Talk:George Mason
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[edit] "Father of the Bill of Rights"
I find it interesting that Mason is ascribed with this title in this article, while Madison is more frequently given that epithet. A Google search for "'Father of the bill of rights' Mason" pulls about 480 responses, while the same with "Madison" pulls about 600. I don't really debate the accuracy of giving Mason the title, since he was always its heaviest proponent, and Madison only supported them after having a turnaround (or religious epiphany, if you want to be idealistic) during his run for the House in VA. I hate these epithets in general, and tend to find they distract people more than they help them, especially when they're ascribed to multiple individuals for multiple reasons. I won't change anything, but I found it questionable, or at least interesting. Uh, discuss, I guess. 69.137.157.78 21:08, 11 December 2005 (UTC)
- Mason is the Father of the Bill of Rights. Madison is the Father of the Constitution. --72.66.25.36 02:09, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] George Mason was kind of hard on his wives.
OK, I'm no expert in the social expectations of Colonial times, but it kind of looks like George Mason just kept getting his wives pregnant over and over until eventually their bodies collapsed under the stress. What the hell?! Sounds like a dick(dick, dick, dick, dick) to me... maybe that is why he's less well-known than the other founding fathers. -- anonymous
Actually, it says he only had two wives. With the first he fathered 12 children, and with the second he fathered none. Perhaps you're confused by the fact that the article also lists his children's marriages, and the children that they had. (What I don't understand is why the article should include a list of all of Mason's children's spouses and children. It strikes me as kind of irrelevant.) -- Tim314 22:04, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
Owns "slaves", but is against slavery?
[edit] George Mason owns slaves but is against slavery
Okay, first please understand that I am in no way, shape, or form endorsing or justifying slavery, just attempting to place the statement into historical context based on my own POV.
That said, many early "founding father" types owned slaves yet were against slavery. My take on the reasoning is simple economics, e.g., the need to continue to operate plantations. Where else were they going to get the labor pool? Even though technically categorized as slaves, the degree of "forced, uncompensated labor" was variable from owner to owner. Some slaveowners were more benevolent than others, even going as far as to allow slaves to own property, farm private plots, and sell their services or extra produce.
JMHO, Mmoyer 23:57, 28 April 2006 (UTC)