UNSIGNED STATESMANSHIP: GEORGE MASON, PRINCIPLE, AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Matt White

December 2, 2014

Liberty University PPOG 504 – Leadership, Statesmanship, and Governance

Though George Mason was quite influential in creating the United States Constitution, in his refusal to endorse the document with his signature, Mason displayed an act of statesmanship. Central to a statesman’s mission is the promotion of a general cause over the promotion of self, sometimes at personal risk.[1] The cause and the principle become the statesman’s raison d’être with no selfish motive of personal gain or the advancement of a political career. A great statesman possesses strong leadership skill, but statesmanship goes well beyond leadership. A statesman does not simply follow public opinion, unlike many in power in a democratic government.  A Statesman does not seek to enhance or continue his own political power and influence.

The statesman is usually a strong orator, with skill in debate through appeals to both logic and passion. Interpersonal skill, charm and wit are traits that will carry a statesman far. A statesman knows how to work within the system to place change into motion and produce tangible results. A statesman is a visionary, with lasting public impact through unwavering resolve. A statesman understands the importance of preserving principle for the benefit of future generations. A statesman humbly yet confidently elevates the standards of those around him.[2] Though some historians have painted George Mason in a negative light as a sore loser in his refusal to sign the United States Constitution, with this act, and in other aspects of Mason’s political career, Mason displayed all of the noted qualities of statesmanship.

            George Mason was elected as one of Virginia’s six representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, set to convene in May, 1787. Though plagued by frequent health issues that made travel to Philadelphia quite difficult, Mason understood the importance of the task at hand and served with enthusiasm.[3] He considered the formation of a new national government more important than the Revolution itself, and of “…the influence which the Establishments now proposed may have upon the happiness or Misery of Millions yet unborn.”[4] Having drafted the Fairfax Resolves,[5] Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution,[6] Mason was well known and respected as an intellectual leader in revolutionary philosophy.[7] Over the course of the convention, from May to September, 1787, only four delegates spoke more than Mason.[8] Mason exerted profound influence throughout the document and the structure of the new government, particularly concerning the Great Compromise.[9] Yet, despite the fact that his handiwork can be seen throughout the United States Constitution, Mason was one of three delegates to not sign the final version presented to the states for ratification.[10] Some historians have portrayed the man as stubborn, with wounded vanity.[11]

            Despite being one of the principle architects of the United States Constitution, Mason held many objections to the document as presented to the states.[12] Mason was a nationalist and endorsed the replacement of the Articles of Confederation with the new federal Constitution, yet his refusal to endorse the Constitution presented by the Convention placed him in the anti-federalist camp. His published list of objections was widely circulated and became a central piece of anti-federalist literature across the confederation of states,[13] which shows that Mason was a well-respected leader and that his opinion had clout. Mason’s objections were numerous. The purpose here is not to analyze the merits of his claims, but to analyze his statesmanship in defending them. Foremost, there was no Declaration of Rights. This may have been the tipping point in his decision not to sign during the Constitutional Convention.[14] Though he was no modern abolitionist, he thought slavery was detestable and was strongly opposed to the compromise that banned Congress from outlawing the slave trade for at least 20 years, preserving the practice until 1808. One of Mason’s objections was his belief that the Commerce Clause and congressional power to make laws of commerce and navigation would strongly favor the northern states and be an economic stranglehold on the south. Some of Mason’s strongest objections dealt with the structure of government. The Senate was not elected directly by the people, and he feared they would form an American aristocracy “and enable them to accomplish what usurpations they please upon the Rights and Libertys (sp.) of the People.”[15] The Senate and the Executive Branch were too closely tied, particularly with naming the Vice President as President of the Senate, “for want of other employment.”[16] The President had no Constitutional council other than those of the Senate, and “…he will therefore be unsupported by proper information and advice; and will generally be directed by Minions and Favourites (sp.).”[17] Finally, Mason opposed the fact that the President was granted unrestrained power of pardon, and feared that a federal judiciary would absolve the decisions of local courts.

            Mason possessed strong rhetorical skills typical of most statesmen. Not all statesmen are strong orators. Washington, for instance, rarely spoke at the Constitutional Convention,[18] though none doubt his statesmanship credentials. However, rhetorical skill, charm, and wit in debate are common traits that certainly help a statesman succeed. William Pierce, a delegate from Georgia, stated of Mason, that “He is able and convincing in debate, steady and firm in his principles, and undoubtedly one of the best politicians in America.”[19] Madison called Mason “the ablest man in debate he had ever seen.”[20] Though not a lawyer by profession, Mason in the Virginia Ratifying Convention logically argued against the lack of term limits with historical precedent, that “If we judge from the experience of other countries and even our own, we may conclude that as the President of the United States may be reelected, so he will…”[21] He was known for his intelligence, wit, and charm, though sometimes overshadowed in Virginia by the fiery rhetoric of Patrick Henry. He wittily remarked in the Virginia Ratifying Convention that “…the Constitution has married the President and Senate – has made them man and wife.”[22]  He must have caused a few laughs when he remarked at the Constitutional Convention that he would “prefer the Government of Prussia to one which put all power into the hands of seven or eight men…”[23] Mason had a powerful moment in the Constitutional Convention when declaring, “…every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this.”[24]

