Founding Fathers, Revolutionary Icons and Neighbors, George Washington and George Mason

Washington was a surveyor-turned-soldier who, along with other colonists, grew alarmed at the rising taxes and increasing control the British Crown was imposing upon them after years of being left largely alone. Dissatisfaction grew until the colonies were moved to fight for their independence from the Crown.  

George Washington was already prominent before the Revolution—a gentleman farmer who commanded the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. That led to his election to the Virginia House of Burgess and he was named a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which appointed him Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in 1775. In that position, Washington commanded the insurrection against the British and led the Patriots to a decisive victory in the Revolutionary War.  

When the war concluded in 1783, Washington resigned his commission, hoping to return to his peaceful life. He was a hero in the new nation, however, and was implored to keep answering the call. In 1787, he was unanimously elected president of the Constitutional Convention. And two years later, he was unanimously elected the first President of the United States. Washington served two terms as president and died two years after his presidency.  

Washington modeled the ideals we all have for presidents. He put his own desires aside to serve his nation. He tempered his ego, leaving office after two terms and establishing that norm. He brought our country into a new balance during a chaotic time. He established and demonstrated the peaceful transfer of power. His 1796 farewell address was a preeminent statement on republicanism stressing the importance of national unity and the dangers that regionalism, partisanship, and foreign influence pose to it. Ans as a result of all of this, George Washington is considered by both citizens and scholars as one of the greatest presidents in American history.  

In the 1770s, George Mason was a planter and country squire who was growing increasingly frustrated with the constraints of British rule. Rather than march off to war, however, he used his pen and his intelligence against the Crown, finding ways around the around the Stamp Act of 1765 and serving in the pro-independence Virginia Conventions in 1775 and 1776.  

Mason authored the Fairfax Resolves in 1774, in part in response to the punishments imposed upon Bostonians by the British after the Boston Tea Party. He was asked by Washington and other political leaders of the day to write it. While other colonies drafted similar resolves, Mason’s was considered the best and most detailed. It said of the Crown, “We are its subjects and we will use every means heaven hath given us to prevent our becoming its slaves.” That statement, while strong and heartfelt, was also filled with irony, as we’ll discuss below.  

In 1776, Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Thomas Jefferson and others sought to have their words and ideas at the forefront, but Mason’s version could not be stopped. As a member of the House of Delegates and the Virginia General Assembly, he was a powerful political figure during the Revolution. This document later served as a blueprint for our nation’s Bill of Rights. 

Mason served as one of his state's delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. That trip to Philadelphia was one of the only times he left Virginia. While there, his left his stamp on many clauses in our Constitution. Then he refused to sign it, which is why you won’t find his name there with John Hancock’s. For Mason, it didn’t go far enough to end slavery, protect shipping and, at that time, it didn’t yet have a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights would later be written using Mason’s words and ideas.  

Mason lived long enough to see a new, independent nation powered, in part, by his words and accomplishments. But he died a few years later in 1792. To recap, Mason was a passionate supporter of freedom and rose above many of the leaders in that day to architect critical parts of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, both of which hold the vision of the nation we live in today. He was respected and even admired by men like Washington, Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. His accomplishments were game-changing. Yet his story has escaped modern awareness.   

Photo Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Mason’s legacy can be explored at George Mason’s Gunston Hall, his Potomac Riverfront home for more than 30 years. It was built by William Buckland, a British architect who designed many Colonial-era buildings. In late 2023, the riverside gardens were restored to their original splendor, featuring historic varieties of fruits, vegetables, plants and shrubs.  

Washington felt Mason was more driven by self-interests while Washington felt his own interests were for the common good. This may or may not have been true. Part of Washington’s lore is that he desperately wanted to return to his peaceful farming life after the Revolution but had reached hero status and was called to serve as president. Meanwhile, George Mason got to live the gentleman farmer’s life that George craved. Washington got the status, power and enduring admiration and Mason got the crops and pigs and relative obscurity. Depending on your perspective, it’s hard to determine who came out on top.   

But they did share one of the most confounding ironies of that time, one that was viral among founding fathers. Most of these men, Washington and Mason included, were passionate about freedom and securing it for the new nation. Yet they owned slaves until the day they died. George Mason was especially vocal about the evils of slave importation. But only a small handful of our founding fathers (John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Thomas Paine among them) put their money where their mouths were in regard to slavery. Established in 1833, nearby Gum Springs was a free black community founded by a Washington-family slave that worked at Mount Vernon, West Ford. Woodlawn also has some significant history in enabling freedom for blacks in the south.