The Agora: Dedicated to Ancient Ideals

George Mason, the Forgotten Founding Father

Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community. --George Mason

Brief Biographical Sketch: Born 1725 in Farfax, Virginia he was both a planter and a public official. Privately educated he was a member of and treasurer of the Ohio Company (1752-1773). Elected to the House of Burgesses (1759-1776), Mason went on to join the Virginia House of Delegates (1776-1788) and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787). Mason wrote Virginia's constitution and bill of rights (1776) which were used as models for both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Mason opposed the final Constitution due to its lack of a bill of rights, the over-riding power of the federal government, and its recognition and acceptance of slavery. Mason died in 1792 shortly after the passage of the Bill of Rights.

Our All is at Stake, and the little Conveniencys and Comforts of Life, when set in Competition with our Liberty, ought to be rejected not with Reluctance but with Pleasure.--George Mason

Here is a founding father on the level of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, or John Adams; yet few have heard of him. Our nation's educators and makers of public thought have sought to excise him from our collective memory. This page is meant to help restore him to his proper place as a leading founder of this nation and to provide a few of his more famous writings.

"No free government, or the blessings of liberty,
can be preserved to any people,
but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation,
temperance, frugality and virtue, and
by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
--George Mason

In 1766 a group of London merchants published a letter in colonial newspapers exhorting the colonists to pay their taxes and not be troublesome to the mother country. In June of that year Mason wrote a letter to the London Public Ledger in response to their criticisms.

In 1774, as a member of the Fairfax County Freeholders, George Mason along with George Washington and others wrote the Fairfax Resolution in response to the Intolerable Acts. This was the most explicet list of grievences to date as well as mentioning actions to be taken against British aggression.

There is a Passion natural to the Mind of man, especially a free Man, which renders him impatient of Restraint. --George Mason

In 1776 Mason wrote both Virginia's Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution. The US Declaration of Indenpendence and the Bill of Rights are both heavily influenced by these documents.

Sent as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Mason fought for a limited Federal government and state and individual rights. Unhappy with the results of the convention, Mason both voted against it and actively campaigned against it, he wrote Objections to This Constitution of Government stating his reasons for not supporting the new constitution.

All men are by nature born equally free and independent.
.--George Mason

Throughout his long and distinguished career, Mason stood steadfast in his support for the natural rights of the individual. It is with good reason that Mason has been called the American Manifestation of the Enlightenment.

Most of the texts contained on this site are public domain. Site layout, all original content, created by John Trapp ©2001