1. George Mason's writings, including substantial portions of the Fairfax Resolves of 1774, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and his Objections to this Constitution of Government opposing ratification, have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father.
George Mason was born in 1725 in present-day Fairfax County, Virginia.
George Mason's father drowned when a storm capsized his boat while crossing the Potomac River in 1735 when Mason was about nine years old.
George Mason's mother managed the family estates until he came of age.
In 1750, George Mason married, built Gunston Hall, and lived the life of a country squire, supervising his lands, family, and slaves.
George Mason briefly served in the House of Burgesses and involved himself in community affairs, sometimes serving with his neighbor George Washington.
George Mason prepared the first draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776, and his words formed much of the text adopted by the final Revolutionary Virginia Convention.
George Mason wrote a constitution for the state; Thomas Jefferson and others sought to have the convention adopt their ideas, but Mason's version was nonetheless adopted.
In 1787, George Mason was named one of his state's delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, his only lengthy trip outside Virginia.
George Mason wanted an immediate end to the slave trade and a supermajority requirement for navigation acts, fearing that restrictions on shipping might harm Virginia.
George Mason failed to attain these objectives in Philadelphia and later at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788.
George Mason's prominent fight for a bill of rights led fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce the same during the First Congress in 1789; these amendments were ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died.
Obscure after his death, George Mason later came to be recognized in the 20th and 21st centuries for his contributions to Virginia and the early United States.
George Mason's parents owned property in George Mason Neck, Virginia and a second property across the Potomac River in Maryland, which had been inherited by his mother.
Mason's great-grandfather George Mason I was a Cavalier who was born in 1629 in Pershore, Worcestershire, England.
George Mason I settled in present-day Stafford County, Virginia, where he was awarded land as a reward for bringing his family and servants to the Colony of Virginia, under headright, which awarded 50 acres for each person transported into the Colony.
In 1747, George Mason was named to the Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, and was elected as a vestryman at Truro Parish, where he served between 1749 and 1785.
George Mason took a position among the officers of the Fairfax County militia, eventually rising to the rank of colonel.
George Mason was a justice for much of the rest of his life, though he was excluded because of nonattendance at court from 1752 to 1764, and he resigned in 1789 when continued service meant swearing to uphold a constitution he could not support.
Alexandria was one of the towns founded or given corporate status in the mid-18th century in which George Mason had interests; he purchased three of the original lots along King and Royal Streets and became a municipal trustee in 1754.
George Mason served as a trustee of Dumfries, in Prince William County, and had business interests there and in Georgetown, on the Maryland side of the Potomac River in present-day Washington, DC.
At the time of his marriage, George Mason was living at Dogue's Neck, possibly at Sycamore Point.
George and Ann Mason had nine children who survived to adulthood.
Ann George Mason died in 1773; their marriage, judging by surviving accounts, was a happy one.
George Mason began to build his home, Gunston Hall, in or around 1755.
George Mason was proud of the gardens, which still surround the house.
George Mason avoided overdependence on tobacco as a source of income by leasing much of his land holdings to tenant farmers, and he diversified his crops to grow wheat for export to the British West Indies as Virginia's economy sank because of tobacco overproduction in the 1760s and 1770s.
Mason and George Washington were friends for many years until they finally broke over their differences regarding the federal constitution.
George Mason sent many more letters and gifts and stayed more often at Washington's residence at Mount Vernon, though this might be explained in part by the fact that Mount Vernon was located on the road from Gunston Hall to Alexandria.
Henriques suggests that as George Mason was older, intellectually superior, and the owner of a flourishing plantation as Washington was struggling to establish Mount Vernon, and it would not have been in the future president's character to seek a close relationship with George Mason.
George Mason was placed on the Committee on Propositions and Grievances, which mostly considered local matters.
George Mason dealt with several local concerns, presenting a petition of Fairfax County planters against being assessed for a tobacco wharf at Alexandria, funds they felt should be raised through wharfage fees.
Broadwater did not find it surprising that George Mason did not seek re-election, as he did not attend the sessions between 1759 and 1761.
George Mason slowly moved from being a peripheral figure towards the center of Virginia politics, but his published response to the Stamp Act, which he opposed, is most notable for the inclusion of his anti-slavery views.
George Mason was the sole parent to nine children, and his commitments made him even more reluctant to accept political office that would require him departing Gunston Hall.
George Mason attempted to avoid election on the grounds of poor health and his obligations as a single parent to nine children.
George Mason proffered his resignation from this committee, but it was refused.
George Mason was elected for Fairfax County, though with great difficulty.
George Mason, working in a room at the Raleigh Tavern, drafted a declaration of rights and plan of government, likely to prevent frivolous plans with no chance of adoption from being put forward.
Edmund Randolph later recalled that George Mason's draft "swallowed up all the rest".
The Virginia Declaration of Rights and the 1776 Constitution of Virginia were joint works, but George Mason was the main author.
