A Wide Range of Talents
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tually he decided not to sign the Constitution as it was drawn up at Philadelphia. Later still, however, he recommended its ratification by his State.
George Mason, of Gunston Hall in Virginia, author of the Virginia Bill
of Rights and an accomplished debater, was a champion of the South and
of the powers of the State governments. He was also a grand gentleman,
admired for his integrity.
James Madison, a very learned man from Virginia, kept the most thorough notes on the Convention. More than anyone else he shaped the
Constitution’s principal provisions—though it is something of an exaggeration to call him ‘‘the Father of the Constitution.’’ He saw the necessity for a strong national government, though he was the close friend of
Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson also favored the Constitution but later became the leader of the Republicans, many of whom were former AntiFederalists. In 1809, Madison was inaugurated as the fourth President of
the United States.
William Paterson, of New Jersey, an Irish immigrant, had been a member
of the Continental Congress and the Attorney-General of his