Williamsburg’s George Wythe is best known as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and significant mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Less well-known is his crucial role in saving the United States Constitution from dying on the vine during its state ratification rounds in 1788.
In the spring of that year, Williamsburg-area residents gathered at the door of his house on Palace Green with a critical mission. Their goal was to persuade the elder statesman to represent their district in Richmond during Virginia’s Ratification Convention in June. Perhaps some foreshadowed just how decisive that mission would be to the future of the nation.
Wythe was 62 at the time and still grieving the loss of his wife the summer before. He answered a neighbor’s knock on the door and listened as the crowd urged him to make the journey to Richmond on their behalf.
He was already a legend — a leader of the Continental Congress, prophet of the American Revolution, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, clerk of the House of Burgesses, groundbreaking judge, attorney to George Washington and Virginia’s elite, America’s first professor of law, and the nation’s most influential teacher.
With tears in his eyes, Wythe recognized the honor of their request and accepted the assignment. He would need to leave his home and numerous responsibilities for a number of days. Travel by carriage over rugged roads would be difficult.
America’s eyes were on Virginia. If Virginia, the largest, richest and most influential region in the country, failed to ratify, the Constitution would be a paper tiger. Although nine states had ratified, the requisite number, debate still raged in the remaining — powerful and sizable New York and North Carolina and Rhode Island. Legislators in those areas closely monitored debate in Virginia. If Virginia failed to ratify, others could follow its lead. (A month later, New York ratified, with a margin of only three votes.)
At the convention in Richmond, Wythe was quickly given the key role of chairman of the Committee of the Whole. In this capacity, he oversaw days of acrimonious debate among “pro-rats” and “anti-rats.” Patrick Henry, chief among the Constitution’s opponents, summarized his views: “I smelt a rat.” He took the floor for hours at a time, attempting to sway indecisive voters with urgent oratory that previewed the modern political filibuster. He, George Mason, and numerous other prominent Virginians feared an over-reaching federal government with excessive power over states and individuals.
James Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution, argued eloquently on the Constitution’s behalf. But at age 37, he was among the younger Founding Fathers. It took the authority of senior statesman Wythe to sway the crowd in the final round. He had written the rules for the national Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia the year before and was perhaps America’s most respected authority on government and the law.
Wearied by three weeks of argument, Wythe stepped down from his chair to address the assembly, his voice shaking with emotion. He reminded delegates that the country’s Articles of Confederation, written during a time of war, were weak and inadequate for America’s strong future at home and abroad. A firm union of the states could further freedom, independence and success in the years ahead.
Wythe broke the stalemate with a compromise: If Virginia delegates approved the Constitution in its present form, understanding that it had certain flaws, a future Bill of Rights would be added in the form of amendments. These amendments would protect individual liberties and reserve all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the states or the people.
Summarizing Wythe’s pivotal role at the convention, William & Mary Law School Dean, the late Oscar Shewmake, observed: “But for Wythe’s services in the Convention of 1788, Virginia would not have ratified the Constitution of the United States as it stood, and the entire course of American history may have been materially changed.”
By a narrow margin of 89 to 79, the decision for ratification prevailed on June 27. New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island followed the Old Dominion’s lead. The Constitution, first issued on Sept. 17, 1787, became America’s official governing document on March 4, 1789.
It has survived as the world’s oldest written constitution.
Suzanne Munson is author of the George Wythe biography, “Jefferson’s Godfather: The Man Behind the Man,” and lectures frequently on the Wythe-Jefferson legacy.
