George Mason

The obligations and offices that came with being one of the largest local landowners descended on Mason as they had on his father and grandfather. In 1747, he was named to the Fairfax County Court. Mason was elected as a vestryman for Truro Parish, serving 1749–1785.[14] He took a position among the officers of the county militia, eventually rising to the rank of colonel. In 1748, he sought a seat in the House of Burgesses; the process was controlled by more senior members of the court and he was not then successful, but he would win in 1758.[15]

The county court not only heard civil and criminal cases, but decided matters such as local taxes. Membership fell to most major landowners. 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 resigned in 1789 when continued service meant swearing to uphold a constitution he could not support.[16] Even while a member, he often did not attend. Joseph Horrell, in a journal article on Mason's court service, noted that he was often in poor health, and lived the furthest of any of the major estateholders from the Fairfax County courthouse, whether at its original site near today's Tyson's Corner or later in newly founded Alexandria. Robert Rutland, editor of Mason's papers, considered court service a major influence on Mason's later thinking and writing, but Horrell denied it, "if the Fairfax court provided a course for Mason's early training, he chiefly distinguished himself by skipping classes."[17]

Alexandria was one of the towns founded or given corporate status in the mid-18th century in which Mason had interests; he purchased three of the original lots along King and Royal Streets and became a municipal trustee in 1754. He also 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 (today in the District of Columbia).[18]

Artist rendering of Ann Eilbeck

Gunston Hall postage stamp, 1958 issue

On April 4, 1750, Mason married Ann Eilbeck, only child of William and Sarah Eilbeck of Charles County, Maryland. The Masons and Eilbecks had adjacent lands in Maryland, and had joined together in real estate transactions; by his death in 1764, William Eilbeck was one of the wealthiest men in Charles County. At the time of his marriage, Mason was living at Dogue's Neck, possibly at Sycamore Point.[19] George and Ann Mason would have nine children who survived to adulthood. Ann Mason died in 1773; their marriage, judging by surviving accounts, was a happy one.[20]

George Mason began to build his home, Gunston Hall, likely beginning in 1755. The exterior, typical of local buildings of that time, was probably based on architectural books sent from Britain to America for the use of local builders; one of these craftsmen, perhaps William Waite or James Wren, constructed Gunston Hall.[21] Mason was proud of the gardens which still surround the house. There were outbuildings, including slave quarters, a schoolhouse, and kitchens, and beyond them four large plantations, forests, and the shops and other facilities that made Gunston Hall mostly self-sufficient.[22]

Mason avoided overdependence on tobacco as a source of income by leasing much of his land holdings to tenant farmers,[23] and 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 was a pioneer in the Virginia wine industry, subscribing along with other Virginians such as Thomas Jefferson to Philip Mazzei's scheme for growing wine grapes in America.[24]

Mason sought to expand his land and wealth. He greatly expanded the boundaries of Gunston Hall estate, so that it occupied all of Dogue's Neck, which became known as Mason's Neck.[25] One project that Mason was involved in for most of his adult life was the Ohio Company, in which he invested in 1749 and became treasurer in 1752—an office he held forty years until his death in 1792. The Ohio Company had secured a royal grant for 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) to be surveyed near the forks of the Ohio River (today the site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). War, revolution, and competing claims from Pennsylvania eventually defeated the Ohio Company's plans. Although the company failed, Mason acquired considerable western lands independently. His defense against the Pennsylvania claims, Selections from the Virginia Charters (1772), originally intended to promote the Ohio Company's claims, was widely applauded as a defense of the rights of Americans against royal decrees. Involvement with the Ohio Company also brought Mason into contact with many prominent Virginians, including his Fairfax County neighbor, George Washington.[26]

Mason and Washington were friends for many years until they finally broke over their differences regarding the federal constitution. Peter R. Henriques, in his journal article on their relationship, suggested that Mason cultivated the friendship more than Washington did, as Mason sent many more letters and gifts, and stayed more often at Washington's plantation, though the last can be explained in part as Mount Vernon lay on the road from Gunston Hall to Alexandria. Henriques suggested that as Mason was older, intellectually superior, and the owner of a flourishing plantation as Washington struggled to establish Mount Vernon, it would not have been in the future president's character to be close to Mason. Washington had a deep respect for Mason's intellectual abilities, several times asking for his advice, and writing in 1777 when learning that Mason had taken charge of an issue before the General Assembly, "I know of no person better qualified ... than Colonel Mason, and shall be very happy to hear he has taken it in hand".[27]