            One requisite quality of statesmanship is that the cause or the greater good always rises above self-interest. This was clearly true with Mason and his fight to promote his version of republicanism as a safeguard against the rise of an American aristocracy and tyranny. Mason had to step well outside of his personal comfort zone in order to serve at the Constitutional Convention. He never actively sought national office.[25] If it were up to him, he would have preferred a life of quiet retirement at his home, the expansive Gunston Hall.[26] Very much a family man, he had a large clan to attend to, and took on personal responsibility after his first wife passed.[27] Mason suffered frequently from ill health, which made travel quite hard on him.[28] Philadelphia was the furthest he ever traveled from home.[29] Yet, when he was nominated to represent Virginia at the Constitutional Convention, he understood the importance of the calling to fight for this greater good, of which he so fervently believed, and he was unselfishly willing to leave home and serve with enthusiasm.[30]

            Mason’s unselfish stand on principle is seen in his fight for religious freedom throughout his political career, including the struggle for the freedom of religion enumerated in a national Bill of Rights. Mason was a devout Anglican, serving as a vestryman in the Truro Parish from 1749-1785. He believed that Christian virtue was a necessary requirement for any democratic republic, but that it should not be imposed by legal force.[31] Though his faith is undoubted, he shared Jefferson’s views on the separation of Church and state.[32] In the 16^th section of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written in 1776, Mason and his collaborators asserted that “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion…and that it the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”[33] This was an obvious precursor to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which Mason fought to include in the original Constitution. Mason was a member of the Anglican establishment, the official church of Virginia. It would have been in his best personal interest to maintain the system of church funding through state taxation. Instead, Mason introduced a bill in the House of Burgesses that suspended the state salaries of clergymen.[34] The principal of religious freedom was more important than his personal financial self-interest.

            To Mason and to statesmen in general, principal reigned supreme over popularity. In his opposition to the Constitution, Mason risked his personal friendship with George Washington. Washington and Mason were neighbors in northern Virginia, and had frequent personal correspondence starting in the 1750’s, through the next three decades. Mason often sent Washington barrels of cider, and the two often went hunting together.[35] Mason was an early political mentor to Washington. Washington’s biographer Joseph Ellis wrote “Washington’s political vocabulary grew in this more radical direction because of increased interaction with Mason in the summer of 1774. Mason was generally regarded as Virginia’s most learned student of political theory, well versed in all the Whig writers.”[36] The two cooperated on the Fairfax Resolves in response to the Boston Port Bill, as well as proposals to boycott British goods.[37] Mason and Washington closely collaborated in the formation and provision of the Continental Army.[38] However, Mason’s stance on the principal of limiting the power of the Chief Executive, for fear that granting too much power to the office would result in tyranny, effectively ended his friendship with Washington,[39] whom most assumed was destined to be the first President.

            Statesmen and great leaders, in humility, lift up others to a higher level. Mason was not above praising his fellow patriots. Of Patrick Henry, Mason praised his commanding oratory. He lauded, “he is in my opinion, the first man upon this continent, as well as in abilities as public virtues, and had he lived in Rome about the time of the first Punic War, when the Roman people had arrived at their meridian glory…Mr. Henry’s talents must have put him at the head of that glorious commonwealth.” For Henry, this was the highest form of praise.[40] Specifically regarding the non-signing of the Constitution, one could claim there was perhaps an element of pride. However, humility and submission beyond one’s principle are not the same.

            Mason’s stance on republican principal was firm and consistent throughout his political career, a trait required of statesmen. Mason never violated his long-lasting transcendent principle of the rights of mankind for democratic self-rule. The Fairfax Resolves were penned by Mason in 1774 and given to Washington for passage by the Fairfax County, Virginia government.[41] This strong document reflects principles of republican government that emerge in Mason’s future influence with the Constitution. Mason complained of taxation without representation, and proposed an enumerated list of British goods to boycott.[42] Thirteen years prior to Mason documenting his objection to the Constitution being unable to stop the slave trade until 1808, Mason proposed in the Fairfax Resolves the same notion. “Resolved…that during our present Difficulties and Distress, no Slaves ought to be imported into any of the British Colonies on this Continent; and we take this opportunity of declaring our most earnest Wishes to see an entire Stop forever put to such a wicked cruel and unnatural Trade.”[43]

