George Mason
From Conservapedia
George Mason (1725-1792) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He was an influential member of the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a Virginia tobacco planter who grew wealthy using slave labor. Mason wrote both the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 and the Virginia state constitution, but he is best known for his reluctance to sign the Constitution due to its lack of a bill of rights. His opposition played a large role in the addition of the Bill of Rights (the first ten constitutional amendments) in 1791. He did not hold major office after 1787.
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Career
Mason inherited tobacco lands and expanded his holdings to 5,000 acres at Gunston, and eventually more 75,000 acres elsewhere. He served as a town trustee of Alexandria, Virginia, and as a vestryman of the local Anglican church. Mason was one of the largest slave owners in the U.S.; unlike his friend George Washington, Mason never freed the slaves he owned.
Virginia Declaration of Rights 1776
Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776; Thomas Jefferson used it as inspiration for the Declaration of Independence. The opening philosophical section is closely based on Virginia's "Declaration of Rights," a notable summary of current revolutionary philosophy, and adopted by Virginia in June 1776.[1] Mason wrote:
- That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Jefferson rewrote it:
- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Constitution
In 1787 Mason was a very active particiapant at the Constitutional Convention. Mason was suspicious of centralized power, and he argued for limitations on such powers throughout the federal convention. Yet, he was also an effective nationalist and supported the Virginia Plan's third resolution, which called for a national government with "supreme" departments. He defended the popular election of the House and favored the indirect election of the Senate. Mason advocated age restrictions on government service, offering a motion that set the minimum age requirement for election to the House. He also helped broker the "Great Compromise," which broke a major barrier that had threatened to break up the Convention; his compromise converted the small states into enthusiastic supporters of national power.
However Mason finally refused to sign the document and spoke out in 1788 against it because it lacked a Bill of Rights. To secure adoption in Virginia James Madison compromised, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791. Mason was a close friend of George Washington, but was an Antifederalist along with Patrick Henry. Mason favored very powerful state governments and did not want the national government to interfere.
George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, is named for him.
Quotes
- "To disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them." [2]
Further reading
- Broadwater, Jeff George Mason: Forgotten Founder. (2006)
- Miller, Helen Hill. George Mason, Constitutionalist. (2001).
- Rowland, Kate Mason. The Life Of George Mason, 1725-1792. (1892). old popular biography full text online
- Rutland, Robert A. George Mason: Reluctant Statesman (1980).
Primary sources
- Rutland, Robert A., et al. eds. The papers of George Mason, (1970). 3 vols