Despite his involvement in western real estate schemes, Mason saw that land was being cleared and planted with tobacco faster than the market for it could expand, meaning that its price would drop even as more and more capital was tied up in land and slaves. Thus, although a major slaveholder, he opposed the slave system in Virginia. He believed that slave importation, together with the natural population increase, would result in a huge future slave population in Virginia; a system of leased lands, though not as profitable as slave labor, would have "little Trouble & Risque [risk]".[28]

Little is known of Mason's political views prior to the 1760s, when he came to oppose British colonial policies.[29] In 1758, Mason successfully ran for the House of Burgesses when George William Fairfax, holder of one of Fairfax County's two seats, chose not to seek re-election. Also elected were Mason's brother Thomson (for Stafford County), George Washington (for Frederick County where he was stationed as commander of Virginia's militia as the French and Indian War continued) and Richard Henry Lee, who would work closely with Mason through their careers.[30]

House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Mason served

When the house assembled, George Mason was initially appointed to a committee concerned with raising additional militia during that time of war. In 1759, he was appointed to the powerful Committee on Privileges and Elections. He was also placed during the latter year on the Committee on Propositions and Grievances, which mostly considered local matters. 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. He also played a major role as the Burgesses deliberated how to divide Prince William County as settlement expanded; in March 1759, Fauquier County was created by legislative act. In this, Mason opposed the interest of the family of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, who wanted existing counties expanded instead, including Fairfax. This difference may have contributed to Mason's decision not to seek re-election in 1761.[31] Mason biographer Jeff Broadwater noted that Mason's committee assignments reflected the esteem his colleagues held him in, or at least the potential they saw. Broadwater did not find it surprising that Mason did not seek re-election, as he did not attend the sessions between 1759 and 1761.[32]

Although the British were victorious over the French in the war, King George III's government felt that the North American colonies were not paying their way, since little direct tax revenue from the colonies was received. The Sugar Act of 1764 had its greatest effect in New England and did not cause widespread objection. The Stamp Act the following year affected all 13 colonies, as it required revenue stamps to be used on papers required in trade and in the law. When word of passage of the Stamp Act reached Williamsburg, the House of Burgesses passed the Virginia Resolves, asserting that Virginians had the same rights as if they resided in Britain, and that they could only be taxed by themselves or their elected representatives. The Resolves were mostly written by a fiery-spoken new member for Louisa County, Patrick Henry.[33]

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 Washington or George William Fairfax, the burgesses for Fairfax County, may have asked Mason's advice as to what steps to take in the crisis.[34] Mason drafted an act to allow for one of the most common court actions, replevin, to take place without the use of stamped paper, and sent it to George Washington, by then one of Fairfax County's burgesses, to gain passage. This action contributed to a boycott of the stamps. With the courts and trade paralyzed, the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but continued to assert the right to tax the colonies.[33]

Following the repeal, a committee of London merchants issued a public letter to Americans, warning them not to declare victory. Mason published a response in June 1766, satirizing the British position, "We have, with infinite Difficulty & Fatigue got you excused this one Time; do what your Papa and Mamma bid, & hasten to return your most grateful Acknowledgements for condescending to let you keep what is your own."[35] The Townshend Acts of 1767 were Britain's next attempt to tax the colonies, placing duties on substances including lead and glass, and provoking calls from the northern colonies for a boycott of British goods. Virginia, more dependent on goods imported from Britain, was less enthusiastic, and, as local planters tended to receive goods at their river landings, a boycott would be difficult to enforce. In April 1769, Washington sent a copy of a Philadelphia resolution to Mason, asking his advice on what action Virginia should take. It is unknown who adapted that text for use in Virginia (Broadwater concluded it was Mason) but Mason sent Washington a corrected draft on April 23, 1769. Washington took it to Williamsburg, but the governor, Lord Botetourt, dissolved the legislature because of the radical resolutions it was passing. The Burgesses adjourned to a nearby tavern, and there passed a non-importation agreement based on Mason's.[36]

Although the resolution was not as strong as Mason had liked—he wanted Virginia to threaten to cut off tobacco—Mason worked in the following years for non-importation. The repeal of most of the Townshend duties (excepting that on tea) made his task more difficult. In March 1773, his wife Ann died of illness contracted after another pregnancy. Mason was the sole parent to nine children, and his commitments made him even more reluctant to accept political office that would take him from Gunston Hall.[37]

