Joe's Daily U.S. History Lesson -- March 16

MARCH 16 – Happy birthday James Madison, Father of the Constitution. The oldest of twelve children, James Madison was born at his grandfather’s house in Orange County, VA on March 16 1751. Prone to sickness, Madison had to be home schooled at his father’s house in Montpelier before he attended the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton. As the American Revolution drew near, Madison tried joining the militia but was too weak to fight. He realized he should not quit his day job as a writer and stuck to that. He worked with George mason to draft the Virginia Constitution, and in 1777 was appointed Governor’s Council. Throughout the Revolution, Madison was the primary correspondent with the French. In 1780 he served as one of Virginia’s delegates to Continental Congress. In 1783 he worked on the U.S. Constitution.

As a Federalist, he believed in a strong central government split into three parts: the executive, legislative and judicial branches. He believed in checks and balances. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to see today’s politics! He worked with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to write the Federalist papers, which was basically an infomercial for acceptance of the U.S. Constitution. In 1789, Madison won a seat in the House of Representatives and pushed tirelessly for the adoption of the Bill of Rights.

In 1794, Aaron Burr introduced Madison to the widowed Dolley Payne Todd. James and Dolley were soon married. She had a son from her deceased husband, and Madison raised him as if it were his own. Madison retired from politics to spend some time with his new family, but got back into it as his old friend President Thomas Jefferson nominated him Secretary of State in 1801. He helped Jefferson with the Louisiana Purchase as well as organizing the Lewis and Clark expedition. Meanwhile, overseas a bitter war was going on between France and Britain and American ships were caught in the middle of it. Madison oversaw the Embargo Act of 1807, which prevented America from trading with either side. Though this caused an economic depression in the US, he was soundly elected president in 1808. Madison called on Congress to declare war against Great Britain, and thus began the War of 1812.

Right before the British sacked and burned down the White House, Dolly was able to secure a portrait of George Washington. The British not only ate Madison’s dinner that night, they also drank his wine. Slap! The Americans were victorious against the British military once again, and a new sense of national pride came over America as a result. After 1829 he finally retired from politics for good at Monteplier, where he passed away in 1836. Happy birthday James!

1968 – My Lai Massacre. On the morning of march 16, the Charlie Companyt of the 11th Infantry led by Lt. William Calley launched a brutal assault on the small town of Son Mai in northern South Korea. It was right after the Tet Offensive and Charlie was fire up. Treating the village citizens as Cong or Cong sympathizers, between 200 and 500 unarmed civilians were slaughtered. 50 of them were 3 years old or younger, 69 between the ages of 4 and 7, and 27 over the age of 70. Women were gangraped and mutilated with a big C carved into their chests. Yes, there of course was a cover-up. But when the story broke out in 1970, international reaction was horrific. 14 officers were charged of war crimes, but only Charlie’s leader Lt. Calley was convicted and instead of life imprisonment he got 10 years and was out on house arrest after 4 years.

1992, During a Metallica show at Orlando Arena fans grabbed an usher and hung him by his ankles off the balcony. The band was charged $38,000 for repairs and cleaning after the audience trashed the building. All the seats had to be steam cleaned. That was fine by the arena officials, who stated it was the biggest grossing one night concert in the arena’s history, and Metallica was gratefully welcomed back.