Madison was overshadowed by Jefferson all his life. Yet it was Madison, not Jefferson or some other better-known patriot, who wrote most of our nation’s Constitution, as well as many of its first 10 amendments known as the Bill of Rights.
Whereas Jefferson was outgoing and daring and quite a self-promoter, Madison, an aloof intellectual, was so private a person that he burned some of his own papers to keep historians from prying into them.
Madison also happened to be the shortest U.S. president, standing 163 centimeters (5 feet, four inches) tall.
Madison created a stunningly beautiful, peach-colored Georgian mansion with lush green grounds, overlooking Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Madison’s Montpelier has the look, and size, of a grand college building. (Aigrette, Flickr Creative Commons)
Outside is a stately structure that looks like an ancient Greek temple. It has become Montpelier’s symbol. It’s actually a fancy cover for a brick-lined ice house.
Archaeologists have had fun exploring there and around the ruins of Madison’s blacksmith shop and slave cabins on the grounds.
Madison’s estate passed through several hands over the years. For a long time, it was owned by a member of the wealthy DuPont family of Delaware.
It is now owned by the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has restored Madison’s Montpelier and led the research into its colorful past.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25