Thread by @Jay__Cost

Yesterday was the 283rd birthday of James Wilson, a very important figure in the American founding!

Born in Scotland, Wilson was one of just six individuals to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The others include Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris.

Wilson He gave an astonishing 172 speeches at the Convention, more than Madison or Gouverneur Morris. He was also a key advocate for a national government founded on public opinion. He’s probably as close to a “democrat” as you’d find at the Convention.

Wilson was a big player at the PA ratifying convention, a big win for Federalists. PA was the 1st populous state to ratify, which created political momentum. By the time it faced real opposition in Massachusetts, it had already been ratified by five states.

(The PA Federalists, btw, strong-armed the Anti-Federalists to hold an early ratifying convention. Just goes to show politics has always been fought with sharp elbows! Eventually, PA Anti-Federalist objections informed authors like Brutus)

Wilson’s political thought stands out in the early republic. He’s one of only a few to advocate for popular AND strong government. Usually, it was elitists ( Hamilton or G. Morris) who wanted a strong government. “Populists” like Jefferson were skeptical of federal power.

Not Wilson. That’s why he was such a key supporter of James Madison at the Convention. But unlike Madison, Wilson was a Federalist in the 1790s. George Washington named him to the Supreme Court.

Alas, one might think a “democrat” like Wilson would have spoken out against slavery at the Convention. Not so. He favored the anti-democratic demands of the South for the sake of compromise.

Wilson said he could, “not well see on what principle the admission of blacks in the proportion of three fifths could be explained. Are they admitted as citizens? Theyn why are they not admitted on an equality with white citizens? Are they admitted as property? Then why is not other property admitted into the computation.”

But in the next breath, he let that objection go. “These were difficulties however which he thought must be overruled by the necessity of compromise.”
Like many founders, Wilson saw the incompatibility of slavery and republicanism, but was not willing to push the issue.

Like a lot of founders (including Robert Morris!), Wilson struggled with bad investments. He spent time in debtors prison, even while he was on the Supreme Court!

He died of a stroke in 1798 and is now buried at Christ Churchyard in Philadelphia.

I'm not sure if there have been any modern biographies of Wilson. But @RandyEBarnett edited a great volume on Wilson a few years ago (amazon.com/Career-Justice…) and George Read's book Power vs. Liberty compares Wilson, Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson (amazon.com/Power-versus-L…)