Virginia Ratifying Convention

The Virginia Ratifying Convention (also historically referred to as the "Virginia Federal Convention") was a convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, which had been drafted at the Philadelphia Convention the previous year.

The Convention met and deliberated from June 2 through June 27 in Richmond at the Richmond Theatre, presently the site of Monumental Church. Judge Edmund Pendleton, Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention, served as the convention's president by unanimous consent.

Background and composition[edit]

The Convention met from June 2–27, 1788, in the wooden "Old Capitol" building at Richmond VA, and elected Edmund Pendleton its presiding officer.^[1]

The Virginia Ratifying Convention narrowly approved joining the proposed United States under a Constitution of supreme national law as authorized by "We, the people" of the United States. James Madison led those in favor, Patrick Henry, delegate to the First Continental Convention and Revolutionary wartime governor, led those opposed. Governor Edmund Randolph, who had refused to sign the Constitution in the Philadelphia Convention, chose in Virginia's Ratifying Convention to support adoption. George Mason had refused to sign due to the lack of a Bill of Rights in Philadelphia and would continue in his opposition.^[2] The Virginia ratification included a recommendation for a Bill of Rights, and Madison subsequently led the First Congress to send the Bill of Rights to the states for ratification.^[3]

On receiving the proposed Constitution from the Philadelphia Convention, Congress initiated a ratification procedure for the proposed Constitution which by-passed the sitting state legislatures, going directly to the people of the country, state by state. Four delegates, James Madison with Edmund Randolph for the Federalists and Patrick Henry with George Mason for the Anti-federalists made most of the speeches of the Convention; 149 of the 170 delegates were silent.^[4] An early estimate gave the Federalists seeking ratification a slim margin of 86 to Anti-Federalists rejecting at 80, with four unknowns. Federalists came from the Tidewater and Northern Neck, the Shenandoah Valley and western counties, although the Kentucky counties along the Ohio River feared being abandoned to the Spanish under the new government. The Anti-federalists found strength in the central Piedmont, Southside and southwest counties.^[5]

Meeting and Debate[edit]

Unlike the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Federal Constitution was open to the public and crowds filled the galleries along with the press. Delegates changed sides over the debates, demonstrators paraded in the streets, and the press churned out accounts of the proceedings along with commentary pamphlets. The Federalist Papers first became a factor in state ratification conventions outside New York in Virginia.^[6] Although a majority of Virginians were said to be against adoption of the Constitution, and the Anti-federalists had the oratorical advantage with Patrick Henry, the Federalists were better organized under the leadership of judges who had been trained by George Wythe, and former Continental Army officers who aligned with George Washington.^[7]

James Madison
Federalist
Patrick Henry
Anti-Federalist
Edmund Randolph
Federalist
George Mason
Anti-Federalist

Patrick Henry questioned the authority of the Philadelphia Convention to presume to speak for "We, the people" instead of "We, the states". In his view, delegates should have only recommended amendments to the Articles of Confederation. Consolidated government would put an end to Virginia's liberties and state government. Nine states making a new nation without the rest would abrogate treaties and place Virginia in great peril. Edmund Randolph had changed from his opposition in the Philadelphia Convention to now supporting adoption for the sake of preserving the Union. He noted that the Confederation was "totally inadequate" and leading to American downfall. The new Constitution would repair the inadequacies of the Articles. If something were not done, the Union would be lost. The new government should be based on the people who would be governed by it, not the intermediary states. The Constitution should be ratified, along with any "practical" amendments, after the new nation was begun.^[8]

George Mason countered that a national, consolidated government would overburden Virginians with direct taxes in addition to state taxes, and that government of an extensive territory must necessarily destroy liberty. Although he conceded that the Confederation government was "inefficient", he wanted a clear line between the jurisdictions of the federal and state governments, including the judiciary, because he feared the shared powers would lead to "the destruction of one or the other."^[9] Madison pointed out that the history of Confederations like that provided in the Articles of Confederation government were inadequate in the long run, both with the ancients and with the modern (1700s) Germans, Dutch and Swiss. They brought "anarchy and confusion", disharmony and foreign invasion. Efficient government can only come from direct operation on individuals, it can never flow from negotiations among a confederation's constituent states. The proposed Constitution creates a republic with each branch of government grounded in the people without hereditary offices. Its mixed nature was both federated and consolidated, but in all cases was based on "the superior power of the people". The states would remain important because the House of Representatives were chosen by people in each state, and the Senate was chosen by the state legislatures. The Constitution limited the national government to enumerated powers.^[10]

