George Mason

Born 1725
Fairfax County, Virginia
Died October 7, 1792
Fairfax County, Virginia

Political leader, judge, plantation owner, writer

George Mason was one of the most important Americans of Revolutionary times. The intelligent and thoughtful man made a great impact on the development of the American government. He is especially remembered for the passionate arguments he made in favor of freedom for individuals at the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1787. There the Constitution of the United States was written and passed.

George Mason was born in 1725 on the Virginia plantation of his parents, George and Ann Thomson Mason. His father drowned when Mason was ten. With the approval of Mason's mother, his uncle, a lawyer named John Mercer, took charge of bringing up the boy. Mason had access to his uncle's large library of law books and was taught by private tutors. He gained a good grasp of the classics, the writings and languages of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

In his late teens, the wealthy young man began running the family plantation, one of the largest in Virginia. He had a cranky personality, and he tended to be overly concerned about his health. Still he became a popular and important person in his community. In 1750 he married Anne Eilbeck, with whom he had five sons and four daughters. Between 1755 and 1758 he designed and supervised the building of his own grand home, Gunston Hall.

Fights in French and Indian War

In 1752 Mason and fellow Virginian, George Washington see entry, became part owners of a business called the Ohio Company, which bought and sold land for profit in the Great Lakes region. Through this venture, both Virginia aristocrats became familiar with what was then the American frontier, and they soon got caught up in a frontier war.

In the mid-eighteenth century, France and England were engaged in a worldwide war that in 1754 spilled over onto the North American frontier. The French saw the Ohio Company's colonizing efforts in America's west as a challenge to their claims to the region. Rivalry between France and England and her colonies over the western lands led to the French and Indian War (1754–63).

In that war, American militia (pronounced ma-LISH-a) men fought with the British against the French and their Indian allies. (Militia men were volunteer soldiers; America did not have a regular army.) Mason acted as a supply agent for troops commanded by George Washington. He also served as a captain in the war and earned the rank of colonel (pronounced KER-nuhl) in the Virginia militia.

Mason maintained a lifetime interest in the development of the Great Lakes region. He was a leading member of a committee that approved the expedition of explorer George Rogers Clark into the region now known as the Midwest. Clark carried out the first survey of the area and he later supervised settlement there.

Joins with colonial groups to protest taxation

During this time, Mason began to take an interest in public life. Between 1754 and 1779 he served on the board of directors of the city of Alexandria, Virginia, and was a justice of the Fairfax County Court. In 1758 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, the representative assembly of colonial Virginia, where he served with George Washington. But he grew tired of the routine and retired in 1760 after two terms.

At the end of French and Indian War, England was heavily in debt and began to pass tax laws to raise money in the colonies to pay off those war debts. As a private citizen, Mason voiced his opposition to the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. Mason wrote a letter to England's King George III see entry expressing the outrage of the American colonists and their opposition to what they viewed as unfair taxation.

In the years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (1775–83), the colonies set up "committees of correspondence." These were groups of people who aroused public opinion and organized acts of defiance against Great Britain. George Mason became involved in the Virginia committee after the passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These Acts imposed taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper items, and tea. To protest these taxes, Mason helped form an association that agreed to stop buying British goods until British merchants joined the colonists in demanding a repeal of the taxes.

Suffers personal tragedy, begins political writing

Between 1767 and 1773, Mason concentrated on running his plantation and raising his family. His wife, Anne, fell ill in 1772 and died a year later at age thirty-nine. That same year Mason wrote his first important public paper, "Extracts from Virginia Charters, with Some Remarks upon Them."

The paper examined the legal rights of the Ohio Company and showed Mason's skill in analyzing legal and political matters. It was one of many such writings that appeared in the days before the American Revolution, writings that explained how American colonists had the same rights as English citizens. It was also one of several papers written by Mason that would influence the writers of later documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.

Serves at Virginia Convention

By 1774 American colonists were becoming openly rebellious against Great Britain. Mason took on an important role in national politics when he helped patriot Patrick Henry see entry draft the "Fairfax Resolves." These papers stated the legal position of the American colonies in relation to Great Britain, pointing out how British taxation policies were violating colonial rights.

