Dear Jon and List Members:
(Editorial note: I did not send my original note directly to the list; it
was forwarded by a recipient. But I appreciate the chance to discuss these
issues).
In response to Jon Kukla's statement, I meant exactly what I said. Patrick
Henry did try to prevent Madison's election to the First Congress because
he (Henry) believed that any amendments Madison proposed -- including
amendments protecting individual rights -- would be worse than
useless. Henry feared that once they were approved, the momentum for more
radical amendments to reverse the transfer of power to the new federal
government would dissipate. Henry also wanted to avenge wounded feelings
of honor after having lost to Madison at the Virginia ratifying convention.
Even after the Bill of Rights was finally approved by Congress and was
before the states, Henry spoke disparagingly of them and thought they would
not provide any protection against the new government.
Jon is certainly correct that the pressure that Anti-Federalist brought to
bear helped convince Madison and other Federalists to support a bill of
rights. Anti-Federalists deserve credit for this, and some scholars have
eloquently identified their contribution in this regard.
But I argue in the book that Madison eventually came to genuinely support
adding such amendments to the Constitution if for no other reason than they
were demanded by the people. He also had come to the conclusion that such
amendments could be beneficial.
Much of my book is devoted to Patrick Henry, and he has a rough time of
it. I am critical of his continued efforts to prevent the approval of the
Bill of Rights by Congress and his behind-the-scenes effort to prevent
ratification in Virginia.
One other thing...Paul Finkelman is being modest when offering the citation
for his article in the Supreme Court Review. It is an excellent discussion
of the issues, and I cite it with admiration in my book.
I look forward to reading more comments about this.
Richard Labunski
At 11:56 AM 5/10/2006, you wrote:
>Re the statement (quoted from the post below) that "Henry did everything
>he could to keep Madison out of the First Congress so he could not propose
>the Bill of Rights." I trust the book is a bit more clearly written.
> Far from attempting to keep Madison out of congress "SO he could not
>propose the Bill of Rights," (emphasis added) Henry and his
>anti-Federalist allies, first, denied Madison a seat in the Senate in
>favor of their own Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson (senators were
>elected by the state legislatures). Then campaigned hard against Madison
>for the House of Representatives until Madison had to promise to push
>for a bill of rights in order to win election to the house.
> Presumably the implication to the effect that Henry and his allies
>sought to keep Madison out of Congress _in order to prevent him from
>proposing a bill of rights_ is a slip of the pen in the blurb not the
>book.
>
>
>Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
>Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
>1250 Red Hill Road
>Brookneal, Virginia 24528
>www.redhill.org
>
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: Richard Labunski [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 9:30
> > Subject: James Madison and the Bill of Rights
> >
> >
> > Dear Colleague:
> >
> > I am a professor at the University of Kentucky and the author of the new
> > book, "James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights." It will
> > be published in early June by Oxford University Press in its "Pivotal
> > Moments in American History" series. (The series co-editors are James
> > McPherson and David Hackett Fischer).
> >
> > The book tells the incredible story of how the exceedingly shy Madison
> > overcame one obstacle after another to help give the nation the
> > Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Few people, including those
> > otherwise interested in the founding period, know how close we came to
> > not having the Bill of Rights then or perhaps ever.
> >
> > The book relies heavily on primary sources and will appeal to general
> > audiences as well as historians and other scholars. It has 35
> > illustrations including letters, photos, portraits, legislative
> > documents, and newspaper commentaries related to the founding and
> > ratification era.
> >
> > You can learn more about the book, read an excerpt, advance praise and
> > reviews, and see some of the illustrations here:
> > <www.richardlabunski.com <http://www.richardlabunski.com/> >.
> >
> > There is much in the book about Virginia political history, including
> > discussion of the General Assembly, the Virginia ratifying convention,
> > and the role that the state's prominent Anti-Federalists played in the
> > ratification debate. The political battle between Madison and the
> > charismatic Patrick Henry is especially interesting and compelling.
> > Henry did everything he could to keep Madison out of the First Congress
> > so he could not propose the Bill of Rights.
> >
> > Amazon is currently offering a pre-publication discount of 37 percent.
> > You can order it through the Amazon link at my Web site.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > Richard Labunski
> >
> > (Would you also please forward this e-mail to someone who may be
> > interested in the book? Thanks.)
> >
> >
> > Richard Labunski
> > School of Journalism and Telecommunications
> > University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0042
> > Office: (859) 257-5719
> > Home fax: (859) 873-3557
> > Author of: James Madison and the Struggle
> > for the Bill of Rights http://richardlabunski.com
> > <http://richardlabunski.com/>
> > Internship Web site http://jatinternships.uky.edu
> > <http://jatinternships.uky.edu/>
> >
> > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
> >
> >
>
>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
Richard Labunski
School of Journalism and Telecommunications
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0042
Office: (859) 257-5719
Home fax: (859) 873-3557
Author of: James Madison and the Struggle
for the Bill of Rights http://richardlabunski.com
Internship Web site http://jatinternships.uky.edu
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
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