Marvin dem off biography of george mason

A Biography of George Mason Introduction The Bill of Rights received a lot of attention during its recent th anniversary, but little recognition was given to George Mason, who was the driving force behind the document. Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which the Marquis de Condorcet called "the first Bill of Rights to merit the name.

As a leader of the AntiFederalists, his objections led to the first 10 amendments, which were ratified in 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. At a glance, he saw to the bottom of every proposition which affected her.

Marvin dunn wikipedia

Mason had a distaste for committee work and a 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. Senate, but the needs of his turbulent times did cause him to leave home on two significant occasions.

From to , 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 , when Mason was persuaded to leave his native state to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.