George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights

by William G. Hyland Jr.

Overview

George Mason was a short, bookish man who was a friend and neighbor of athletic, broad-shouldered George Washington. Unlike Washington, Mason has been virtually forgotton by history. But this new biography of forgotten patriot George Mason makes a convincing case that Mason belongs in the pantheon of honored Founding Fathers. Trained in the law, Mason was also a farmer, philosopher, botanist, and musician. He was one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence, an author of the Bill of Rights, and one of the strongest proponents of religious liberty in American history. In fact, both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison may have been given undue credit for George Mason's own contributions to American democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621579267
Publisher:	Regnery History
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	259,565
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

William G. Hyland, Jr., a native of Virginia, received his B.A. from the University of Alabama and a J.D. from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. A former prosecutor, Hyland is a trial lawyer with over twenty-six years of litigation experience. His publications have appeared in the law journals of the University of Texas and University of Richmond, as well as in the American Journal of Trial Advocacy, including his article, “A Civil Action: Hemings v. Jefferson.” Before law school, he worked with a Top Secret security clearance for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in Washington, D.C. Hyland serves on Florida’s Judicial Nominating Commission and is a member of the Virginia and New York Historical Societies. He now lives and writes in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Prologue xxiii

Chapter 1 Origins 1

Chapter 2 Ann Eilbeck Mason 19

Chapter 3 Gunston Hall 37

Chapter 4 The Two Georges 61

Chapter 5 The Ohio Company 85

Chapter 6 Revolutionary 101

Chapter 7 The Virginia Constitution 129

Chapter 8 War and Death 147

Chapter 9 A New Constitution for a New Country 167

Chapter 10 The Philadelphia Convention 183

Chapter 11 Objections 209

Chapter 12 A Slow Poison 227

Chapter 13 The Virginia Ratifying Convention 259

Chapter 14 The True Father of the Bill of Rights 289

Chapter 15 The Shade of Retirement 311

Epilogue "The Stage of Human Life" 323

Appendix A A George Mason Chronology 331

Appendix B George Mason's Drafts for the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution (1776) 337

Appendix C George Mason's Objections to the Federal Constitution (1787) 353

Acknowledgments 357

Notes 359

Index 483