“We, the People vs. We, the State”: The Virginia Ratifying Convention

Great minds don’t always agree. During the Virginia ratifying convention, what were the arguments for and against the new Constitution?

Federalists Anti-Federalists Supported the Constitution created by the Constitutional Convention of 1787 James Madison George Washington Did not support the Constitution created by the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Patrick Henry George Mason

Anti-Federalists

Patrick Henry without a bill of rights, endanger the liberties of Americans Represented Virginia at the First and Second Continental Congresses Attended four of Virginia's five Revolutionary Conventions Commonwealth of Virginia's first governor Lawyer Anti-Federalist: feared that the Constitution would create too strong a national government that would,

George Mason Planter Anti-federalist: argued that the government would be too powerful, that it blended, rather than separated, the legislative and executive powers, and that it lacked a bill of rights Served in three Virginia Revolutionary Conventions and wrote first drafts of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the first Virginia constitution

William Grayson Lawyer Anti-Federalist: feared the Constitution would allow northern and northeastern states to form majorities in Congress against the interests of southern states and also jeopardize essential interests of westerners Represented Virginia in Congress from 1785 to 1787

James Monroe Lawyer Anti-Federalist: believed the Constitution needed a bill of rights and that the executive should be directly elected Representative to the Continental Congress 1783 Image courtesy of the Library of Congress:

Federalists

Politician/planter Federalist: “Father of the Constitution,” he drafted the Virginia Plan, which was the basis for the debates at the Convention of 1787 James Madison Attended the fifth Virginia Revolutionary Convention and drafted one of the amendments to the Virginia Declaration of Rights that guaranteed all men the right to the free exercise of religion Virginia Representative to the Continental Congress

Edmund Pendleton Lawyer Federalist Member of the First and Second Continental Congresses President of the Virginia Committee of Safety that governed the colony from the summer of 1775 to the summer of 1776 President of the fourth and fifth Virginia Conventions President of the Virginia Ratifying Convention

George Nicolas Lawyer Federalist Served in the House of Delegates, 1778–1779, 1781–1782, 1783, and 1786–1788

Edmund Randolph Federalist Lawyer/ Politician Federalist: felt that adopting the Constitution was the best way to keep the states together as a union. First attorney general of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1776– 1786) Delegate to the Continental Congress (1779, 1781–1782) Governor of Virginia (1786–1788) Delegate to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention (1787)

John Marshall Lawyer Federalist Later the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.