George Mason likely worked closely with Thomas Ludwell Lee; the earliest surviving draft shows the first ten articles in George Mason's handwriting, with the other two written by Lee.
George Mason spoke repeatedly in the five days of debate, using oratory one hearer described as "neither flowing nor smooth, but his language was strong, his manner most impressive, and strengthened by a bit of biting cynicism when provocation made it seasonable".
George Mason had imitated English law in drafting language requiring toleration of those of minority religions, but Madison insisted on full religious liberty, and George Mason supported Madison's amendment once made.
The committee draft, likely for the most part written by George Mason, received wide publicity and George Mason's words "all men are born equally free and independent" were later reproduced in state constitutions from Pennsylvania to Montana; Jefferson tweaked the prose and included the sentiments in the Declaration of Independence.
In 1778, George Mason wrote that the Declaration of Rights "was closely imitated by the other United States".
George Mason was not the only one occupying himself so; Jefferson sent several versions from Philadelphia, one of which supplied the constitution's preamble.
George Mason devoted much effort during the American Revolutionary War to safeguarding Fairfax County and the rivers of Virginia, since the British several times raided areas along the Potomac.
George Mason served as a member of the House of Delegates from 1776 to 1781, his longest continuous political service outside Fairfax County, which he represented in Richmond.
George Mason served a few months on the committee before resigning on the ground he was not a lawyer; most of the work fell to Jefferson, Pendleton, and Wythe.
In spite of Washington's pleas, George Mason remained in Virginia, plagued by illness and heavily occupied on the Committee of Safety and elsewhere in defending the Fairfax County area.
George Mason was three weeks late in arriving at Richmond because of his illness, to the frustration of Washington, who had faith in George Mason's knowledge of financial affairs.
George Mason retained his interest in western affairs, hoping in vain to salvage the Ohio Company's land grant.
The expedition was generally successful, and George Mason received a report directly from Clark.
Also in 1780, George Mason remarried, to Sarah Brent, from a nearby plantation, who had never been married and was 52 years old.
George Mason found Mason willing to consider a federal tax; Madison had feared the subject might offend his host and wrote to Jefferson of the evening's conversation.
George Mason retained his political influence in Virginia, writing Patrick Henry, who had been elected to the House of Delegates, a letter filled with advice as that body's 1783 session opened.
George Mason scuttled efforts to elect him to the House of Delegates in 1784, writing that sending him to Richmond would be "an oppressive and unjust invasion of my personal liberty".
George Mason's refusal disappointed Jefferson, who had hoped that the likelihood that the legislature would consider land legislation would attract Mason to Richmond.
George Mason was appointed to the Annapolis Convention of 1786, at which representatives of all the states were welcome, but like most delegates he did not attend.
George Mason did not come to Richmond during the initial session because of illness, but he did send a petition as a private citizen to the legislature.
Randolph, who had just been elected governor, sent three notifications of election to George Mason, who accepted without any quibbles.
Broadwater suggests that George Mason went to Philadelphia because he knew the federal congress needed additional power and because he felt that body could act as a check on the powers of state legislatures.
George Mason feared that the more numerous Northern states would dominate the union and would impose restrictions on trade that would harm Virginia, so he sought a supermajority requirement for navigation acts.
George Mason sought a balance of powers, seeking thereby to make a durable government; according to historian Brent Tarter, "Mason designed his home [Gunston Hall] so that no misplaced window or missing support might spoil the effect or threaten to bring down the roof; he tried to design institutions of government in the same way, so that wicked or unprincipled men could not knock loose any safeguards of liberty".
George Mason had hope, coming into the convention, that it would yield a result that he felt would strengthen the United States.
Mr George Mason is a gentleman of remarkably strong powers, and possesses a clear and copious understanding.
George Mason is able and convincing in debate, steady and firm in his principles, and undoubtedly one of the best politicians in America.
Mr George Mason is close to 60 years old, with a fine strong constitution.
George Mason knew few of the delegates who were not from Virginia or Maryland, but his reputation preceded him.
George Mason had no such need to remain silent, and only four or five delegates spoke as frequently as he did.
George Mason agreed that the federal government should be more powerful than the states.
George Mason had not taken as strong a position on the legislature as had Madison, and he was appointed to the committee; George Mason and Franklin were the most prominent members.
George Mason had failed to carry his proposals that senators must own property and not be in debt to the United States, but he successfully argued that the minimum age for service in Congress should be 25, telling the convention that younger men were too immature.
George Mason was the first to propose that the national seat of government not be in a state capital lest the local legislature be too influential.
George Mason voted against proposals to base representation on a state's wealth or taxes paid and supported regular reapportionment of the House of Representatives.
Nevertheless, George Mason felt the upper house was too powerful, as it had the powers to make treaties, appoint Supreme Court justices, and adjudicate territorial disputes between the states.
When Gerry moved to postpone consideration of the final document, George Mason seconded him, stating, according to Madison, that "he would sooner chop off his right hand than put it to the Constitution as it now stands".
