- March 6, 1809, 217 years ago — Death of Thomas Heyward Jr..
- March 6, 1724, 302 years ago — Birth of Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress.
- March 7, 1707, 319 years ago — Birth of Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
- March 7, 1699, 327 years ago — Birth of Susanna Boylston Adams, mother of John Adams.
George Mason
MASON, George, statesman and author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, born in Fairfax County, Va., 11 December, 1725; died at Gunston Hall, Va., 7 October, 1792.
He was a wealthy planter and legal thinker who drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776, which became a model for the U.S. Bill of Rights. Mason also helped frame Virginia’s constitution and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
He refused to sign the Constitution due to its lack of a bill of rights and its provisions on slavery. Mason’s principled stand influenced later amendments and earned him a reputation as a guardian of civil liberties.
Though less publicly celebrated than other Founders, Mason’s writings and convictions profoundly shaped American constitutional thought.
Source:
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appleton’s Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1887. Patriot Echoes Archive
Founders:
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