The Virginia Ratification (Federal) Convention made a final vote on George Wythe's motion to ratify, passing it 89 to 79. Virginians reserved the right to withdraw from the new government as "the People of the United States", "whenever the powers granted unto it should be perverted to their injury or oppression," but it also held that failings in the Constitution should be remedied by amendment.^[11] Unlike the Pennsylvania Convention where the Federalists railroaded the Anti-federalists in an all or nothing choice, in the Virginia Convention the Federalists made efforts to reconcile with the Anti-federalists by recommending amendments like that of Virginia's Bill of Rights preamble to its 1776 Constitution.^[12]

Outcomes[edit]

"Old Capitol" where the Ratifying (Federal) Convention met, 1788.^[13]

Virginia was the tenth state to ratify the new Constitution. New York followed a month later on July 26, 1788. The new government began operating with eleven states on March 4, 1789.

The convention recommended the addition of a bill of rights, but did not make ratification contingent upon it.^[14]

Many of the ideas presented during this convention were later incorporated into the United States Bill of Rights. James Madison, elected to Congress from his home district was a floor leader in the first session of the First Congress. Madison rewrote the various state proposals into twelve proposals from Congress as amended, sent to the States for ratification by three-fourths of them.

Patrick Henry's hostility to the government under the Constitution was so strong that he subsequently refused to join it, turning down offers to serve as United States Secretary of State and as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. His control of the Virginia legislature enabled his partisans to elect the only two Anti-Federalist U.S. Senators in the First Congress.

List of delegates and votes on ratification[edit]

The following list is of the delegates to the Virginia ratifying convention and their vote on ratification.^[15]^[16] A total of 170 delegates were elected. Of these, 168 voted on ratification: 89 for, 79 against.^[16] The delegates included representatives from modern-day Kentucky and West Virginia, which were part of Virginia at the time.

Plaque marking the site of the Virginia Federal Constitution, Richmond VA^[17]

