The Night James Madison Froze for Your Religious Freedom...
"In January 1789, snow covered the ground around a plain wooden church at the foot of the Blue Ridge. Inside, a German-speaking Lutheran congregation finished its worship service. Two fiddlers played afterward, because this congregation loved music. Then the whole crowd went outside to hear two young Virginians argue about the new Constitution.
One was James Madison, age thirty-seven. The other was James Monroe, age thirty. Both would later become President. That winter they were rivals for a seat in the first United States Congress, and each wanted the votes of the families standing in the snow.
Madison was an unlikely figure for the rough-and-tumble of Virginia politics. He was small and slightly built, and by his own later account was no commanding public speaker. Monroe, seven years younger, had already been wounded fighting in the Revolution. Yet here they were, campaigning against each other in the Virginia countryside in the middle of winter.
Madison told the story forty years later to his young friend Nicholas Trist. He called the congregation “a nest of Dutchmen” whose votes might tip the election. He remembered keeping the audience outdoors in the snow while the candidates discussed “constitutional subjects.” Riding home afterward, Madison froze his nose. As an old man, he would point to the scar on its left side and call it a battle wound."
Read the full essay at:
https://www.malone.news/p/the-night-james-madison-froze-for

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