Which Founder Are You?

Author of the 10th Amendment.

A Caveat Against Injustice
But so long as we part with our most valuable Commodities for such Bills of Credit as are no Profit; but rather a Cheat, Vexation and Snare to us, and become a Medium whereby we are continually cheating and wronging one another in our Dealings and Commerce.

I say so long as these Things are so we shall spend great Part of our Labour and Substance for that which will not profit us.

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"The writers of the constitution knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote in Article I Section 10 paragraph 1 'No state shall... make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. ' People able to barter with gold and silver coin control government and are free. Loss of the right to trade in gold and silver coin enslaves people to the creators of psychological 'money.'": -Merrill Jenkins, Sr.,The Greatest Hoax on Earth

another James Madison here...

Sorry for the length of this comment but for some reason :-) I can't resist giving ol' GM a bit more historical due that many think he was denied/shorted.

A few comments on "HISTORY" before getting to GM:

Most of us are familiar with the quote (which itself is of disputed/unknown origin but is often attributed to W. Churchill) in some form of: "History is written by the Victors"

An example of this is the history of Civil War battles from the Confederate perspective being skewed to overemphasize the importance of all things VIRGINIA-Units, Generals/commanders, etc.

A prime example of this is "Pickett's Charge" on the last day of "Gettysburg" which I will not explain, any interested can do their own research.

I realize that the examples I cited above are about the vanquished/losers not victors/winners but that further illustrates the influences/peeking order that becomes "HISTORY". The truth of the quote is vastly supported yet being brief it does not readily suggest the multiple facets and nuances of it's truth.

On to GM:

George Mason, 1725-1792

"The fact is unquestionable, that the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of Virginia, were drawn originally by George Mason, one of our greatest men, and of the first order of greatness."
Thomas Jefferson, friend and contemporary of Mason

The name George Mason is not one that many Americans outside our region would recognize, but the place of George Mason, the man, in our nation's history is of immeasurable importance.

Mason was a plantation owner whose residence was Gunston Hall, a handsome Georgian brick home located in close proximity to Mount Vernon, former home of George Washington, a neighbor and close friend for all but the last years of his life. A prominent figure in his home state and one whose counsel was greatly valued by others of his generation, Mason was the main author of both the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Constitution of Virginia.

As a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Mason refused to sign the Constitution and lobbied against its ratification in his home state, believing the document as drafted gave too much power to a central government and was incomplete absent a bill of rights to guarantee individual liberty. His dissent arose in part, too, from what he perceived as the Convention's reluctance to deal more harshly with the institution of slavery (although he himself held slaves).

Mason's refusal to sign the new Constitution cost him greatly, as he lost the friendship of Washington and others over his refusal to endorse the document in its final form. His refusal cost him his rightful place in the annals of history to some extent, as well. Mason is sometimes referred to as the "Forgotten Founder," largely ignored by history books and often uncredited for originating many of the core concepts and much of the language later incorporated in both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

Mason's efforts to ensure a protection of individual rights ultimately came to fruition in the year prior to his death with the passage of the federal Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, providing the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

In a forward to Robert A. Rutland's book George Mason Reluctant Statesman, Dumas Malone has this to say about Mason's contributions:

He was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was adopted three weeks before the national Declaration of Independence; and in this he charted the rights of human beings much more fully than Jefferson did in the immortal but necessarily compressed paragraph in the more famous document. Of the contemporary impact of Mason's Declaration there can be no possible question. Draftsmen in other states drew upon it when they framed similar documents or inserted similar safeguards of individual liberties in their new constitutions. Universal in its appeal, it directly affected the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789. In our own time it is echoed in the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. Writing in his old age, Lafayette said: "The era of the American Revolution, which one can regard as the beginning of a new social order for the entire world, is, properly speaking, the era of declarations of rights." More than any other single American, except possibly Thomas Jefferson, whom in some sense he anticipated, George Mason may be regarded as the herald of this new era; and in our own age, when the rights of individual human beings are being challenged by totalitarianism around the world, men can still find inspiration in his noble words.

Writer George Grant said of Mason: "A rationalist who had little faith in the workings of governmental bodies, Mason fought passionately for the freedom of the individual—citizen or slave; and he was largely responsible for ensuring that protection of the rights of the individual would be such an essential part of the American system."

**Some reasons why George Mason received less credit/history book ink than perhaps he was due:

He was never a President like Washington, Jefferson, Madison and he pissed off Washington. Franklin was not a President but it would not be politic to have all the glory go to Virginians and BF was an amazing man in so many human endeavors.

Not only is true that "History is written by the victors" but history is also interpreted by students of history by each students personal biases.

I freely admit I am biased regarding GM for several reasons, foremost being my extreme bias towards the rights of the individual. The Bill of Rights in my mind is, as of now, the most critical document to
safeguarding rights of the individual.

Any takers on a series of Founders "Money Bombs" starting with GM :-D

James Madison

"The politics of failure have failed! We need to make them work again!" Kang
-=Sui Juris

During the American Revolutionary War, saved the life of George Washington and became a general in the Continental Army ...died of wounds suffered in the Battle of Savannah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Pu%C5%82aski
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"The only thing 'real' in this life is Love and honest relationship to others and this world. Everything else is fake."
-- Anisha
“Complacent ignorance is the most lethal sickness of the soul.”
-- Plato

Was hoping to get TJ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO18F4aKGzQ

A few quotes:

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth."

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

I got JM too. :)

I hate these things they are skewed and of course they don't even have Thomas Jeffferson or Patrick Henry listed what kind of idiot would leave them out?

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End The Fat
70 pounds lost and counting! Get in shape for the revolution!

Get Prepared!

I re took it, and got a Rutledge. Go finger.

★★★★★★
http://www.documentarywire.com/
http://freedocumentaries.net/c/All/

Turns out I'm a George Mason.

Franklin,good-natured, intellectually curious, and worldly-wise.

Where's the Anti-Federalist quiz?

"There can be only one permanent revolution - a moral one: The regeneration of the inner man."
—Tolstoy

But you all knew I was a geek anyway...not to mention "Jefferson's friend."

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson

James Madison
I wanted someone else so I went back and changed a few answers (to my second choice), and it still came up as Madison! lol

Secrets you might need to look @!?
Madison was a federalist???? WTF??
What is up with that?
P Henry 110%