In May 1774, Mason was in Williamsburg on real estate business. Word had just arrived of the passage of the Intolerable Acts, as Americans dubbed the legislative response to the Boston Tea Party, and a group of lawmakers including Lee, Henry, and Jefferson asked Mason to join them in formulating a course of action. The Burgesses passed a resolution for a day of fasting and prayer to obtain divine intervention against "destruction of our Civil Rights", but the governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the legislature rather than accept it. Mason may have helped write the resolution, and likely joined the members after the dissolution when they met at the Raleigh Tavern.[38][39]

New elections had to be held for burgess and for delegate to the convention which had been called by the rump of the dissolved House of Burgesses, and Fairfax County's were set for July 5, 1774. Washington planned to run for one seat, and tried to get Mason or Bryan Fairfax to seek the other, but both men declined. Although the poll was postponed to the 14th due to poor weather, Washington met that day with other local leaders (including, likely, Mason) in Alexandria and selected a committee to draft a set of resolutions, which Washington hoped would "define our Constitutional Rights".[40] The resulting Fairfax Resolves were largely drafted by Mason. He met with the newly elected Washington on July 17 at Mount Vernon, and stayed the night; the two men rode together to Alexandria the following day. The 24 propositions that made up the Resolves protested loyalty to the British Crown, but denied the right of Parliament to legislate for colonies that had been settled at private expense and which had received charters from the monarch. The Resolves called for a continental congress. If Americans did not receive redress by November 1, exports, including that of tobacco, would be cut off. The freeholders of Fairfax County approved the Resolves, appointing Mason and Washington to a special committee in the emergency. According to early Virginia historian Hugh Grigsby, at Alexandria, Mason "made his first great movement on the theatre of the Revolution".[41]

Washington took the Resolves to the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg, and although delegates made some changes, the adopted resolution closely tracks both the Fairfax Resolves, and the scheme for non-exportation of tobacco Mason had proposed some years earlier. The convention elected delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, including Lee, Washington, and Henry, and in October 1774, Congress adopted a similar embargo.[42]

Much of Mason's efforts in 1774 and 1775 was in organizing a militia independent of the royal government. Washington by January 1775 was drilling a small force, and he and Mason purchased gunpowder for the company. Mason wrote in favor of annual election of militia officers in words that would later echo in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, "We came equal into this world, and equals shall we go out of it. All men are by nature born equally free and independent."[43]

Washington's election as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress created a vacancy in Fairfax County's delegation to the third Virginia Convention, and he wrote from Philadelphia in May 1775, urging that it be filled. By this time, blood had been shed between colonial and Briton at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Mason attempted to avoid election on the grounds of poor health and that he was needed to parent his motherless children. Nevertheless, he was elected and journeyed to Richmond, which, being further inland than Williamsburg, was deemed better protected from possible British attack.[44]

When the Richmond convention began in July 1775, Mason was assigned to crucial committees, including one attempting to raise an army to protect the colony. According to Robert A. Rutland, "Sick or healthy, Mason was needed for his ability."[45] Mason sponsored a non-exportation measure; it was passed by a large majority, though it had to be repealed later in the session to coordinate with one passed by Maryland. Despite pressure from many delegates, Mason refused to consider election as a delegate to the Continental Congress in place of Washington when the latter became commanding general of the Continental Army, but could not avoid election to the Committee of Safety, a powerful group that took over many functions in the governmental vacuum. When Mason proffered his resignation from this committee, it was refused.[46]

Illness forced Mason to absent himself from the Committee of Safety for several weeks in 1775, and he did not attend the fourth convention, held in December 1775 and January 1776. With independence from Britain widely accepted as necessary among prominent Virginians,[9] the fifth convention, to meet in May 1776 at Williamsburg, would need to decide how Virginia would be administered henceforth, as the royal government was dead in all but name. Accordingly, the convention was seen as so important that Richard Henry Lee arranged for his temporary recall from Congress to be a part of the convention, and Jefferson tried but failed to arrange to leave Congress as well. Other notables elected to the convention were Henry, George Wythe, and a young delegate from Orange County, James Madison.[47] Mason was elected for Fairfax County, though with great difficulty.[48]