Still, George Mason did not rule out signing it, saying that he wanted to see how certain matters still before the convention were settled before deciding a final position, whether to sign or ask for a second convention.
Madison recorded that George Mason, believing that the convention had given his proposals short shrift in a hurry to complete its work, began his journey back to Virginia "in an exceeding ill humor".
George Mason sent Washington a copy of his objections, but Washington believed that the choice was ratification or disaster.
Madison complained that George Mason had gone beyond the reasons for opposing he had stated in convention, but Broadwater suggested the major difference was one of tone, since the written work dismissed as useless the constitution and the proposed federal government.
Nevertheless, both Lee and George Mason believed that if proper amendments were made, the constitution would be a fine instrument of governance.
The Objections were widely cited in opposition to ratification, and George Mason was criticized for placing his own name on it, at a time when political tracts were signed, if at all, with pen names such as Junius, so that the author's reputation would not influence the debate.
The statute governing elections to the convention in Richmond allowed George Mason to seek election where he owned property, and he sought election in Stafford County.
George Mason assured voters that he did not seek disunion, but rather reform, and spoke against the unamended constitution in strong terms.
George Nicholas, a Federalist friend of Mason, believed that Mason felt he could lead Virginia to gain concessions from the other states, and that he was embittered by the continuing attacks on him.
George Mason apparently was the only person elected to that convention for a constituency in which he did not live.
The Federalists were believed to have a slight advantage in elected delegates; George Mason thought that the convention would be unlikely to ratify the document without demanding amendments.
Nevertheless, Broadwater suggested that as most delegates had declared their views before the election, George Mason's motion made little difference.
Henry, far more a foe of a strong federal government than was George Mason, took the lead for his side in the debate.
George Mason spoke several times in the discussion, on topics ranging from the pardon power to the federal judiciary, which he warned would lead to suits in the federal courts by citizens against states where they did not live.
George Mason led a group of Anti-Federalists which drafted amendments: even the Federalists were open to supporting them, though the constitution's supporters wanted the document drafted in Philadelphia ratified first.
Unreconciled to the result, George Mason prepared a fiery written argument, but some felt the tone too harsh and George Mason agreed not to publish it.
George Mason resigned from the Fairfax County Court after an act passed by the new Congress required officeholders to take an oath to support the constitution, and in 1790 declined a seat in the Senate which had been left vacant by William Grayson's death, stating that his health would not permit him to serve, even if he had no other objection.
George Mason always wrote positively of Washington, and the president said nothing publicly, but in a letter referred to George Mason as a "quondam friend" who would not recant his position on the constitution because "pride on the one hand, and want of manly candour on the other, will not I am certain let him acknowledge error in his opinions respecting it [the federal government] though conviction should flash on his mind as strongly as a ray of light".
George Mason had long battled against Alexandria merchants who he felt unfairly dominated the county court, if only because they could more easily get to the courthouse.
George Mason routinely spoke out against slavery, even before America's independence.
George Mason would have done nothing that might have compromised the financial futures of his nine children.
In 1919, Robert C Mason published a biography of his prominent ancestor and asserted that George Mason "agreed to free his own slaves and was the first known abolitionist", refusing to sign the constitution, among other reasons because "as it stood then it did not abolish slavery or make preparation for its gradual extinction".
However, a proposal, supported by George Mason, to require freed slaves to leave Virginia within a year or be sold at auction, was defeated.
Broadwater asserted, "George Mason must have shared the fears of Jefferson and countless other whites that whites and free blacks could not live together".
George Mason was honored in 1981 by the United States Postal Service with an 18-cent Great Americans series postage stamp.
George Mason's image is located above and to the right of the Speaker's chair; he and Jefferson are the only Americans recognized.
Tarter deemed George Mason "celebrated as a champion of constitutional order and one of the fathers of the Bill of Rights".
George Mason's legacy extended overseas, doing so even in his lifetime, and though he never visited Europe, his ideals did.
Donald J Senese, in the conclusion to the collection of essays on Mason published in 1989, noted that several factors contributed to Mason's obscurity in the century after his death.
George Mason was older than many of those who served in Philadelphia and subsequently came into prominence with the new federal government.
George Mason died soon after the constitution came into force and displayed no ambition for federal office, declining a seat in the Senate.
George Mason left no extensive paper trail and, unlike Franklin, who authored an autobiography, left no diary like Washington or John Adams.
George Mason fought on the side that failed, both at Philadelphia and Richmond, leaving him a loser in a history written by winners, even his speeches to the Constitutional Convention descend through the pen of Madison, a supporter of ratification.
The increased scrutiny of George Mason which has accompanied his rise from obscurity has meant, according to Tarter, that "his role in the creation of some of the most important texts of American liberty is not as clear as it seems".
Rutland suggested that George Mason showed only "belated concern over the personal rights of citizens".
Whatever his motivations, George Mason proved a forceful advocate for a bill of rights whose Objections helped accomplish his aims.