            Likewise, Mason was consistent with his earlier work regarding his fight for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in the original draft of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights, eventually ratified in 1791, strongly reflects the same principals Mason laid out in the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 fifteen years prior. The opening section of the Virginia Declaration states “That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights…” With similar language, Thomas Jefferson undoubtedly read the Virginia Declaration of Rights prior writing the Declaration of Independence a month later.[44]

            One characteristic of statesmen is that their own political future is of less importance to the cause, and Mason was no exception in this regard.[45] Mason understood the monumental task in the creation of a new government under the Constitution, and was more concerned with the freedom of future generations than his future career. If he signed, he would go down in posterity or infamy as one of the framers. Mason placed his political legacy at risk by refusing to sign, but the flaws he saw in the document were too grave, in his mind, to approve without further deliberation. If the Constitutional Convention had not adjourned in haste, in Mason’s view, and had not presented the states with an “all or nothing” option for ratification, these omissions could have been corrected in the original draft with further debate.[46] He was a visionary statesman, in regard to his foreboding vision that an uncorrected Constitution could potentially degenerate the government into aristocracy or worse, tyranny.

            History may be written by the winners, but through the test of time, Mason proved to be correct due to the fact that much of what he objected to was eventually corrected. Mason was also a visionary in this regard. Immediate success is not a requisite for statesmanship, but if the statesman is fighting for the correct cause, the success of the statesman’s goal could outlast the statesman. Some desired changes may not have happened during his lifetime, but Mason’s objections outlasted his political legacy. Mason succeeded in influencing some of the primary elements of American government. Mason was Virginia’s representative in the Grand Committee, a result of which was the Great Compromise, which Mason supported, of popular representation in the House and state representation in the Senate.[47] Mason was successful in obtaining the provision providing for the readjustment of representatives based on changes in population.[48] The Bill of Rights was eventually ratified and included in the Constitution, providing for key freedoms Mason listed in his official objections, such as freedom of the press and trial by jury.[49] The Seventeenth Amendment provided for the direct election of Senators, though it wasn’t ratified until 1913. The Twenty-Second Amendment, ratified in 1951, limited the President to two terms. Though it could not legally happen until 1808, the foreign slave trade was eventually outlawed. However, some of Mason’s objections to the structure of government still exist. The Vice President is still the President of the Senate. Various levels of cronyism have existed among the President’s advisors throughout history.

            Though he had a tremendous influence in much of the document, Mason’s refusal to sign the United States Constitution at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was an act of statesmanship. The Constitution as it was, contained in Mason’s view too many dangerous imperfections, and signing it would be an unstatesmanlike endorsement that would have violated his core principles of republican government, democracy, and self-rule. The non-act, as well as other aspects of Mason’s life, were done free of unselfish regards for his own political career and personal relationships with his fellow patriots. Henry Kissinger noted, “A leader who gets too far ahead of his society will become irrelevant. A great leader must be an educator, bridging the gap between his visions and the familiar. But he must also be willing to walk alone to enable his society to follow the path he has selected.”[50] Perhaps Mason was too far ahead of his countrymen, causing a slide into obscurity in comparison to other prominent Founders. However, there is no doubt that Mason was a statesman willing to walk alone. It took some time, but eventually, society followed his path.

References

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

Brookhiser, Richard. James Madison. New York: Basic Books, 2011.

Cunningham, Noble E. Jr. In Pursuit of Reason: The life of Thomas Jefferson. Ballantine Books, 1987.

Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.

Kidd, Thomas S. Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots. New York: Basic Books, 2011.

Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Touchstone, 1994.

Gawalt, Gerard W. George Mason and George Washington: The Power of Principle. North Charleston: CreateSpace, 2012.

Mason, George. Debates in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 17-18, 1788. In Federalists and Antifederalists: The Debate Over the Ratification of the Constitution. Edited by John P. Kaminski and Richard Leffler, 92, 100. 2^nd ed. Madison: Madison House Publishers, 1998.

Mason, George, and Fairfax County, Virginia Freeholders. “Fairfax County Resolves.” July 18, 1774. Accessed November 23, 2014. http://www.constitution.org/bcp/fairfax_res.htm

Mason, George. “George Mason’s Objections to the Constitution.” Gunston Hall. September, 1787. Accessed November 24, 2014. http://gunstonhall.org/library/archives/manuscripts/objections.html

Mason, George, et.al. “Virginia Declaration of Rights.” Fifth Virginia Convention, May 15, 1776. Accessed November 23, 2014. http://www.constitution.org/bcp/virg_dor.htm

Newell, Terry. Statesmanship, Character, and Leadership in America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Rutland, Robert A. George Mason: Reluctant Statesman. 1961. Reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989.

White, Matt. “Stating Quality: The Traits, Attributes and Characteristics of Statesmen.” Literature Review Paper, Liberty University, 2014. November 4, 2014. http://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/assignment/uploadAssignment?content_id=_4921085_1&course_id=_96285_1&assign_group_id=&mode=view#