Excerpts from The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792

Robert A. Rutland, ed., 3 vols. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1970).

1776 Documents

[1776, May 31] Resolution Denying Governor Eden a Safe-Conduct Pass, pp. 293-295.
p. 293: "Resolved, . . . that the said Proceedings . . . have been obtained thro the undue Influence of the proprietary Interest and present Government in the said province of Maryland; that they tend to dissolve the Union upon which alone the Salvation of American Liberty depends; . . ."
[Letters from the British secretary of state, Lord George Germain, to Maryland's royal governor, Robert Eden, were intercepted in the Chesapeake Bay and turned over to Virginia's Major General Charles Lee, commander of the Southern Department of the Continental army. Lee ordered Baltimore's Committee of Observation to arrest Eden, who was later freed by Maryland's Council of Safety. Maryland then recommended to Eden that he leave the country and applied for his safe conduct through Virginia. GM wrote this angry resolution denying safe passage. Although a softer resolution was finally adopted, the result was a distinct chill between the Virginia and Maryland conventions on the eve of the writing of Virginia's constitution of 1776.]

[1776, June 8-29] Mason's Plan for the Virginia Constitution of 1776, pp. 295-31.
p. 298: Ed. Note: A significant addition [to the constitution] came with the inclusion of an article (portions of it taken from Jefferson's draft) which was meant to squelch the claims of land speculators by reaffirming Virginia's boundaries under the 1609 charter. From Mason's viewpoint, Jefferson's proposition was well timed, for it gave support to the Ohio Company [of which GM was a member] claims and could have been assigned to selfish motives had the thought come from him.
[The reaffirmation of Virginia's earliest boundaries, including, presumably, the Potomac to its north shore, did not originate with GM.]

[29 June 1776] Final Draft of the Virginia Constitution of 1776, 304-310

pp. 308-309: "The territories contained within the Charters erecting the Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, are hereby ceded, released, and forever confirmed to the people of those colonies respectively, with all rights of property, jurisdiction, and government, and all other rights whatsoever which might at any time heretofore have been claimed by Virginia, except the free navigation and use of the rivers Potowmack and Pohomoke, with the property of the Virginia shores or strands bordering on either of the said rivers, and all improvements which have or shall be made thereon. The western and northern extent of Virginia shall in all other respects stand as fixed by the charter of king James the first, in the year one thousand six hundred and nine, and by the publick treaty of peace between the courts of Great Britain and France in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty three. . . ."

[Apparently Virginia was willing then to cede any claims to border lands also claimed by other states, in exchange for having an unimpeded title to western lands, for expansion.]

[17 Dec. 1776] Resolutions on the Virginia-Pennsylvania Boundary Settlement, pp. 319-322.

p. 320: "Resolved, that as the Bounderies expressed in the Pensilvania Charter may admit of great Doubt, & a Variety of Opinion may arise on the Construction, and it is expedient & wise to remove, as much as possible, all Cause of future Controversy (the great Principle upon which the Virginia Convention acted in making the aforesaid Cession & Release) . . . & to take from our common Enemies an Opportunity of fomenting mutual Distrust & Jealousy, this Common-Wealth ought to offer such reasonable terms of Accommodation (even if the Loss of some Territory is incurred thereby) as may be cordially accepted by our Sister-State, & an End put to all future Dispute, by a firm & permanent Agreement & Settlement."

pp.321-322: Ed. note: Clashes between rival factions of settlers in western Pennsylvania early in 1775 stemmed from the vagueness of the Virginia-Pennsylvania boundaries. . . . Because of extensive land speculations by groups in Pennsylvania and Virginia, the contest defied an easy or speedy solution; and indeed GM's long connection with the Ohio Company gave him a vested interest in preserving the area south of the Ohio River under Virginia jurisdiction.