George Mason

On September 12, 1787, American statesman George Mason suggested the addition of a Bill of Rights to the Constitution modeled on previous state declarations, but the motion was defeated. An excerpt from the article:

"George Mason IV (1725–1792), a Virginia planter, statesman and one of the founders of the United States, is best known for his proposal of a bill of rights at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As an Anti-Federalist, he believed that a strong national government without a bill of rights would undermine individual freedom. Mason also significantly contributed to other documents that advanced the development of the First Amendment.

Mason was born on a plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was an early proponent of independence from Great Britain and worked throughout his life for the settlement of the western frontier, where he had invested in a land company. Mason was involved in early efforts in Virginia to boycott British goods in reaction to improper taxation and was elected to the legislature that was entrusted with writing the Virginia Constitution in 1776."