George Mason
• Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
• Delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention
• Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Delegate to the Constitutional Convention
• Delegate to the Virginia ratification convention
• George Mason University and three states’ Mason Counties is named in his honor
• George Mason Memorial is in Washington, D.C.
William Penn
• Founder of colonial Pennsylvania
• Founder of Philadelphia
• Brokered the 1682 "Great Treaty" with Indians
• Proposed the idea of a European union of states
George Mason (1725-1792) of Virginia was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, considered a blueprint for the U.S. Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Mason entered politics as a justice and trustee in Northern Virginia before being elected to the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg in 1759. He penned an open letter against the Stamp Act to Parliament six years later, and in 1774 helped draft the Fairfax Resolves, a constitutional grievance against the closure of Boston Harbor by London as part of the Coercive Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party.
During the Williamsburg Convention in May 1776, when Virginia formed a new state government, Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights. "All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights," he wrote for Article I, "... among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." Article II stated, "... all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them." The document was ratified on June 12. Feeling his work was accomplished, he left the legislature in 1780.
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Mason protested the slave trade and having the word "slavery" appear in the Constitution. Like various other slaveholding revolutionaries, he feared slavery would, in his words, "poison" the young republic and be a continuous source of disunion. He argued that slavery should be abolished as soon as fiscally possible. Despite being among the top five speakers at the convention, Mason refused to sign the document. He argued that the U.S. House of Representatives was disproportionate and that the U.S. Senate and federal judiciary were too powerful, and he disapproved of a 10-acre federal city. More importantly, he disputed the omission of a bill of rights. Although he was a revolutionary and praised the character and wisdom of his colleagues, Mason despised politics and could be inflexible with compromises. Mason joined fellow Virginian Patrick Henry as a leading Anti-Federalist for the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Mason said, "There is no Declaration of Rights, and the laws of the general government being paramount to the laws and constitution of the several states, the Declaration of Rights in the separate states are no security." The Virginia Declaration of Rights articles addressing freedom of the press, religious freedom, right of trial by jury, prohibitions on excessive bail and inhumane punishment and promotion of "a well regulated militia" were replicated in the Bill of Rights in 1791.
Thomas Jefferson said about his friend and colleague, "This was George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom among those who acted on the theater of the revolution, of expansive mind, profound judgment, cogent in argument."
William Penn (1644-1718) of Pennsylvania was the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, established for religious freedom and just law, and the City of Philadelphia, and instituted a peace policy with Indian tribes in the region. He also introduced a plan for a united states of Europe.
Born an Anglican in London, Penn joined the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, at age 22, and became good friends with Quaker founder George Fox. Penn's criticism of the Holy Trinity landed him in the Tower of London in 1668, and upon his release eight months later was arrested again, this time for speaking at a Quaker gathering.
A group of Quakers including Penn had a chance to form their own free territory in the New World by royal charter, and Penn drafted the Frame of Government in 1681. "Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments," it stated. "Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it." The document promised spiritual freedom, fair trials and a separation of powers for the new province. Charles II, who was glad to see the troublesome sect's followers leave England (and who also owed the Penns £16,000), dubbed the territory "Pennsylvania," in honor of Penn's father, a famous admiral. Pennsylvania was a "holy experiment" founded as a safe haven for all Christian minorities. "True spiritual liberty is one of the most glorious things in the world, but it is little understood and frequently abused by many," Penn wrote. "I beseech Almighty God to preserve you, His people, in the right knowledge and use of the liberty, which Jesus Christ is redeeming us into."
The province swelled with European settlers, but Pennsylvania never became profitable, as Penn had hoped. However, while Penn was in the New World from 1682-1684, he laid the groundwork for Philadelphia and built a positive rapport with local Indian tribes, including the 1682 "Great Treaty" with the Shackamaxon to fairly purchase Indian lands to settle rather than conquer them. Unfortunately, Penn's successors would treat the Indians much less justly.
In 1691, Penn was the first person to propose the idea of a European union of states to promote peace, or, as he called it, a "European Dyet, Parliament, or Estates." He returned to Pennsylvania in 1699 in an attempt to form a federation of all the American colonies. Although a slave owner, Penn always promoted humane treatment of slaves. Cheated out of his family's fortune in England and consumed with litigation to win it back, Penn died penniless after years of poor health caused by a stroke.
Voltaire wrote, "William Penn might, with reason, boast of having brought down upon earth the Golden Age, which in all probability, never had any real existence but in his dominions."
FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHERS TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Round 3
Washington Bracket
- George Mason
- William Penn
Jefferson Bracket
- Nathanael Greene
- Richard Henry Lee
Madison Bracket
- Roger Williams
- Henry Knox
Franklin Bracket
- John Jay
- Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
FFFs and match-ups are determined by my interpretation of who I believe were the 32 greatest FFFs. Personal politics, favoritism and reader response was NOT a factor in selection or seeding. As for the tournament itself: each match-up will be conducted every 24 hours with a synopsis written by yours truly and readers can determine using the poll function who the winner should be for that match-up; there is no #1 overall seed; FFFs retain their seeds throughout; the winner of the Washington bracket will face the winner of the Jefferson bracket, and the winner of the Madison bracket will face the winner of the Franklin bracket; after having the first tie, I've decided the higher seed will win ties. I am not voting nor will I pick sides in discussion. I wish I could somehow do a more rigid time duration period for each round but there’s no guarantee I’ll be on a computer or awake at that time so I’m gonna say polling lasts until I post the next match-up, or roughly 24 hours later. Readers may choose whichever FFF contestant they wish, but the point of the tournament is to select the greatest Forgotten Founding Father — the most influential, most important, most impactful, who contributed the most to the Revolution and/or seeds of American liberty. Please read the original diaries in addition to the information provided above so you have all the information before voting. Have fun!