County/City	Name	Vote on Ratification
Accomac	Edmund Curtis	No
Accomac	George Parker	Yes
Albemarle	George Nicolas	Yes
Albemarle	Wilson Cary Nicolas	Yes
Amelia	John Pride	No
Amelia	Edmund Booker	No
Amherst	William Cabell	No
Amherst	Samuel Jordan Cabell	No
Augusta	Zachariah Johnston	Yes
Augusta	Archibald Stuart	Yes
Bedford	John Trigg	No
Bedford	Charles Clay	No
Berkeley	William Darke (or Dark)	Yes
Berkeley	Adam Stephen	Yes
Botetourt	William Fleming	Yes
Botetourt	Martin M'Ferran (or McFerran)	Yes
Bourbon	Henry Lee (of Bourbon)	No
Bourbon	Notley Conn	Did not vote^[18]
Brunswick	John Jones	No
Brunswick	Binns Jones	No
Buckingham	Charles Patteson	No
Buckingham	David Bell	No
Campbell	Robert Alexander	No
Campbell	Edmund Winston	No
Caroline	Hon. Edmund Pendleton	Yes
Caroline	James Taylor (of Caroline)	Yes
Charlotte	Thomas Read	No
Charlotte	Hon. Paul Carrington	Yes
Charles City	Benjamin Harrison V	No
Charles City	Hon. John Tyler, Sr.	No
Chesterfield	David Patteson	Yes
Chesterfield	Stephen Pankey, Jr.	No
Cumberland	Joseph Michaux	No
Cumberland	Thomas H. Drew	No
Culpeper	French Strother	No
Culpeper	Joel Early	No
Dinwiddie	Joseph Jones	No
Dinwiddie	William Watkins	No
Elizabeth City	Miles King	Yes
Elizabeth City	Worlich Westwood	Yes
Essex	James Upshaw (or Upshur)	No
Essex	Meriwether Smith	No
Fairfax	David Stuart	Yes
Fairfax	Charles Simms	Yes
Fayette	Humphrey Marshall	Yes
Fayette	John Fowler	No
Fauquier	Martin Pickett	Yes
Fauquier	Humphrey Brooke	Yes
Fluvanna	Samuel Richardson	No
Fluvanna	Joseph Haden	No
Frederick	John Sheaman Woodcock	Yes
Frederick	Alexander White	Yes
Franklin	John Early	No
Franklin	Thomas Arthur (or Arthurs)	No
Gloucester	Warner Lewis	Yes
Gloucester	Thomas Smith	Yes
Goochland	John Guerrant	No
Goochland	William Sampson	No
Greenbrier	George Clendenin	Yes
Greenbrier	John Stuart (or Stewart)	Yes
Greensville	William Mason	Yes
Greensville	Daniel Fisher	Yes
Halifax	Isaac Coles	No
Halifax	George Carrington	No
Hampshire	Andrew Woodrow	Yes
Hampshire	Ralph Humphreys	Yes
Hanover	Parke Goodall	No
Hanover	John Carter Littlepage	No
Hardy	Isaac Vanmeter	Yes
Hardy	Abel Seymour	Yes
Harrison	George Jackson	Yes
Harrison	John Prunty	Yes
Henrico	Governor Edmund Randolph	Yes
Henrico	John Marshall	Yes
Henry	Thomas Cooper	No
Henry	John Marr	No
Isle of Wight	Thomas Pierce
Isle of Wight	James Johnson	Yes
James City	Nathaniel Burwell	Yes
James City	Robert Andrews	Yes
Jefferson	Robert Breckenridge	Yes
Jefferson	Rice Bullock	Yes
King and Queen	William Fleet	Yes
King and Queen	John Roane
King George	Burdet Ashton	Yes
King George	William Thornton	Yes
King William	Holt Richeson	No
King William	Benjamin Temple	No
Lancaster	James Gordon (of Lancaster)	Yes
Lancaster	Henry Towles	Yes
Loudoun	Stevens Thomson Mason	No
Loudoun	Levin Powell	Yes
Louisa	William Overton Callis	Yes
Louisa	William White	No
Lunenburg	Jonathan Patteson	No
Lunenburg	Christopher Robertson	No
Lincoln	John Logan	No
Lincoln	Henry Pawling	No
Madison	John Miller	No
Madison	Green Clay	No
Mecklenburg	Samuel Hopkins, Jr.	No
Mecklenburg	Richard Kennon	No
Mercer	Thomas Allen	No
Mercer	Alexander Robertson	No
Middlesex	Ralph Wormley, Jr.	Yes
Middlesex	Francis Corbin	Yes
Monongalia	John Evans	No
Monongalia	William McClerry	Yes
Montgomery	Walter Crockett	No
Montgomery	Abraham Trigg	No
Nansemond	Willis Riddick	Yes
Nansemond	Solomon Shepherd	Yes
New Kent	William Clayton	Yes
New Kent	Burwell Bassett	Yes
Nelson	Matthew Walton	No
Nelson	John Steele	No
Norfolk	James Webb	Yes
Norfolk	James Taylor (of Norfolk)	Yes
Northampton	John Stringer	Yes
Northampton	Littleton Eyre	Yes
Northumberland	Walter Jones	Yes
Northumberland	Thomas Gaskins	Yes
Ohio	Archibald Woods	Yes
Ohio	Ebenezer Zane	Yes
Orange	James Madison, Jr.	Yes
Orange	James Gordon (of Orange)	Yes
Pittsylvania	Robert Williams	No
Pittsylvania	John Wilson (of Pittsylvania)	No
Powhatan	William Ronald (or Roland)	Yes
Powhatan	Thomas Turpin, Jr.	No
Prince Edward	Patrick Henry	No
Prince Edward	Robert Lawson	No
Prince George	Theodorick Bland (or Theodoric Bland)	No
Prince George	Edmund Ruffin	No
Prince William	William Grayson	No
Prince William	Cuthbert Bullitt	No
Princess Anne	Anthony Walke	Yes
Princess Anne	Thomas Walke	Yes
Randolph	Benjamin Wilson	Yes
Randolph	John Wilson (of Randolph)	Yes
Richmond	Walker Tomlin	Yes
Richmond	William Peachy	Yes
Rockbridge	William McKee	Yes
Rockbridge	Andrew Moore	Yes
Rockingham	Thomas Lewis	Yes
Rockingham	Gabriel Jones	Yes
Russell	Thomas Carter	No
Russell	Henry Dickenson (or Dickinson)	No
Shenandoah	Jacob Rinker	Yes
Shenandoah	John Williams	Yes
Southampton	Benjamin Blout (or Blunt)	Yes
Southampton	Samuel Killo (or Kello)	Yes
Spotsylvania	James Monroe	No
Spotsylvania	John Dawson	No
Stafford	George Mason	No
Stafford	Andrew Buchanan	No
Surry	John Hartwell Cocke	Yes
Surry	John Allen	Yes
Sussex	John Howell Briggs	No
Sussex	Thomas Edmunds	No
Warwick	Cole Digges	Yes
Warwick	Hon. Richard Cary	No
Washington	Samuel Edmison	No
Washington	James Montgomery	No
Westmoreland	Henry Lee III (of Westmoreland)	Yes
Westmoreland	Bushrod Washington	Yes
York	Hon. John Blair Jr.	Yes
York	Hon. George Wythe	Yes
Williamsburg	James Innes	Yes
Norfolk Borough	Thomas Mathews (or Matthews)	Yes

