George Mason and the Bill of Rights

George Mason
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/gmason/gmas01.htm

The most significant contribution Mason made to the fledgling Virginia government was writing a constitution and bill of rights during a six week period in May and June of 1776. Mason's readings in history had convinced him that "there never was a government over a very extensive country without destroying the liberties of the people," and he sought to remedy that with a declaration of rights. A committee was assigned to do the writing, but except for Madison's insertion of stronger wording on freedom of religion, the words are entirely Mason's. Some of Mason's phrases appear in the U.S. Bill of Rights that passed 15 years later. The idea as well as the wording caught on, and by the end of 1776 five colonies had adopted declarations of rights, and by 1783 every state had some form of a bill of rights.

The Bill of Rights received a lot of attention during its recent 200th anniversary, but little recognition was given to George Mason, who was the driving force behind the document. Mason (1725-1792) was the author of the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, which the Marquis de Condorcet called "the first Bill of Rights to merit the name." Mason fought against ratification of the United States Constitution because it contained no bill of rights. As a leader of the AntiFederalists, his objections led to the first 10 amendments, which were ratified in 1791.

Mason is relatively unknown among the Founders, but his intellect was renowned as one of the finest in the Colonies. In fact, Thomas Jefferson called Mason "the wisest man of his generation." Fellow Virginian Edmund Randolph added: "He was behind none of the sons of Virginia in knowledge of her history and interest. At a glance, he saw to the bottom of every proposition which affected her." James Madison praised Mason as "a powerful reasoner, a profound statesman, and a devoted republican."

That this plantation owner and neighbor of George Washington was not well-known outside his native Virginia was due to his reluctance to become involved in politics. Mason had distaste for committee work and contempt for what he called the "babblers" who predominated in politics. In his will he advised his heirs to prefer "the happiness and independence [of] a private station to the troubles and vexations of public business" unless "the necessity of the times should engage them in public affairs."

Mason turned down appointments to the Continental Congress and the U.S. Senate, but the needs of his turbulent times did cause him to leave home on two significant occasions. From 1775 to 1780, he served reluctantly in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he took a leading role in every aspect of formulating a new state government and almost single-handedly wrote the state constitution and the Declaration of Rights. The second occasion was in 1787, when Mason was persuaded to leave his native state to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Here he was one of the five most frequent speakers, arguing passionately for individual freedoms and against centralized governmental authority. His prescient objections ring no less true today, and his refusal to sign the final document helped bring attention to the need for a bill of rights.

What first drew Mason into public life was involvement as an officer in the Ohio Company, a group of local land speculators that included his friend and neighbor, George Washington. At the time, British royal policy prohibited settlement west of the Appalachians, and the Ohio Company lobbied to open the West for settlement. When war broke out on the frontier, Mason acted as supply agent for troops commanded by Washington. This service in the French and Indian War earned Mason the rank of colonel in the Virginia Militia, although he never served in the field.

It was oppressive British tax policies that got Mason involved in the political arena. New and steeper taxes imposed by the ministers of George III led to Mason's writing in 1766 an open letter "To the Committee of Merchants in London" that was published in the London Public Ledger. Later, when taxation grew even harsher, Mason became involved in the inter-colonial Committees of Correspondence and the drafting of nonimportation resolves that were boycotts of British products.

In the midst of this burgeoning conflict, Mason's wife died in 1773 after a lingering illness. Her death at age 39 left Mason with nine children to raise as well as a plantation to run, yet he continued his anti-taxation efforts. In July 1774, Mason and Patrick Henry spent the night at Mount Vernon, where Mason wrote the Fairfax Resolves, a statement of the colonists' position. The next day, Washington left to carry the document to the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress.

When Washington was named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in 1775, Mason was prevailed upon to take his friend's seat in the Virginia Legislature. What he first saw of what he called the "parties and factions which prevailed" did little to allay his suspicions of government service. He wrote Washington that "I was never in so disagreeable a situation, and almost despaired of a cause which I saw so ill conducted. Mere vexation and disgust threw me into such an ill state of health that before the convention rose, I was sometimes near fainting in the House." However, he did concede that "after some weeks, the babblers were pretty well silenced [and] a few weighty members began to take the lead."

Mason continued to serve reluctantly in the Assembly, although he regularly arrived late for sessions, on one occasion giving as an excuse a bad reaction to a smallpox inoculation. However, once he arrived, no other legislator was as prolific, respected, or thorough.