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Richard Henry Lee Anti-Federalist

Virginia is a part of the southern colonies and focused primarily on tobacco for crop/money. It had the highest population of the colonies by far. Because it was in the south, the area was disease infested and gave way to many illnesses to the people who lived there. Because of these illnesses, a low life expectancy was common in the state, so families could not be as built up, leading to the lack of family traditions and ethics.

Lee was a politician of high-class from the very beginning. Lee was born in the wealthy-class, aristocratic parents. He was wealthy enough private tutored at a young age and be educated in England a little bit older, yet he returned home to Virginia in 1751, which was during the French and Indian War. Because of the time of his return, he became a leader of his own small militia for a brief period of time. In 1757, Lee was appointed as Justice of the Peace, was elected to become a member of the House of Burgesses and was invited to go to the first Continental Congress (as well as the second). Lee also helped to create one of the first Committees of Correspondence in Virginia with the help of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. Lee was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Although he opposed the Constitution, Lee became the first Senator for Virginia and was in Congress for the state.

Lee was not at the Constitutional Convention because he strongly opposed the making of the Constitution. In fact, he basically led the opposition of the Constitution because he was afraid of the fact there was no Bill of Rights and thought the Convention was abusing its power to amend the Articles of Confederation.

To lead the opposition, Lee (supposedly; they are signed under an alias) wrote a number of letters that gave reasons why the Constitution should now have been ratified. These letters were printed in newspapers, signed as the “Federal Farmer,” for people to read freely.

Lee was strongly against the constitution. He believed that the power should be in the states, not the national government. He thought that the executive branch was very much like the monarchy that they had originally gotten away from. He did not like that it was electors that chose the President in the end and not the people themselves. Lee believed that the jury should be within the state because each state is different in opinion (because of such distances) so the courts should individually conform to its own needs. He strongly opposed the Constitution because there was no Bill of Rights, which gave people rights that could not be changed without very strong support of the change. The Articles of Confederation was to be amended by unanimous vote, which Lee states is what he preferred, rather than majority vote because the he believed that if there was a 7 to 5 vote, it would mean that the 7 states who approved were controlling the other 5 states in a way.

Lee was good friends with Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, both Anti-Federalists. His foes, in this case, were Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams.

Works Cited

"America's Founding Fathers - Delegates to the Constitutional Convention." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. .

Kindig, Thomas. "Richard Henry Lee." Ushistory.org. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. .

*Lee, Richard H. "Richard Henry Lee’s Objections to the Constitution." Letter to Edmund Randolph. 16 Oct. 1787. TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. .

"Richard Henry Lee." Colonial Williamsburg Official History Site. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.history.org/almanack/people/bios/biolee.cfm>.