Footnotes[edit]

^ Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention: 1788. Da Capo Press, New York 1969 p.67.
^ Grigsby, Hugh Blair (1890). Brock, R.A., ed. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788 With Some Account of the Eminent Virginians of that Era who were Members of the Body. Collections of the Virginia Historical Society. New Series. Volume IX. 1. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society. OCLC 41680515. p. 346
^ Heinemann, Ronald L., et al. Old Domion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia, 1607–2007, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8139-2769-5, p. 145-147
^ Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: the New Dominion. 1971. ISBN 978-0-8139-1015-4, p.172
^ Heinemann, Ronald L., et al. Old Domion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia, 1607–2007, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8139-2769-5, p. 145
^ Maier, Pauline. Ratification: the people debate the Constitution, 1778–1788, 2010, ISBN 978-0-6848-6855-4, p. 257
^ Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: the new Dominion. ISBN 978-0-8139-1015-4, 1971 p. 171-2
^ Maier 2010, p. 260-261
^ Maier 2010, p. 261-262
^ Maier 2010, p. 268-270
^ Maier, 2010, p. 306
^ Maier 2010, p. 308
^ Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention: 1788. Da Capo Press, New York 1969 p.67. Initially built as the New Academy by the Chevalier Quesnay, subsequently the Richmond Theater
^ "Virginia ratification" Avalon Law Project, Yale University. Viewed November 11, 2011.
^ Delegates Returned to Serve in Convention of March 1788, in Hugh Blair Grigsby, The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788: With Some Account of Eminent Virginians of that Era who Were Members of the Body.
^ ^a ^b David L. Pulliam, The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the Foundation of the Commonwealth to the Present Time (1901), pp. 38-39, 46-47.
^ Chevalier Quesnay's "New Academy" had failed in 1786. It was renamed "The Theatre Square" at the time of the Ratification Convention. The wooden structure was torn down, and a masonry "Richmond Theater" erected in 1810. It burned in 1811, and a memorial Church built in memoriam to the 72 victims. Southern Democrats nominated Breckinridge in 1860 at the 1817 "New Richmond Theatre" at another site. The plaque's location is in Richmond's West Hospital. The original building, a converted theater, is gone.
^ Lowell H. Harrison & James C. Klotter, A New History of Kentucky (University Press of Kentucky, 1997): "The convention ratified the Constitutuion on June 25, 1788, by a vote of 89-79, with ten of the fourteen Kentucky delegates voting in the negative. Humphrey Marshall, Robert Breckinridge, and Rice Bullock favored acceptance; for some reason, delegate Notley Conn did not vote.)

References[edit]

Labunski, Richard E. James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Elliot, Jonathan. The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution..., vol. 3. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1891.

External links[edit]

"Patrick Henry, Virginia Ratifying Convention, 5-16 June 1788"
"George Mason and the Constitution"
Text of the debates
Text of the ratification
Debates and other proceedings of the Convention of Virginia … 1788 Hunter and Prentis, Petersburg, ebook free online.

[1] Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention: 1788. Da Capo Press, New York 1969 p.67.

[2] Grigsby, Hugh Blair (1890). Brock, R.A., ed. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788 With Some Account of the Eminent Virginians of that Era who were Members of the Body. Collections of the Virginia Historical Society. New Series. Volume IX. 1. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society. OCLC 41680515. p. 346

[3] Heinemann, Ronald L., et al. Old Domion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia, 1607–2007, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8139-2769-5, p. 145-147

[4] Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: the New Dominion. 1971. ISBN 978-0-8139-1015-4, p.172

[5] Heinemann, Ronald L., et al. Old Domion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia, 1607–2007, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8139-2769-5, p. 145

[6] Maier, Pauline. Ratification: the people debate the Constitution, 1778–1788, 2010, ISBN 978-0-6848-6855-4, p. 257

[7] Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: the new Dominion. ISBN 978-0-8139-1015-4, 1971 p. 171-2

[8] Maier 2010, p. 260-261

[9] Maier 2010, p. 261-262

[10] Maier 2010, p. 268-270

[11] Maier, 2010, p. 306

[12] Maier 2010, p. 308

[13] Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention: 1788. Da Capo Press, New York 1969 p.67. Initially built as the New Academy by the Chevalier Quesnay, subsequently the Richmond Theater

[14] "Virginia ratification" Avalon Law Project, Yale University. Viewed November 11, 2011.

