Lance Banning. The
Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic.
Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1995. Pp. x, 543. $35.00
In The Sacred Fire of Liberty, Lance Banning presents the unassuming yet
capable James Madison as a uniting figure presiding over the Congressional
delegation wrought in debate over ratification of a proposed Constitution
penned for the United States and continues with an analysis of Madison’s
subsequent political career after his landmark contribution. The author primarily
argues that Madison's position for establishing a sense of national security
rested upon the laurels of the Revolution yet hinged between success and
failure due to the weakened nature of the Articles of Confederation following
the rise of discord during the era of the Early Republic. Banning’s main point
appears to attempt to shed light on the politician’s often misunderstood
rationale subsisting of his view on the proper role of government and how the essence
of liberty intertwines.
The
Sacred Fire of Liberty masterfully chronicles Madison’s efforts and vocational
progression, however, most impressively, Banning articulately surveys Madison’s
belief in a compound form of republican government which he expected to preserve
individual liberties while enabling a strong federal system that would function
within its appropriate realm. Banning ought to have delved deeper into the
reasons for Madison’s assumptions toward this end, however assurances issuing
from his proposed idea of a tripartite limitation of national power may give
recourse for his assumptive stance on how future statesmen would function. Yet
in the same vein, Cathy Matson notes how Madison "clung to classical
republican beliefs in the need for a virtuous citizenry and reputable political
leadership...[consecrated on the] ideal of self-government grounded on
republican dignity and virtue,"[1]
forces which may indeed explain Madison’s frequently misinterpreted political
vantage point in light of clamoring for a more distinctive form of democratic
republicanism.
Appreciatively, Robert A. Becker provides insight
into a slight flaw of Banning's throughout his publication, that being
repetitiveness and the potential glorification of Madison in lieu of his
reputation's tarnishing at the hands of modern historiography. Yet the
redeeming virtue of Sacred Fire is
Banning’s insistence on respectfully illuminating the error within a majority
of scholarly reviews of the man. Banning suggests that "numerous
interpretative difficulties" over Madison's concern of potential
authoritative overreach while yet desiring an effective centralized government "can
produce an image bearing little resemblance to Madison himself."[2]
Complimentary to the author’s thesis, Becker's persuasive observation of
Banning's intention to project Madison as a "revolutionary republican and
a kind of states' rights nationalist [instead of the politician who has been]
persistently misread in order to force Madison into the mold of an anti-republican
nationalist"[3] is
thoroughly agreeable.
Additionally, as suggested by Vincent McGuire,
Banning aims to reveal that, however contradictory, Madison's "overriding concern
was maintaining the Spirit of Revolution"[4]
in its purest form. Similarly, with Matson’s aforementioned discernment of
Madison’s ethical stance, Banning utilizes Madison's "own words woven
unobtrusively into the narrative"[5]
to feature how Madison poses not as a fickle public servant but rather one of
principled character and consistency in his approach to sociopolitical theory
and revivalist change.
Through approaching the realm of America’s
hallowed pantheon to dissect one of its members in an honest and justifiable manner,
Banning provides an insightful and fair analysis of the humble man bearing the weighty
mantle as the Father of the Constitution. Though refraining from considering
himself a nationalist, Banning skillfully indicates through his work how Madison
emerged from a defender of state rights’ to jointly favoring federal policy,
namely through the institution of implied Congressional powers due to the
necessity of reform he recognized the budding nation required if the idealized vision
for the “grand American experiment” could be sustained.
Bibliography:
Lance Banning, A Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and
the Founding of the Federal Republic (1995).
Scholarly Reviews Consulted:
Becker, Robert A. The American
Historical Review 102, no. 5 (1997): 1562-563.
Matson, Cathy.
The Journal of Southern History 63, no. 1 (1997): 151-53.
McGuire, Vincent. The American
Political Science Review 90, no. 4 (1996): 884.
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