I often did this, and occasionally gave her small sums from my own pocket, though I had years before bought my freedom of her.[250]
Political and religious views
Federalism
External video Booknotes interview with Lance Banning on The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic, February 11, 1996, C-SPAN
During his first stint in Congress in the 1780s, Madison came to favor amending the Articles of Confederation to provide for a stronger central government.[251] In the 1790s, he led the opposition to Hamilton's centralizing policies and the Alien and Sedition Acts.[252] Madison's support of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in the 1790s has been referred to as "a breathtaking evolution for a man who had pleaded at the Constitutional Convention that the federal government should possess a veto over state laws".[75]

Religion
Although baptized as an Anglican and educated by Presbyterian clergymen,[253] young Madison was an avid reader of English deist tracts.[254] As an adult, Madison paid little attention to religious matters. Though most historians have found little indication of his religious leanings after he left college,[255] some scholars indicate he leaned toward deism.