James Madison PORTRAYED BY JOHN ZAK
In May 1787, delegates from each state came together at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Initially they intended to work out issues under the Articles of Confederation. Representative James Madison, at only 36 years of age, put forward his ideas for an effective government system in his “Virginia Plan”. In it he detailed a government with three branches: legislative, executive and judicial, each with checks and balances over the others so no branch had greater power over the other. Out of this plan and the discussions that ensued came The Constitution of the United States. Madison stated the Constitution was not “the off-spring of a single brain,” but instead, “the work of many heads and many hangs.”
With his charming wife Dolley by his side, James Madison would serve 2 terms as the 4th President of the United States.
Meet the Father of the Constitution and explore the process by which the enduring government of “We the People…” began. A conversation with James Madison is an opportunity like no other to understand how our Nation’s founding principles took shape.
John Zak: Bio Actor/Historian, Interpreter, Reenactor, Impersonator