In July 1775 Mason was elected to the Virginia Convention as Virginia prepared to take part in the upcoming struggle to gain freedom from Great Britain. He replaced George Washington, who had been named commander-in-chief of the newly formed Continental army.

Opinion in the Virginia Convention was sharply divided over the question of going to war with the mother country, and quarrels were frequent. Mason later wrote to Washington, "I was never in so disagreeable a situation, and almost despaired of a cause which I found so ill conducted. Mere [annoyance] and disgust threw me into such an ill state of health that before the convention rose, I was sometimes near fainting in the House." Mason helped set the House session back on course when it began to fall apart due to political disputes and confusion about how to proceed.

Throughout his lifetime, Mason never enjoyed serving on committees and often arrived late for meetings. He expressed contempt for those he called "babblers," people who talk on and on and are commonly found in politics. But no other Virginia lawmaker was as respected and carefully listened to. His reputation grew, and the other delegates wanted Mason to succeed Washington as their representative to the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress was a group of representatives from the American colonies who met to express grievances against British colonial policy; they had created the Continental army to fight against the British. Mason avoided serving in the congress by pleading that he had to take care of his motherless children.

Writes Virginia's Bill of Rights and Constitution

Even before July 1776, when America declared its independence from England and the thirteen colonies officially became states, Virginia had already begun the hard work of forming a new government. In April 1776 Mason was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention to help write the constitution for his home state. He spent the spring studying and discussing forms of government with other prominent leaders. Virginia's convention voted "to prepare a Declaration of Rights and such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this colony and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people."

Over a mere six weeks, Mason took part in discussions and wrote the first draft for the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was adopted as the Virginia Bill of Rights by the convention on June 12, 1776. Mason's declaration laid out some basic principles of republican government (a system in which voters hold the power and elect representatives to carry out the voters' wishes). It also affirmed the right to trials by jury and it supported religious tolerance. It became a model used by other colonies and guided Thomas Jefferson see entry when he wrote the first section of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Writes Virginia Constitution, helps form federal government

James Madison see entry, later a U.S. President, called George Mason the "master builder" of Virginia's 1776 constitution. During the six-week period in which he wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, Mason also wrote the first constitution of the independent Commonwealth of Virginia. It passed with no opposition on June 29, 1776.

About this event, Edmund Pendleton, the head of the delegates at that convention, wrote to Thomas Jefferson, "the political cooks are busy in preparing the dish, and as Colonel Mason seems to [be in charge of] the great work, I have [confidence] it will be framed so as to answer its end."

During the war years from 1776 to 1780, the former British colonies, now American states, were busy forming a new national government. Much lawmaking activity took place in Philadelphia, then the nation's capital. George Mason played a major role in helping to establish a national government independent of Great Britain. He was also active in organizing military affairs for the new nation, especially in the western frontier.

Retires from public life, then returns to it

The Revolution officially ended in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. By that time, Mason believed the new American government was on firm footing and decided to retire from public life. With his second wife, Sarah Brent, whom he had married three years earlier, he went to live quietly at Gunston Hall. When people tried to get him involved in government affairs, he explained that their efforts were an invasion of his personal liberty.

But Mason cared too much about his country to stay completely out of politics. Gunston Hall was located on the main road from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia. State and national leaders often passed by Mason's house and stopped to get his advice on political matters.

In 1785 Mason emerged from semi-retirement to participate in talks about the Articles of Confederation, which were used to govern the United States during the war. The Articles were not considered adequate to govern the new nation. Finally it was decided that a constitution was needed, and a Federal Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia in 1787 to draw one up.

Suggests changes to proposed U.S. Constitution

In 1787 Mason was one of Virginia's representatives at the Federal Constitutional Convention. He became one of the major speakers, forcefully presenting his point of view. The delegates to the convention had many different views about how a government should be organized. Mason believed that all men—both rich and poor—are born with certain natural rights to life and freedom; protecting these rights for all, he said, must be the cornerstone of government policies.

