By Christopher Eiswerth

  For fifty years, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the closest of political allies and friends. Jefferson, who according to his Federalist opponents was the "generalissimo" to Madison's "general," supplied the vision while Madison served as tactician. Frequently they dined at each other's houses, only a day's ride on horseback. Now, in the middle of a massive restoration project, Madison's plantation, Montpelier, serves as a backdrop for one of NEH's twenty-six Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops.

  The Landmarks workshops provide educators with a week of intensive study at some of America's key historic sites. Each summer about two thousand teachers and scholars converge on these sites to discuss history where it was made. "What you want to do if it's a real Landmarks workshop is use the site for educational purposes. That is, the site itself, the materials here, the house and the gardens and all the characteristics of the plantation, need to be become materials for instruction and understanding," says Will Harris, director of the "James Madison and Constitutional Citizenship" workshop at Montpelier.

  During two successive weeks in June and July, about fifty teachers work with scholars on the plantation to further understand Madison's role in the founding of the nation and the writing of the Constitution. "There is something wonderfully grounding about doing this at Madison's house. This is where so many of the founding ideas were conceived to begin with, by the one man who made so many of the proposals. This is a good place to recover that," says Harris.

  Each morning of the conference begins with a lecture from a scholar. In about two and a half hours, the scholars pack in weeks' worth of material.

  In his lecture on The Federalist Papers, written by Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in defense of the Constitution, Harris draws from Aristotle, the Bible, Jefferson's system of organizing books, and the Star Wars trilogy to explain the feud between the Federalists and anti-Federalists, showing the political divides that still exist. He uses diagrams and Madison's own writings to explain four centuries of political theory.

  Besides Harris, a political science professor from the University of Pennsylvania, the program includes professor Ralph Ketcham, whose biography of Madison is a central text of the workshop; Jeff Tulis, a professor from the University of Texas; Hunter R. Rawlings III, interim president and professor at Cornell University; the Honorable Sue Leeson, former associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court; and Kim Lane Schneppele, director of the Law and Politics Program at Princeton University. Harris says, "Our goal is basically to say to the teachers, 'you can own these ideas. And you can teach them because you know them.'"

  For the Montpelier workshop, Harris divides the program into six parts, corresponding with different times in Madison's life, ranging from his early political preparation to his role at the Constitutional Convention to his place in the new government. Madison is not only remembered for his work on the Constitution, but also as the draftsman of the Bill of Rights, secretary of state under Jefferson, and the fourth president of the United States.

  The workshop is a lesson in civics as well as history. Harris, who helped write the National Civics Standards, and the other instructors try to bridge the gap between the late eighteenth century and today by showing how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights still protect liberties. As Harris says, "We're not just trying to recover Madison's ideas, we're trying to recover Madison's way of thinking." Throughout the lecture, Harris emphasizes the civic responsibility that drove men such as Madison to leave their homes in the service of a young nation. He tells the teachers, "Without you, this Constitution fails." Karen Gallimore, a high school teacher from Sterling, Virginia, echoes the thought: "The schools today are the only connection left to foster citizenship."

  The Landmarks workshops are resident programs, which allows for more conversation among colleagues. At lunch, teachers discuss the morning's lecture and how to communicate what they've learned to their students. For some teachers, such as John Biakowski of Williamsville, New York, this process is easier, since he teaches Advanced Placement Government to eleventh and twelfth graders, but for Keith Bellinger and Billy Smith, who teach elementary students, explaining Madison's unfamiliar rhetoric is more difficult. Both say that merely being at Montpelier and walking in Madison's world will help them make the ideas more concrete. Third-grade teacher Bellinger of Warminster, Pennsylvania, says, "When you read about presidents and founding fathers, you picture where they lived, but when you are actually here, it helps make the connection. It's like there are ghosts everywhere."

  These ghosts permeate Montpelier. They are in Madison's writings, the house, the slave quarters, the ground. By exploring these physical remnants and Madison as a man, Harris hopes to "use Madison as a vehicle for constitutional understanding."

  After lunch, the teachers divide themselves into three groups headed by a master teacher. In these smaller groups, the teachers study primary documents, such as Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance on religious liberty or the Virginia Plan, Madison's original conception for the Constitution. The study of primary documents, says Larry Fishbach, a theology teacher from Roanoke, Virginia, helps make the students think critically.