That convention, in May 1776, unanimously instructed Jefferson and other Virginia delegates to Congress to seek "a clear and full Declaration of Independency".[50] At the same time, the convention resolved to pass a declaration of rights.[51] Due to ill health, Mason did not arrive until May 18, 1776, after the vote, but was appointed to a committee led by Archibald Cary, which was to compose a declaration of rights and constitution. Mason was skeptical that the thirty-person Cary Committee could collectively compose anything worthwhile, but was surprised at how quickly it moved—though his membership had a role in that speed. On May 24, convention president Edmund Pendleton wrote to Jefferson about the committee's deliberations, "as Colo.[nel] Mason seems to have the ascendancy in the great work, I have Sanguine hopes it will be framed so as to Answer it's [sic] end, Prosperity to the Community and Security to Individuals".[52]

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 Mason's draft "swallowed up all the rest".[53] The Virginia Declaration of Rights and the 1776 Constitution of Virginia were joint works, but Mason was the main author. Mason likely worked closely with Thomas Ludwell Lee; the earliest surviving draft shows the first ten articles in Mason's handwriting, with the other two written by Lee. The draft for the Declaration of Rights drew on Magna Carta, the English Petition of Right of 1628, and that nation's 1689 Bill of Rights. Mason's first article would be paraphrased by Jefferson soon after in drafting the American Declaration of Independence.[54]

From the first article, cataloguing the rights of man, Mason derived the following articles, which make clear that the role of government is to secure and protect those rights, and if it fails to do so, the people have a right to amend or abolish it. Property could not be taken for public use without the owner's consent, and a citizen could only be bound by a law accepted by that person or by elected representatives. If accused, a person had the right to a speedy and local trial, based on an accusation made known to him, with the right to call for evidence and witnesses in his favor.[55]

When the convention began to debate the declaration, it quickly bogged down on the first sentence of Article 1, which some feared would imply that slaves were their masters' equals. This was resolved by the convention adding the words "when they enter into a state of society", thus excluding slaves. 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".[56] The Declaration of Rights was passed by the convention on June 12, 1776.[57]

Mason's plan for Virginia's constitution was adopted over proposals by Thomas Jefferson (pictured) and others.

In later years, there was a flurry of contradictory statements from convention members (including Mason) about who composed which articles. Randolph credited Henry with Articles 15 and 16, but the latter (dealing with religious freedom), was written by Madison.[58] Mason had imitated English law in drafting language requiring toleration of those of minority religions, but Madison insisted on full religious liberty, and Mason supported Madison's amendment once made.[57]

The committee draft, likely for the most part written by Mason, received wide publicity (the final version much less so) and 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.[59] In 1778, Mason wrote that the Declaration of Rights "was closely imitated by the other United States".[60] This was true, as seven of the original states, and Vermont, joined Virginia in promulgating a bill of rights. Four in addition specified rights that were protected, within the body of their constitutions. Feelings were so strong in Massachusetts that voters there in 1778 rejected a constitution drafted by a convention, insisting that a bill of rights had to come first.[61]

Even before the convention approved the Declaration of Rights, Mason was busy at work on a constitution for Virginia.[54] He was not the only one occupying himself so; Jefferson sent several versions from Philadelphia, one of which supplied the eventual constitution's preamble. Essex County's Meriwether Smith may have prepared a draft, but the text is unknown. As an original writing in Mason's hand is not known, the extent to which the final draft was written by him is uncertain. Nevertheless, William Fleming on June 22, 1776, sent Jefferson a copy of the draft before the Cary Committee, telling him "the inclosed [sic] printed plan was drawn by Colo. G. Mason and by him laid before the committee".[62]

Mason had submitted his plan sometime between June 8 and 10, 1776. It named the new state the "Commonwealth of Virginia", a name chosen pointedly by Mason to indicate that power stemmed from the people. The constitution provided for a popularly elected House of Delegates, chosen annually by men who owned or leased property, or who had fathered three or more Virginians. Most governmental power resided in the House of Delegates—the governor could not even veto a bill, and could only act as head of the state militia on the advice of his Council of State, whose members were elected by the legislature. The draft was considered by the committee, and it issued a report on June 24, at which time Jefferson's preamble and several amendments authored by him were included—George Wythe, who advocated for Jefferson's draft before the committee, found discussion far enough advanced that members were only willing to yield to Jefferson on a few points. The entire convention considered the document between June 26 and 28, and it was signed on the 29th. Richard Henry Lee wrote the day prior to the constitution's passage by unanimous vote, "I have had the pleasure to see our new plan of Government go on well. This day will put a finishing hand to it. 'Tis very much of the democratic kind."[63]

