George Mason

George Mason entered Virginia politics in the 1760s, advocating for the rights of colonists and assisted in writing the Fairfax Resolves. He authored founding documents influential in establishing the state of Virginia including the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) and the Virginia Bill of Rights and Constitution (1776). Later in life, Mason remained politically independent, refusing to sign the 1787 Constitution because he disagreed with several of the document provisions including a lack of a bill of rights. These protests and his own political writings later inspired the Bill of Rights by James Madison, which were amended to the Constitution in 1791.

Early Life

Mason was born in Fairfax County, Virginia in 1725. His parents, George Mason III and Ann Stevens Thomson were affluent land owners in Virginia and Maryland. As a young man he served a colonel to militia in Fairfax County, and he continued to serve there as a justice there until 1789. He owned property he inherited from his family near Mount Vernon, but also invested in property in nearby Alexandria. He married Ann Eilbeck in 1750, and they shared nine children who survived to adulthood. They established a property at Gunston Hall in 1755. Mason first socialized with Washington as neighbors, sharing mutual friends. They wrote to one another about their interests in local affairs, agriculture, and the development of the area.¹  

Political Career

George Mason first worked with George Washington in 1769 when both were members of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Looking for a way to protest British tax policies, Washington assisted Mason in authoring the Virginia Nonimportation Resolutions of 1769.² The measures called for a boycott of British luxury goods imported into the colony. To ensure enforcement the Resolves organized local committees to police for strict compliance. Mason and Washington wanted the associations to ensure the boycott would aid in placing economic pressure on Great Britain. In that same year, Washington acquired 100 acres of land from Mason, adding to the growth of Mount Vernon.

Several years later, Mason and Washington corroborated again in response to the 1774 Coercive Acts passed by Parliament. A meeting chaired by Washington in Alexandria, Virginia during the summer adopted what became known as the Fairfax Resolves. Authored by Mason, the resolutions warned that a conspiracy existed in British halls, which desired to lessen the influence and economic prosperity of colonists. The Resolves also suggested a meeting of a continent-wide congress to once again organize a boycott of British imports. Mason showed off his skills as a political thinker in his authorship of the Resolves, repeating the notion that only the elected representatives of a province could pass binding laws on its people.

After the end of the American Revolution and amid desires to amend the Articles of Confederation, Mason emerged again as a Virginia state leader. Mason attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, participating in several debates concerning the various powers entrusted to the new government including the slave trade, which he believed should end despite his own status as an enslaver. However, he ultimately refused to sign the finished document. He protested that the new blueprint for the government lacked a bill of rights, writing to Washington that his “Objections are not numerous…  tho’ in my mind, some of them are capital ones.”³

In the months that followed, Mason continued to voice his concerns at the Virginia Ratification convention. Washington urged them to ratify the Constitution. Joined by Patrick Henry and Edmund Randolph, Mason and other anti-federalists, those who opposed the newly proposed federal government, nearly derailed ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. A deal was struck by both sides to adopt suggestions for writing protections of individual rights when the first Congress convened. James Madison would later lean heavily on Mason's earlier work when he drafted the Bill of Rights.

Later Life

Mason was constantly plagued with health issues during his life, and remained out of the spotlight after the inauguration of his old friend George Washington. Mason retreated to his home at Gunston Hall, remaining a vocal critic of the new government and many of the policies initiated by the Federalist Party, including Alexander Hamilton's financial plan. Despite enslaving over one hundred people at the time of his death, he advocated to end to slavery in the colonies and United States. However, he never manumitted anyone in his lifetime or afterwards.

Weakened by recurring gout, Mason passed away on October 7, 1792 and is buried on the grounds of his beloved Gunston Hall. George Mason University was named in his honor in 1959. 

James MacDonald, Ph.D. Northwestern State University, revised by Zoie Horecny, Ph.D., 24 April 2025

Notes:

1. “To George Washington from George Mason, 16 May 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives.

2. “Virginia Nonimportation Resolutions, 17 May 1769,” Founders Online, National Archives.

3. “To George Washington from George Mason, 7 October 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives.

Bibliography:

Broadwater, Jeff. George Mason, Forgotten Founder. University of North Carolina Press, 2006.

Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin.

Copeland, Pamela C. and Richard K. McMaster. The Five George Masons. George Mason University, 2016.

Dunn, Terry K. George Mason, Slavery at Gunston Hall, and the Idealism of the American Revolution. Commonwealth Books of Virginia, 2016.

Ferling, John. The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of An American Icon. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009.