  For Harris and the rest of the scholars, a focus on primary documents is essential. "I am of the opinion that you understand the way somebody thought by what they're willing to write down and leave to posterity," says Harris. "I am interested in the ideas that he wanted us to hear, because those are meant for us to use. With those ideas, we can solve some of the problems that he was trying to solve."

  In the early days of the nation, Madison struggled with his views on slavery, with politics, and with the difficulty of living together as one people. Devoted to the unity of the nation and the Constitution, Madison was also a fierce partisan. This little man with big ideas played a central role in each piece of legislation during the first Federal Congress and served as Jefferson's lieutenant during their long friendship. Harris doesn't see Madison as self contradictory. "If you believe that Constitutional vision requires a type of tough-mindedness, a certain kind of pointed political action, that's perfectly all right, because I don't think that the Constitution is some kind of purely intellectual document," he says. "It's about living together, and that means sometimes fighting together too. What the Constitution allows us to do is fight it out without destabilizing the whole enterprise."

  The afternoon sessions are devoted to the study of Montpelier. Each day there is a presentation on the grounds, such as one on the archaeological digs at Montpelier or a walk-through of the restoration of the main house.

  Montpelier was originally built in 1760 by Madison's father, James Madison Sr. After marrying Dolley, Madison Jr. added a significant portion on to the original Georgian, including a large portico. The house was a duplex; for James and Dolley to visit his parents, they had to go out their front door and into the original entrance. Once Madison became president in 1809, he put in a central front door, combined the two sections, and added two one-story wings that were used as kitchens and bedrooms for the two Mrs. Madisons. These additions were designed by Jefferson and carried out by his workers from Monticello. The two wings use a Jefferson-designed gutter system lined with scrap-metal from the U.S. Capitol.

  After Madison's death in 1836 and the sale of Montpelier in 1844, numerous tenants altered the house; they lowered the portico and applied stucco to the brick. In 1901, the duPont family acquired Montpelier and made drastic additions, nearly doubling the size of the main house. As part of her will, Marion duPont Scott bequeathed Montpelier to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore it to its original design.

  In 2003 the Montpelier Foundation began restoration of the home to its state at Madison's death. The restoration team, led by John Jeanes, removed the duPont additions, the pink stucco, and made the structure safe by bolstering the masonry. Luckily, the team found most of the original doors and glass. In order to find the original design of the house, Jeanes and his team cut squares into the plaster, which revealed the traces of previous doors and pediments. Behind the baseboards, the team found mouse nests made of Madison's letters.

  The teachers at the workshop have almost complete access to the Montpelier site. "We're recovering Montpelier. We're not just showing it off. The participants come and can see how the archaeologists discover the past; they can see the way the restoration architects both discover what was there before and try to get it back," notes Harris. "The restoration of Montpelier isn't made up. If we don't have evidence for it, we don't do it. There's an integrity to the recovery process that I would like to become a symbol or a model of the integrity of the recovery of James Madison's perspective and the Constitution's beginning."

  Historical integrity continues to the surrounding area. "One of the things we care very much to do is not to suppress in any way the presence of slaves on this plantation, to make sure it is clear there was a community here that was not part of Madison's family," says Harris. "We want to make sure we have that, but that's not going to define Madison forever. It's a part of the definition of him. And it doesn't define his accomplishments." The teachers explore the original Madison family home at Mount Pleasant and the slave cemetery. The cabin of George Gilmore, a freed slave of Montpelier born during Madison's presidency, is open to the teachers.

  Once again in the evening, the teachers have a chance to discuss the day's events. Daniel Conde from Gainesville, Florida, explains the archaeological processes at Montpelier to his colleagues. Fishbach gives a different perspective on Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance. Each teacher brings something to the table, and each takes home a deeper understanding of the time period, Madison, and the Constitution.

  "We're thinking of Montpelier as a whole as a constitutional academy for the entire American people," says Harris. "So, when they come here they don't just come to see a house, to look at the architecture, to discover Dolley and James Madison, but they come here to encounter some ideas that they recognize as part of their lives. They come here to find some things they can use, some problem-solving ideas for their political engagements. We think of Montpelier being a different kind of site, not just a historic site, not just a presidential house, but a place of founding."

  Christopher Eiswerth, a junior at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, was an intern at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

  The Montpelier Foundation received $159,143 from NEH to run a Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop.