Grant+-+CRD+-+SP13

//Grant Pierce// //**Richard Henry Lee**//
 * Position: Anti-Federalist**

Virginia being one of the first and also the biggest colonies it contributed significantly in the political events leading up to the constitution. A very diverse colony it had people of all social stature from slaves to plantation owners and every one in between. This was reflected in their delegates just as other nations you had a range of delegates from simple farmers to well-educated lawyers. Located in the south and was most notable for tobacco farming which brought in its fair share of currency. Primarily a agricultural state and because of this was very involved in the slave trade, around the time of the revolution and the drafting of the Constitution slaves had also grown in numbers to become a majority.
 * Virginia Representative**

Richard Henry Lee was born on January 20th of 1732 to Colonel Thomas Lee and Hannah Lee. At his turning of 16 years old he traveled to Yorkshire, England to further his formal education. Ever since he got back from his study abroad he was involved deeply in public affairs and practicing law. In his hometown of Westmoreland County, Va he drafted a document bashing the Stamp act and took up arms with his fellow neighbors that included the Washington brothers. Later down the road he was elected justice of peace in his hometown and then elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. At the House of Burgesses he met Patrick Henry who helped along Lee’s ideas of a revolutionary cause. Lee then played a key role in forming one of the first Committee of Correspondence in Virginia. During the revolutionary war it was his proposal that brought forth the notion to declare independence from Great Britain. This was one of his biggest accomplishments if not the biggest, and helped orchestrate the actual Declaration of Independence. During his lifetime he was married twice and had nine surviving children from both of the marriages. He died in his hometown on June 19th of 1794 at the age of 62.
 * Occupation and Background**

Richard Henry Lee was invited to the constitutional convention and declined. He was opposed to the idea of a new stronger government and many consider him to be at the head the opposition against the constitution. Many of the new ideas that were being included into the constitution went against his political views. In his own words he, “smelt a rat,” being raised in the countryside with few to tell them what to do he was paranoid to say the least about a powerful government. Virginia actually made off pretty well from the constitution because the larger states with a bigger population had more influence over the House of Congress.
 * Constitutional Convention**

Lee was involved in Virginia’s state ratifying convention however slightly. After reading the new proposed constitution he recognized that it was in fact an improvement over the Articles of Confederation with a few minor tweaks of his own. But with the Federalists and those who did approve of the constitution saw to it that Lee was targeted and his involvement limited. Virginia did on the 25th of June, 1788 ratify the constitution and were also the final, needed, vote to pass the constitution as only 9 of 13 colonies needed to ratify the constitution.
 * States Ratifying Convention**

First and foremost he doubted whether or not the convention had the power and authority to do anything other than revise the Articles of Confederation. Secondly he did not like the new age ideas that were going into the constitution especially the aspect of a powerful government that in his eyes did not have enough checks and balances. The fact that there were no provisional rights for citizens included in the constitution he believed everyone had “essential rights.” Along with his ideas of personal liberties was his anti-slavery notions that he strongly supported, he wanted to abolish slavery. Lee sided with the likes of the Anti-Federalists who included but weren’t limited to: Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson. Opposing Lee in the debates were Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph, John Adams and John Jay.
 * Constitutional Arguments**

" Declaration of Independence, US Constitution." //Official U.S. Constitution Website//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .
 * Bibliography**


 * "Constitution of the United States - A History." //National Archives and Records Administration//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. . (3 different pages from this 1 site)

"Lee, Richard Henry (1732â€“1794)." //Encyclopedia Virginia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .

"Lesson 1: Anti-federalist Arguments Against "A Complete Consolidation"." //EDSITEment//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .

"Richard Henry Lee." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. .

"Richard Henry Lee ." //The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .


 * "Richard Henry Lees Objections to the Constitution by Richard Henry Lee." //Teaching American History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .

"Sir Richard Henry Lee." //Stratford Hall//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. .


 * Vile, John R.. //The Constitutional Convention of 1787: a comprehensive encyclopedia of America's founding//. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.


 * =primary source
 * =print source