[15] Delegates Returned to Serve in Convention of March 1788, in Hugh Blair Grigsby, The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788: With Some Account of Eminent Virginians of that Era who Were Members of the Body.

[Pulliam-16] David L. Pulliam, The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the Foundation of the Commonwealth to the Present Time (1901), pp. 38-39, 46-47.

[17] Chevalier Quesnay's "New Academy" had failed in 1786. It was renamed "The Theatre Square" at the time of the Ratification Convention. The wooden structure was torn down, and a masonry "Richmond Theater" erected in 1810. It burned in 1811, and a memorial Church built in memoriam to the 72 victims. Southern Democrats nominated Breckinridge in 1860 at the 1817 "New Richmond Theatre" at another site. The plaque's location is in Richmond's West Hospital. The original building, a converted theater, is gone.

[18] Lowell H. Harrison & James C. Klotter, A New History of Kentucky (University Press of Kentucky, 1997): "The convention ratified the Constitutuion on June 25, 1788, by a vote of 89-79, with ten of the fourteen Kentucky delegates voting in the negative. Humphrey Marshall, Robert Breckinridge, and Rice Bullock favored acceptance; for some reason, delegate Notley Conn did not vote.)

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v t e George Mason
United States Founding events	Drafted, 1769 Virginia Association resolutions Primary author, 1774 Fairfax Resolves Primary author, 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights "All men are created equal" Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness Freedom of the press Freedom of religion Consent of the governed Baseless search and seizure Cruel and unusual punishment Speedy trial 1776 Virginia Constitution 1785 Mount Vernon Conference 1787 Constitutional Convention Virginia Ratifying Convention Co-father, United States Bill of Rights history Founding Father
Writings inspired	1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (France) 1789 United States Bill of Rights
Life	Chopawamsic plantation Gunston Hall On slavery Ohio Company
Legacy	George Mason Memorial George Mason University George Mason Stadium George Mason Memorial Bridge George Mason High School 18-cent postage stamp
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment American Revolution patriots Wilson v. Mason Hollin Hall Woodbridge plantation Mason's Island
Family	George Mason V (son) William Mason (son) Thomson Mason (son) John Mason (son) Thomas Mason (son) George Mason III (father) Thomson Mason (brother) George Mason II (grandfather)

v t e James Madison
4th President of the United States (1809–1817) 5th U.S. Secretary of State (1801–1809) United States House of Representatives (1789–1797) Congress of the Confederation (1781–1783) Virginia House of Delegates (1776–1779, 1784–1786)
"Father of the Constitution"	Co-wrote, 1776 Virginia Constitution 1786 Annapolis Convention 1787 Constitutional Convention Virginia Plan Constitution of the United States Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 The Federalist Papers written by Madison No. 10 No. 51 Virginia Ratifying Convention United States Bill of Rights 27th amendment Constitution drafting and ratification timeline Founding Fathers
Presidency	First inauguration Second inauguration Tecumseh's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 origins Burning of Washington The Octagon House Treaty of Ghent Seven Buildings residence results Second Barbary War Era of Good Feelings Second Bank of the United States State of the Union Address (1810 1814 1815 1816) Cabinet Federal judiciary appointments
Other noted accomplisments	Co-founder, American Whig Society Supervised the Louisiana Purchase Anti-Administration party Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Democratic-Republican Party First Party System republicanism Library of Congress Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions Report of 1800
Other writings	The Papers of James Madison
Life	Early life and career Belle Grove Plantation, birthplace Montpelier
Elections	U.S. House of Representatives election, 1789 1790 1792 1794 U.S. presidential election, 1808 1812
Legacy and popular culture	James Madison Memorial Building James Madison University James Madison College Madison, Wisconsin Madison Square Madison River Madison Street U.S. postage stamps James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation James Madison Freedom of Information Award James Madison Award James Madison Institute A More Perfect Union (1989 film) Liberty's Kids (2002 series) Hamilton (2015 musical)
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment Marbury v. Madison National Gazette Paul Jennings Madisonian Model American Philosophical Society The American Museum magazine Virginia dynasty
Family	Dolley Madison (wife) John Payne Todd (stepson) James Madison, Sr. (father) Nelly Conway Madison (mother) William Madison (brother) Ambrose Madison (paternal grandfather) James Madison (cousin) George Madison (paternal second-cousin) Thomas Madison (paternal second-cousin) John Madison (great-grandfather)
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Virginia Ratifying Convention

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