Departments

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James Madison

  • SOURCE: Vanity Fair
    10/11/2022

    Lizzo Talks About the Flute

    The pop superstar touches on numerous subjects, including making history belong to everyone and the historical relationship of racist and sexist stereotyping of Black women's performances looking back to Josephine Baker. 

  • SOURCE: The Bulwark
    10/4/2022

    What Lizzo Can Teach the Right about History

    Commentator Mona Charen writes that Lizzo's embrace of an artifact of the founding generation should be welcomed by conservatives, who claim to stand for a history shared by all Americans without regard for identity. 

  • SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
    9/1/2022

    New Approach at Montpelier: Let All Voices Rise

    After a controversial battle over how to incorporate the descendants of people enslaved by James Madison, Montpelier is beginning to highlight artifacts—and the process of discovering them—related to the lives of enslaved people at the estate. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    5/16/2022

    Inside the Reversal of the Montpelier Board

    The board approved the appointment of 11 members nominated by the Montpelier Descendants Committee, and the resignation of the board chair who led the resistance to the appointments is pending. 

  • SOURCE: NPR
    4/20/2022

    Montpelier Descendants Call Foul on Board over Firings

    The firing of three senior staff members who support the involvement of the Montpelier Descendants Committee in the public presentation of James Madison's estate, and the slavery practiced there, has raised questions about whether Montpelier is committed to historical honesty. 

  • SOURCE: National Trust for Historic Preservation
    4/18/2022

    National Trust Condemns Actions Against Staff at Montpelier

    "The National Trust strongly condemns these actions against highly regarded and nationally recognized professionals, which will impede the effective stewardship of Montpelier and diminish important public programming at this highly significant historic site."  

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    3/25/2022

    Madison's Montpelier Board Strips Power from Enslaved Descendants' Group

    "Matt Reeves, the director of archaeology said he fears the effort to cut off the committee is aimed at undoing years of progress in conveying a more honest and complete view of history. 'They really want a narrative that’s restricted to nothing that’s negative about James Madison'.”

  • SOURCE: Cultural Heritage Partners
    3/25/2022

    Montpelier Board Abandons Promises to Descendants of Enslaved

    by Montpelier Descendants Committee

    Montpelier Descendants' Committee founder James French contends that the group "will not be deterred from our mission to contribute to uniting the country by telling a more complete and truthful history of our founding, including the full role of its indispensable ‘invisible founders'.”

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    3/13/2022

    What if the Constitution is the Source of Democratic Erosion?

    by Noah Feldman

    James Madison feared from the beginning that the design of the US Senate was contrary to the core principles of a democratic republic. A Harvard Law professor says that if the nation can survive with a fundamentally undemocratic institution at the heart of the government, partisan gerrymandering might not be too bad. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    11/12/2021

    Bouie: Let's Remember the "Guarantee" Clause

    by Jamelle Bouie

    Article IV requires the federal government to guarantee a republican form of government in every state; James Madison's writings in the Federalist and John Marshall Harlan's dissent in Plessy should be touchstones for reviving the influence of the clause.

  • 3/7/2021

    Was Madison Mistaken?

    by Carl Pletsch

    The divisive Trump years have called the wisdom of the Framers into question, but the author contends that James Madison in particular anticipated how a republic would be challenged by partisanship and designed one that could withstand that challenge (he just never claimed it would be easy).