Some delegates, led by George Washington and others, wanted a strong central government. This view was supported by several different factions, many of them made up largely of wealthy men. Businessmen, traders, and ship owners, who suffered financially when the states argued about taxes, favored a strong central government. Men who had lent money to the government thought a strong central government would be more likely to pay them back. Some rich men were afraid that if poor men ran the states, they might issue large sums of worthless money or protect people with bad debts. Westerners who lived on the wild frontier wanted a powerful central government to protect them from possible Indian, Spanish, and British invasions.

Mason expressed his opposition to the strong central government proposed by the new constitution in a paper, "Objections to the Proposed Federal Constitution." It is considered one of his best pieces of writing. In it, Mason stated that the U.S. House of Representatives proposed by the new constitution did not really represent all the people. He believed that the proposed U.S. Senate would be too powerful. He also said that the proposed justice system would allow the rich to oppress the poor. He expressed his fear that the country might be ruled by kings and queens or could fall into the hands of corrupt, rich citizens.

Mason also objected to a provision in the U.S. Constitution that allowed the slave trade to continue until 1808. Mason, like many Southern landowners, relied on slaves to work his farm. Still, he recognized that slavery was an evil institution and urged that the slave trade be ended as soon as possible. His view lost out to those who wanted more time before the slave trade was discontinued.

Proposes Bill of Rights, refuses to sign Constitution

In order to protect individual rights, Mason proposed that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution, and he was highly disappointed when his proposal was defeated. His proposal that a second convention be held was also voted down.

In the end, Mason refused to sign the U.S. Constitution adopted by the Convention. According to the notes of James Madison, Mason stated he "would sooner chop off his right hand than put it to [sign] the constitution as it now stands."

Opposes Virginia's adoption of the U.S. Constitution

When the Federal Constitutional Convention completed its work, conventions were held in each state to decide whether or not to adopt the U.S. Constitution. At the Virginia convention, held in June 1788, James Madison supported it. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson also added their support in writing, although they were not able to attend the convention. Mason and Patrick Henry opposed it.

Lively debate on the topic took place. Virginia finally approved the Constitution by a vote of 89-79. Upset and angry after his lost political battle, George Mason went home to Gunston Hall. He turned down several government job offers, because he preferred to offer his advice in a more casual way to leaders who came to visit him.

But Mason left his mark on the U.S. Constitution. A Bill of Rights was included in the version of the Constitution that was finally adopted on December 15, 1791. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by Mason, served as the basis of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. The Bill of Rights is made up of the first ten amendments (additions) to the Constitution and protects basic rights of individuals from being stepped on by the federal government.

Final years

In the 1790s, Mason retired from state and national politics for good. But being a man of strong opinions, he spent his last years feuding with other members of the Fairfax County Court over the location of a new courthouse and other local affairs. Mason died on October 7, 1792, and was buried at Gunston Hall. In February 1795, the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was put in place. It addressed Mason's demand that the court system have some limits placed on its powers.

Several presidents of the United States honored George Mason as an outstanding thinker. Thomas Jefferson once referred to him as "the wisest man of his generation," and James Madison praised him as "a powerful reasoner, a profound statesman, and a devoted republican."

For More Information

Allison, Robert J. "George Mason." American Eras: The Revolutionary Era, 1754-1783. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1998, pp. 192-93.

Boatner, Mark M., III. "Mason, George." Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994, pp. 682-83.

Garraty, John A. and Mark C. Carnes. "Mason, George." American National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, vol. 14, pp. 645-647.

Web Sites

"A Biography of George Mason, 1725-1792." Text copied from National Archives and Records Administration: The Founding Fathers' Page for The American Revolution—an.HTML project, 1997. Department of Humanities Computing. [Online] Available http://odur.let.rug.nl~usa/B/gmason/mason.htm (accessed on 9/12/99).

"George Mason Writings and Biography." National Archives and Record Administration. Copyright at Common Law by LEXREX, 1998. [Online] Available http://www.lexrex.com/bios/gmason.htm (accessed on 9/12/99).

Williams, Gary. "George Mason." The Freeman, May, 1992. Copyright 1988 by Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. The American Revolution—an.HTML project. [Online] Available http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/gmason/gmasxx.htm (accessed on 9/12/99).