Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/United States/Mason, George

Mason, George (1726-1792), member of the Federal convention of 1787, was born in Fairfax county, Va., in 1726. He served in the Virginia convention in 1775, and drafted its Declaration of Rights and Plan of Government. His most conspicuous service was in the Federal convention of 1787, of which he was a member. He took part in most of the debates, and exerted a strong influence on the decision of almost every question before the convention. Some of his strongest utterances were on the subject of slavery, and his language on one occasion (Aug. 22) might have served as a model to an anti-slavery orator of later times. He was dissatisfied with the constitution, and opposed its ratification. He died Oct. 7, 1792.