Virginia Delegation | Quill

U.S. Constitutional Convention 1787 (2021 Edition)

Grand Convention at Philadelphia, May to September, 1787, Quill Project 2021 Edition.

Virginia Delegation

This is one of the 13 delegations in the convention, accounting for 7 of 59 people who took part.

Members (7):

Name	Visualize	Details	Delegations
John Blair	Visualize	(17 April 1732 – 31 August 1800) Jurist, legislator, farmer and slaveholder. Having practised law, he joined the Virginia House of Burgesses prior to the Revolution. On its outbreak he helped to draft the Virginian constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. As a judge he held several senior positions within the state’s courts. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and afterwards a US Supreme Court judge. He was also a farmer and owned several slaves.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)
James Madison	Visualize	(5 March 1751 – 28 June 1836) Planter, slaveholder, essayist, legislator, and President of the USA. Born the son of a leading planter, he secured election into the Virginia Convention, which produced the independent state, its new constitution, and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. He then joined the state legislature and the Confederation Congress. A principal proponent of the Constitutional Convention, he was also the author of the Virginia Plan, a faithful Convention attendee, a dedicated notetaker, and one of the Convention's most active speakers. He also authored several of the ‘Federalist Papers’ in defence of the new Constitution. He was a Representative for Virginia in the new U.S. Congress and a leading figure in the creation of the Bill of Rights. He was later U.S. Secretary of State and then President.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation) , Virginia Delegation (United States Bill of Rights 1789 (2021 Edition))
George Mason	Visualize	(11 December 1725 – 7 October 1792) Planter, slave owner, militia officer and legislator. He joined the Virginia House of Burgesses and later the revolutionary Virginia Convention. He was central to the creation of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and constitution. Though he joined the Virginia legislature he refused to attend the Continental Congress. Chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention but refused to sign the final document and opposed ratification. He also opposed slavery, but would not free his own slaves.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)
James McClurg	Visualize	(1746 – 9 July 1823) Physician and Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. During the Revolutionary War he was a naval surgeon and then Physician General and Director of Hospitals for Virginia. When Patrick Henry refused to attend the Constitutional Convention, McClurg went in his place. He left early, but later served on Virginia's Executive Council and as Mayor of Richmond. During his life he owned a small number of slaves.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)
Edmund Randolph	Visualize	(10 August 1753 – 12 September 1813) Lawyer, slave owner, state governor and US Secretary of State. Elected to the Virginia Convention and then the Continental Congress he also maintained an important law practice. During the Revolutionary War he acted as an aide-de-camp for Washington. After the war he became Governor of Virginia and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, where he introduced the Virginia Plan. Refused to sign the final document but changed his mind to support ratification. Later US Attorney General and Secretary of State.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)
George Washington	Visualize	(11 February 1732 – 14 December 1799) Soldier, surveyor, planter, slave holder, legislator and President of the USA. Having joined the army as a young man, he was made colonel of the colonial Virginia Regiment and Virginian Commander in Chief during the French and Indian War. He joined the Virginia House of Burgesses, then the Virginia Convention and Continental Congress. He was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Having retired from the army, he was selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, where he was elected its president. Afterwards he was elected President of the USA, a role he greatly shaped.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)
George Wythe	Visualize	(1726 – 8 June 1806) Lawyer, scholar, judge, planter and slave owner. Practising lawyer and law professor at the College of William & Mary, he was also a Virginia judge. He was elected to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was later a Virginian delegate to the Constitutional Convention but left early due to the death of his wife. He chaired the Virginia ratification sessions.	Virginia Delegation (This negotiation)