When the convention chose Patrick Henry as Virginia's first post-independence governor, Mason led the committee of notables sent to inform Henry of his election.[64] There was criticism of the constitution—Edmund Randolph later wrote that the document's faults indicated that even such a great mind as Mason's was not immune from "oversights and negligences": it did not have an amending process, and granted two delegates to each county regardless of population.[65] The 1776 constitution remained in force until 1830, when another convention replaced it.[66] According to Henry C. Riely in his journal article on Mason, "The Virginia Constitution of 1776, whatever may have been the question raised long afterwards as to the contribution of other great leaders, stands, on the authority of Jefferson, Madison, and Randolph—to mention only the highest authority—as his creation."[67]

Although the Annapolis Convention saw only about a dozen delegates attend, representing only five states, it called for a meeting to be held in Philadelphia in May 1787, to devise amendments to the Articles of Confederation which would result in a more durable constitutional arrangement. Accordingly, in December 1786, the Virginia General Assembly elected seven men as the commonwealth's delegation: Washington, Mason, Henry, Randolph, Madison, Wythe, and John Blair. Henry declined appointment, and his place was given to Dr. James McClurg. Randolph, who had just been elected governor, sent three notifications of election to Mason, who accepted without any quibbles. The roads were difficult because of spring flooding, and Mason was the last Virginia delegate to arrive, on May 17, three days after the convention's scheduled opening. But it was not until May 25 that the convention formally opened, with the arrival of at least one delegate from ten of the twelve states which sent representatives (Rhode Island sent no one).[84]

Independence Hall's Assembly Room, where the Constitutional Convention, for the most part, was held

The journey to Philadelphia was Mason's first beyond Virginia and Maryland.[85] According to Josephine T. Pacheco in her article about Mason's role at Philadelphia, "since Virginia's leaders regarded [Mason] as a wise, trustworthy man, it is not surprising that they chose him as a member of the Virginia delegation, though they must have been surprised when he accepted".[86] Broadwater suggested that 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.[87] As the Virginians waited for the other delegates to arrive, they met each day and formulated what became known as the Virginia Plan. They also did some sightseeing, and were presented to Pennsylvania's president, Benjamin Franklin. Within a week of arrival, Mason was bored with the social events to which the delegates were invited, "I begin to grow tired of the etiquette and nonsense so fashionable in this city".[88]

Going into the convention, Mason wanted to see a more powerful central government than under the Articles, but not one that would threaten local interests. He 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.[89] As was his constant objective, he sought to preserve the liberty he and other free white men enjoyed in Virginia, guarding against the tyranny he and others had decried under British rule. He also 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".[90]

Mason had hope, coming into the convention, that it would yield a result that he felt would strengthen the United States. Impressed by the quality of the delegates, Mason expected sound thinking from them, something he did not think he had often encountered in his political career. Still, he felt that the "hopes of all the Union centre [sic] in this Convention",[91] and wrote to his son George, "the revolt from Great Britain & the Formations of our new Government at that time, were nothing compared with the great Business now before us."[92]

Mason knew few of the delegates who were not from Virginia or Maryland, but his reputation preceded him. Once delegates representing sufficient states had arrived in Philadelphia by late May, the convention held closed sessions at the Pennsylvania State House (today, Independence Hall). Washington was elected the convention's president by unanimous vote, and his tremendous personal prestige as the victorious war general helped legitimize the convention, but also caused him to abstain from debate. Mason had no such need to remain silent, and only four or five delegates spoke as frequently as he did. Though he ended up not signing the constitution, according to Broadwater, Mason won as many convention debates as he lost. [94]

In the early days of the convention, Mason supported much of the Virginia Plan, which was introduced by Randolph on May 29. This plan would have a popularly elected lower house which would choose the members of the upper house from lists provided by the states. Most of the delegates had found the weak government under the Articles insufficient, and Randolph proposed that the new federal government should be supreme over the states.[95] Mason agreed that the federal government should be more powerful than the states.[96]

