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James Madison’s Veto Message on Act Incorporating the Alexandria Protestant Episcopal Church

James Madison’s Veto Message on Act Incorporating the Alexandria Protestant Episcopal Church

James Madison February 21, 1811 Congress passed legislation providing special legal protections to the Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Madison vetoed the bill as a violation of the First Amendments “establishment” clause. Having examined and considered the Bill, entitled “An Act incorporating the protestant Episcopal Church in the Town of Alexandria in the District of Columbia,” I now return the Bill to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with the following objections. Because the Bill exceeds the rightful…

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Letter from James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, August 20, 1785

Letter from James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, August 20, 1785

James Madison August 20, 1785 This is the cover letter that Madison wrote when he sent Thomas Jefferson, his “Memorial and Remonstrance,” which would become one of the most important documents in the history of American religious freedom. Madison drew up the treatise to turn the public. Orange Aug. 20th. 1785. Dear Sir, –Yours of the 18th of March never reached me till the 4th inst. It came by post from N. York, which it did not leave till the…

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Letter from James Madison to James Monroe, May 29, 1785

Letter from James Madison to James Monroe, May 29, 1785

James Madison May 29, 1785 In the third paragraph, Madison expresses his relief that Congress lost interest in a plan to set aside public lands for religious purposes, a step that was “smelling so strongly of an antiquated Bigotry. Then he catches up Monroe on the fight in Virginia Orange May 29 1785. Dear Sir, –Your favor of May–came to hand a few days ago. It is fortunate that the variant ideas have been so easily accomodated touching the mode…

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