George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights

George Mason was wise, and his wisdom is worth recalling. A Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, his trip to Philadelphia was the longest of his life. Often forgotten, he is a hero – one we must not forget. His refusal to sign the Constitution without a Bill of Rights forced one to be added.

Imagine a world without the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and free exercise of religion, not to mention right to petition federal and state government with grievances, or without the Second Amendment’s right to “keep and bear arms,” Fourth Amendment’s right to be secure in our “homes and papers,” Fifth Amendment’s rights of “due process” and “equal protection,” Sixth Amendment’s rights at trial, and all the rest.

The irony is that Mason was not “mainstream” in his time. He was considered a crotchety old curmudgeon, a man who brainlessly insisted that these basic rights be put on paper, while most of the Founding generation took them for granted and could not imagine a government ever taking them.

Mason could imagine it, did imagine it, and ended up forcing the Constitutional Convention to go beyond just setting forth Articles for governing, but placing limits on what a federal government – and eventually state governments – could do with the power vested in them.

To say he was foresightful or even prescient is to understate his powers for looking into the future, and only with his guidance – perceived as senseless caution by many – did the First Congress introduce a Bill of Rights, our Constitution’s first ten amendments, in 1789, leading to ratification in 1791, a year before Mason died.

To this man is owed more than most know, and as the centuries pass, more still. He did not trust that power would not become centralized, that centralized power – federal or state – would not be abused, and so made a horrific stink. He also demanded, without success, an end to slavery.

So, what else did Mason say, from which we might take added heed or guidance now? He wrote that power is to be distrusted, and those long in power to be distrusted more. “Considering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people,” and one-party power he despised.

On the importance of gun ownership, he was neither ideological nor illogical, simply practical. “To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them,” adding when asked “What is the militia?” that “It is the whole people except for a few public officials.”

On the importance of moral compass, he was both direct and specific. “That no free government, nor the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles; and by the recognition by all citizens that they have duties as well as rights… and that such rights cannot be enjoyed save in a society where law is respected and due process is observed.”

If these observations sound – once again – like common sense, they are, and yet they are also at risk, being constantly challenged as his other insights were in his day. He was at once clear, incisive, and pithy.

Mason noted, when arguing against slavery: “We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it.” In an observation that applies today, from the left’s intentional misinterpretation of Title IX and Constitutional law to demands that God be erased from schools, “The laws of nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth.”

Mason would be disappointed by the infiltration of America’s independent press by ideologues, government apologists, and leftists wishing concentrated power – rather than being a check on power, trading the role of critic for loyalist. “The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.”

Mason would remind us that “All power is lodged in, and consequently derived from, the people,” and he said, “We should wear it as a breastplate, and buckle it on as our armor.”

Finally, he would offer hope – even in this distressed time – and would ask us to step up and fulfill that hope. He also told us how. “Happiness and Prosperity are now within our Reach; but to attain and preserve them must depend upon our own Wisdom and Virtue.”

Now is a good time to remember the forgotten wisdom of George Mason.