The Virginia Plan, if implemented, would base representation in both houses of the federal legislature on population. This was unsatisfactory to the smaller states. Delaware's delegates had been instructed to seek an equal vote for each state, and this became the New Jersey Plan, introduced by that state's governor, William Paterson. The divisions in the convention became apparent in late June, when by a narrow vote, the convention voted that representation in the lower house be based on population, but the motion of Connecticut's Oliver Ellsworth for each state to have an equal vote in the upper house failed on a tie. With the convention deadlocked, on July 2, 1787, a Grand Committee was formed, with one member from each state, to seek a way out.[97] Mason had not taken as strong a position on the legislature as had Madison, and he was appointed to the committee; Mason and Benjamin Franklin were the most prominent members. The committee met over the convention's July 4 recess, and proposed what became known as the Great Compromise: a House of Representatives based on population, in which money bills must originate, and a Senate with equal representation for each state. Records do not survive of Mason's participation in that committee, but the clause requiring money bills to start in the House most likely came from him or was the price of his support, as he had inserted such a clause in the Virginia Constitution, and he defended that clause once convention debate resumed.[98] According to Madison's notes, Mason urged the convention to adopt the compromise:

However liable the Report [of the Grand Committee] might be to objections, he thought it preferable to an appeal to the world by the different sides, as had been talked of by some Gentlemen. It could not be more inconvenient to any gentleman to remain absent from his private affairs, than it was for him: but he would bury his bones in this city rather than expose his Country to the Consequences of a dissolution of the Convention without any thing being done.[99]

By mid-July, as delegates began to move past the stalemate to a framework built upon the Great Compromise, Mason had considerable influence in the convention. North Carolina's William Blount was unhappy that those from his state "were in Sentiment with Virginia who seemed to take the lead. Madison at their Head tho Randolph and Mason also great".[100] Mason had failed to carry his proposals that senators must own property and not be in debt to the United States, but successfully argued that the minimum age for service in Congress should be 25, telling the convention that men younger than that were too immature.[101] 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, voted against proposals to base representation on a state's wealth or taxes paid, and supported regular reapportionment of the House of Representatives.[102]

On August 6, 1787, the convention received a tentative draft written by a Committee of Detail chaired by South Carolina's John Rutledge; Randolph had represented Virginia. The draft was acceptable to Mason as a basis for discussion, containing such points important to him as the requirement that money bills originate in the House and not be amendable in the Senate. Nevertheless, 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. The draft lacked provision for a council of revision, something Mason and others considered a serious lack.[103]

The convention spent several weeks in August in debating the powers of Congress. Although Mason was successful in some of his proposals, such as placing the state militias under federal regulation, and a ban on Congress passing an export tax, he lost on some that he deemed crucial. These losses included the convention deciding to allow importation of slaves to continue to at least 1800 (later amended to 1808) and to allow a simple majority to pass navigation acts that might require Virginians to export their tobacco in American-flagged ships, when it might be cheaper to use foreign-flagged vessels. The convention also weakened the requirement that money bills begin in the House and not be subject to amendment in the Senate, eventually striking the latter clause after debate that stretched fitfully over weeks. Despite these defeats, Mason continued to work constructively to build a constitution, serving on another grand committee that considered customs duties and ports.[104]

On August 31, 1787, Massachusetts' Elbridge Gerry spoke against the document as a whole, as did Luther Martin of Maryland. When Gerry moved to postpone consideration of the final document, 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".[105] Still, 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. As the final touches were made to the constitution, Mason and Gerry held meetings in the evening to discuss strategy, bringing in delegates representing states from Connecticut to Georgia.[106]

Mason's misgivings about the constitution were increased on September 12, when Gerry proposed and Mason seconded that there be a committee appointed to write a bill of rights, to be part of the text of the constitution. Connecticut's Roger Sherman noted that the state bills of rights would remain in force, to which Mason responded, "the Laws of the United States are to be paramount [supreme] to State Bills of Rights." Although Massachusetts abstained in deference to Gerry, the Virginians showed no desire to conciliate Mason in their votes, as the motion failed with no states in favor and ten opposed.[108] Also on September 12, the Committee on Style, charged with making a polished final draft of the document, reported, and Mason began to list objections on his copy. On September 15, as the convention continued a clause-by-clause consideration of the draft, Mason, Randolph and Gerry stated they would not sign the constitution.[109]

On September 17, members of the twelve delegations then present in Philadelphia signed the constitution, except for the three men who had stated they would not. As the document was sent to the Articles of Confederation's Congress in New York, Mason sent a copy of his objections to Richard Henry Lee, a member of the Congress.[71]