutional Convention
which were to be published after his death. The Notes
immediately became and still remain our primary source of
information on the debates at the Convention.
Despite
Madison's apparent frailty, by 1831 he had outlived the other
Titans. His comment was:
"It
is quite certain that since the death of Col. Few, I have been
the only living signer of the Constitution of the U.
States. Of the members who were present and who did not
sign, and of those who were present part of the time, but had
left the Convention, it is equally certain that not one has
remained since the death of Mr. Lansing . . . I
happen, also, to be the sole survivor of those who were
members of the Revolutionary Congress prior to the close of
the war; as I had been, for some years, of the members of the
Convention in 1776, which formed the first Constitution for
Virginia. Having outlived so many of my contemporaries,
I ought not to forget that I may be thought to have outlived
my self."
Letter
to Jared Sparks, June 1, 1831 (Madison, 1865, IV, pages
181-182)
He
found humor in his age and infirmity. Earlier that same
year he wrote to correspondent that a writer of his years
"will find his arguments, whatever they be, answered with
an 'I wonder how old he is?'" He wrote to Monroe:
"In
explanation of my microscopic writing, I must remark that the
older I grow the more my stiffening fingers make smaller
letters, as my feet take shorter steps; the progress in both
cases being, at the same time, more fatiguing as well as more
slow."
April
21, 1831 (Madison, 1865, IV, page 179)
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| Within
a few months Monroe also was dead. Madison,
however, continued to write his letters and edit his
notes, dictating to others as his fingers finally gave
out. By virtue of his erudition, his experience,
his notes, and his longevity he was indisputably the
leading expert on the great events and personages of his
era: many sought his opinions, his recollections and his
approbation. Despite his advanced age, his mind
remained active and he enjoyed his role as eldest
statesman, commenting on the interpretation of the
Constitution and its application to events of the past
and present.
Right:
Madison as he appeared at 74. Bust from life mask taken
by Henry Browere in 1825. Photo in cooperation with
Montpelier, National Trust for Historic Preservation. |
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the most troubling aspect of his retirement was his felt
need to defend the unity of the United States against
the threat posed by Nullification. John Calhoun of
South Carolina had developed the theory of Nullification
in response to high tariffs on imports: these tariffs
were thought to be unfair to the South. Calhoun
argued that an individual state had the right of
nullification or veto of Federal law within its own
boundaries and the right of secession. Madison
found his own words from the Virginia Resolutions quoted
against him, and despite his reluctance he was forced
into the debate. The Nullification crisis ended
when President Andrew Jackson made clear his intention
to preserve the Union with force, if necessary, and when
a compromise on the tariffs was adopted.
At
the same time, Madison's wealth, the wealth that had
made possible his lifetime of scholarship and public
service, was eroding. Dolley's son by her first
marriage was responsible for some of the financial
difficulties: Madison spent a great deal to pay his
step-son's debts. The protective tariffs, whose
Constitutionality he upheld, may also have
contributed. However, a more fundamental cause was
that the Virginia Piedmont region was not as fertile as
the new lands west of the Appalachian and could not
compete. The value of Madison's land and its
produce plummeted. As Madison wrote in 1832:
"How
could it otherwise happen than that a superabundant
offer of more fertile land . . . in one
quarter should depress the value of the less fertile
land in another quarter? How could it happen
otherwise than that thousands would sell their less
productive lands . . . and transfer their
labour to a region easily accessible, and whence its
trebled fruits would be almost as cheaply transported
to the common market as from the region
abandoned? How . . . could it fail to
happen that these causes should have the impoverishing
effect on the old [lands] which have been experienced
from them?"
(Madison,
1865, IV, page 261)
A
cause Madison had championed his entire career, the free
transit of the Mississippi, ultimately destroyed his
financial security.
James
Madison was eighty-five years old at the time of his
death on June 28, 1836. He refused extraordinary
efforts to attempt to extend his life another six days,
and thus declined to join the company of Adams,
Jefferson and Monroe who all had died on the fourth of
July. Paul Jennings paints a poignant picture:
"That
morning Sukey brought him his breakfast, as usual.
He could not swallow. His niece, Mrs. Willis, said,
"What is the matter, Uncle Jeames?"
"Nothing more than a change of mind, my
dear." His head instantly dropped, and he
ceased breathing as quietly as the snuff of a candle
goes out."
Jefferson
had gone to his death loyal to his country,
Virginia. Madison's vision was grander: Madison
died a citizen of the United States. When he wrote
his famous "Advice to My Country," to be
opened after his death, his country was the United
States:
"The
advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my
convictions is, THAT THE UNION OF THE STATES BE
CHERISHED AND PERPETUATED." (Madison,
1865, IV, following page 436)
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