This collection primarily contains political correspondence between James Madison and Alexander James Dallas, 1815-1816.

James Madison Jr. (March 5, 1751-June 28, 1836), the fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, Virginia, the son of tobacco planter and enslaver James Madison Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison. Madison served as a member of the Executive Council of the State of Virginia from 1777 to 1779. He was a delegate to Congress from 1780 to 1783 and 1786 to 1787 and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 to 1797. Madison helped to organize the Constitutional Convention and was a framer of the United States Constitution, co-authoring the Federalist Papers in 1787 and 1788, and drafting the Bill of Rights in 1789. He served as secretary of state from 1801 to 1809 in the administration of President Thomas Jefferson. Alexander James Dallas (June 21, 1759-January 16, 1817) was born on Jamaica and raised in Edinburgh and London. He emigrated to the United States in June 1783, settling in Philadelphia, where he began practicing law in 1785. Dallas was a U.S. Supreme Court reporter and was Secretary of the Commonwealth from 1791 to 1801. In 1801, he was named U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a position he held until 1814. Under President James Madison, Dallas served as Secretary of the Treasury from October 1814 to October 1816, Acting Secretary of War from March to August 1815, and Acting Secretary of State in 1815. He died in Philadelphia at age 57.

4.68 Linear Feet (4 flat boxes)

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