Conclusion

During the summer of 1787, George Mason played an active role in the debates during the Constitutional Convention as the Delegate from Virginia.  He truly believed that the spirit of democracy should disseminate throughout the Constitution.  His ideal model for the new government would have the “...Constitution acting on the people through the States, and a government representative of the people without distinction of class.” (1)  Mason was a proponent of a national government; however, he wanted the rights of the States to be protected, along with the national congress showing restraint from violating the rights of individuals, which is why he proposed the Bill of Rights towards the end of the convention.  Though his proposal was rejected at the convention, a sense of urgency and importance elevated the need to adopt the Bill of Rights a few years later as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. (2)

During the state ratification process for the Constitution, Mercy Otis Warren’s feelings toward the Constitution became uncertain.  She was actively against ratification; however, once the Constitution had gone into effect, Warren’s tone changed and began to feel a combination of apprehension and pleasure.  Warren stated, “We now seem to have verged to the entrance of a permanent and I hope peaceful Government, an object which has long been the wish of every good man and woman in America.” (3)  She strongly believed from the beginning that the nation needed a new frame of government.  The debate over the Constitution was not between the states and central government over the redistribution of sovereignty but rather an ideological conflict between republicans and monarchists.  Many of her doubts were relieved when the Bill of Rights was passed.  As a historian of the post-Revolutionary era, Warren was also a dedicated nationalist, who believed even through the process of fighting a war and organizing a nation, Americans through their virtue were able to “...overcome a challenge to their liberties and to insure the future of a republican society.” (4)

In the end, both George Mason and Mercy Otis Warren were able to experience the cultivation of American nationalism and the emergence of an effective national government.