“A monarchy, or a corrupt tyrannical aristocracy.”
That, George Mason warned, is what the Constitution would produce. His objections to ratification became the foundation for some of the most influential Anti-Federalist arguments.
Born 300 years ago today, December 11, 1725, Mason was one of the most influential political thinkers and leaders of the American Revolution. It would be hard to exaggerate the impact of his Virginia Declaration of Rights, which served as the foundation for the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights – and other constitutional documents around the world.
But today, on the 300th anniversary of his birth, we are exploring his forgotten warnings about the Constitution during the ratification debates. They focus almost completely on his core fear that the new system would centralize power in a national government and destroy liberty.
Mason did not start as an opponent, but he grew sharply dissatisfied with the Convention’s direction, especially after the compromise to allow the international slave trade to continue. As the Convention neared its end, he famously declared that he would rather “chop off his right hand than put it to the Constitution as it now stands.”
His public objections quickly became a rallying cry and a platform for critics of the Constitution, echoed throughout the ratification debates.
THE CORE WARNING: CONSOLIDATION
Mason’s primary objection? Consolidation – the fundamental shift from a union of sovereign states (a confederation) to a centralized national government. This, he warned, was a rejection of the principles of the American Revolution.
“The very idea of converting what was formerly a confederation, to a consolidated Government, is totally subversive of every principle which has hitherto governed us.”
Hellbound and Down 