George Mason: Father of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
George Mason (1725-1792) of Virginia was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, considered a blueprint for the U.S. Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
George Mason: Father of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
George Mason (1725-1792) of Virginia was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, considered a blueprint for the U.S. Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Mason entered politics as a justice and trustee in Northern Virginia before being elected to the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg in 1759. He penned an open letter against the Stamp Act to Parliament six years later, and in 1774 helped draft the Fairfax Resolves, a constitutional grievance against the closure of Boston Harbor by London as part of the Coercive Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party.
During the Williamsburg Convention in May 1776, when Virginia formed a new state government, Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights. "All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights," he wrote for Article I, "... among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." Article II stated, "... all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them." The document was ratified on June 12. Feeling his work was accomplished, he left the legislature in 1780.
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Mason protested the slave trade and having the word "slavery" appear in the Constitution. Like various other slaveholding revolutionaries, he feared slavery would, in his words, "poison" the young republic and be a continuous source of disunion. He argued that slavery should be abolished as soon as fiscally possible. Despite being among the top five speakers at the convention, Mason refused to sign the document. He argued that the U.S. House of Representatives was disproportionate and that the U.S. Senate and federal judiciary were too powerful, and he disapproved of a 10-acre federal city. More importantly, he disputed the omission of a bill of rights. Although he was a revolutionary and praised the character and wisdom of his colleagues, Mason despised politics and could be inflexible with compromises. Mason joined fellow Virginian Patrick Henry as a leading Anti-Federalist for the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Mason said, "There is no Declaration of Rights, and the laws of the general government being paramount to the laws and constitution of the several states, the Declaration of Rights in the separate states are no security." The Virginia Declaration of Rights articles addressing freedom of the press, religious freedom, right of trial by jury, prohibitions on excessive bail and inhumane punishment and promotion of "a well regulated militia" were replicated in the Bill of Rights in 1791.
Thomas Jefferson said about his friend and colleague, "This was George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom among those who acted on the theater of the revolution, of expansive mind, profound judgment, cogent in argument."
Mason County in West Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, are named in his honor. The George Mason Memorial is in Washington, D.C.
"Forgotten Founding Fathers" is a weekly series updated Saturdays on the lesser-known contributors to the Revolution and the seeds of American liberty. Check out the whole series! Also be sure to check out Aphra Behn's "Founding Mothers" series!
