George Mason refused to sign the Constitution because he was concerned it did not provide sufficient protection for individual rights and civil liberties without a specific Bill of Rights. He feared the potential for governmental overreach and was instrumental in advocating for amendments that would later become the Bill of Rights.
Why did George Mason refuse to sign the Constitution?
- George Mason, a delegate from Virginia and author of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, was one of the most vocal opponents of signing the United States Constitution as drafted at the Constitutional Convention.
- Mason refused to sign it because he believed it did not adequately protect individual rights and civil liberties. Concerned about the strong central government that the Constitution proposed without a specific Bill of Rights, he feared that citizens' freedoms could be at risk.
- Alongside other prominent figures like Patrick Henry, Mason actively campaigned against the ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. He directly influenced the push for a series of amendments that would eventually compose the Bill of Rights.
- The need to balance the powers of the state and federal governments while protecting individual rights was the crux of Mason's refusal to sign.
- He, along with the Anti-Federalists, sought to prevent the potential for governmental overreach and to ensure that individual liberties were explicitly codified in the nation's foundational document.