George Mason (1725-92) is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today; but in his service to America he was; in the words of Thomas Jefferson; "of the first order of greatness." Jeff Broadwater provides a comprehensive account of Mason's life at the center of the momentous events of eighteenth-century America. Mason played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis; the American Revolution; and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights; a document often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights.As a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia; Mason influenced the emerging Constitution on point after point. Yet when he was rebuffed in his efforts to add a bill of rights and concluded the document did too little to protect the interests of the South; he refused to sign the final draft. Broadwater argues that Mason's recalcitrance was not the act of an isolated dissenter; rather; it emerged from the ideology of the American Revolution. Mason's concerns about the abuse of political power; Broadwater shows; went to the essence of the American experience.
#3634034 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 1993-12-10Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.75 x 6.75 x 1.00l; #File Name: 0807821098256 pages
Review
