James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Liberty & Learning - Index

t i m e l i n e :
James Madison, the Man
1723 Ambrose Madison, the grandfather of the future president, and his brother-
in-law, Thomas Chew, are deeded 4,675 acres of Piedmont land—the site
of the construction of the Montpelier estate.
1732 Ambrose Madison dies, allegedly from poisoning by slaves.
1735 Orange County, Virginia, is created from the western part of Spotsylvania
County.
1749 James Madison Sr. marries Nelly Conway.
1751 James Madison Jr. is born on March 16 at Port Conway, Virginia.
1753 Donald Robertson arrives in Virginia.
1758 Donald Robertson opens his school in King and Queen County, Virginia.
1762 Madison, known as Jemmy, begins attending classes at Donald Robert-
son’s school.
1767 Madison returns to Orange County to study under the Reverend
Thomas Martin.
1769 Madison begins classes at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton Univer-
sity) and finishes its four-year program in two years.
1771 Madison graduates from the College of New Jersey.
1772 Madison returns to Montpelier after completing his college studies.
1774 Madison is elected to the Orange County Committee of Safety.
1773 Boston Tea Party
1776 Madison serves on the committee with George Mason to draft the Virginia
Declaration of Rights.
1777 The Right Reverend James Madison, Madison’s cousin, becomes president
of the College of William and Mary.
1780 Madison arrives in Philadelphia as a delegate to the Confederation Congress.
1783 Donald Robertson dies.
1785 Madison, while a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, blocks all
efforts to establish state support for churches, culminating in ratification of
the Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom.
1787 Madison’s draft of the Virginia Plan and his revolutionary three-branch
federal system becomes the basis of the American Constitution.
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