Three Dissenting Fathers: The First Salvo in the Antifederalist Campaign

Abstract

Strangely, the subject of a bill of rights was not raised until the last days of the Convention, when George Mason proposed drafting such a document. The delegates rejected his proposal. The absence of a bill of rights nearly resulted in the defeat of state ratification. The primary complaint was the extraordinary power of the national government to create new powers by means of the necessary and proper clause and then impose them on the states by means of the supremacy clause. The result would be a consolidated national system of government with the states entirely subservient to the central authority. Mason, joined by Gerry and Randolph, refused to sign the Constitution, and their objections signaled a fierce battle over ratification of the final document.