James Wilson

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For other people named James Wilson, see James Wilson (disambiguation).

James Wilson

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Term in office
October 5, 1789 – August 21, 1798
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Bushrod Washington
Nominated by	George Washington
Born	September 14, 1742
Died	August 21, 1798

James Wilson (September 14, 1742–August 21, 1798), was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, twice elected to the Continental Congress, a major force in the drafting of the nation's Constitution, a leading legal theoretician and one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to the United States Supreme Court in 1789. James Wilson was so knowledgeable on the subject of government that he was generally regarded as the most erudite of all the learned Founding Fathers. A fellow delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia made the following assessment of James Wilson: "Government seems to have been his peculiar study, all the political institutions of the world he knows in detail, and can trace the causes and effects of every revolution from the earliest stages of the Grecian commonwealth down to the present time." ^[1]

[edit] Biography

One of seven children, Wilson was born to a Presbyterian farming family in Fife in the Lowlands of Scotland and educated at the University of St. Andrews, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Glasgow. Unable to graduate because of his father's death, he sailed to America in 1765 and quickly became a tutor at the College of Philadelphia. After arriving in Philadelphia, Wilson took up the job as a legal assistant in the offices of Philadelphia lawyer John Dickinson. This is where he learned much of his trade. After several years as a legal assistant he passed the bar examination and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia. He began his own practice in the town of Reading, Pennsylvania and then in the town of Carlisle, a small hamlet outside of the bustling urban metropolis of Philadelphia. He became one of the most prominent lawyers of his time and is credited for being the wisest of the Framers of the Constitution.

Taking up the proto-revolutionary cause in 1774, Wilson published "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament," a pamphlet denying all authority of Parliament over the Colonies. Though considered by scholars on par with the seminal works of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams of the same year, it was actually penned in 1768, perhaps the first cogent argument to be formulated against British dominance.

As a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, Wilson was a firm advocate for Independence and became an imposing figure that was looked upon favorably by his fellow Congressmen. But with Pennsylvania divided on the issue of separation, Wilson, not wanting to go against the wishes of his constituents, refused to vote. Only when he received more feedback did he vote for independence.

John Trumbull's famous painting is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration. What the painting actually depicts is the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill.^[2]

Wilson's most lasting impact on the country came as member of the Committee of Detail, which produced the first draft of the United States Constitution in 1787. He also proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise at the convention, which made slaves count as three-fifths of a person for representation in the House and Electoral College. Along with James Madison, he was perhaps the best versed of the framers in the study of political economy. He understood clearly the central problem of dual sovereignty (nation and state) and held a vision of an almost limitless future for the United States.

Though not in agreement with all parts of the final, necessarily compromised Constitution, Wilson stumped hard for its adoption, leading Pennsylvania, at its ratifying convention, to become the second state (behind Delaware) to accept the unifying document. His October 6, 1787 speech in the State House Yard has been seen as particularly important in setting the terms of the ratification debate, both locally and nationally. In particular, it focused on the fact there would be a popularly elected national government for the first time.

He began a series of law lectures at the College of Philadelphia in 1790—only the second at any academic institution in the United States—in which he mostly ignored the practical matters of legal training. Like many of his educated contemporaries, he viewed the academic study of law as a branch of a general cultured education, rather than solely as a prelude to a profession.

Wilson broke off his first course of lectures in April 1791 to attend to his duties as Supreme Court justice on circuit. He appears to have begun a second-year course in late 1791 or in early 1792 (by which time the College of Philadelphia had been merged into the University of Pennsylvania), but at some unrecorded point the lectures stopped again and were never resumed. They were not published (except for the first) until after his death, in an edition produced by his son, Bird Wilson, in 1804.

Wilson's final years were marked by failure. He assumed heavy debts investing in land, and was briefly imprisoned for a small debt in Burlington, New Jersey. His son paid the debt, but Wilson went to North Carolina to escape other creditors. He was again briefly imprisoned, but nevertheless became a circuit judge there. In 1798, he suffered a bout of malaria, then died of a stroke.

[edit] Trivia

• James Wilson appears on the $10,000 Series EE Savings Bond issued by the United States Government.

• James Wilson was portrayed by Emory Bass in the 1969 Broadway musical and 1972 movie 1776. Michael Winther portrayed him in the 1997 revival of the musical.

• In the film 1776, he is portrayed as having largely stood by fellow Pennsylvania delegate John Dickinson in opposing independence only to reverse his position in the final vote. This is technically inaccurate as he was among the strongest proponents for independence. With Pennsylvania divided on the issue of separation, he refused to vote until he received more feedback from his constituents.

[edit] References

• Works of James Wilson 3 vol (1804) online edition
• Hall, Mark David. The Political and Legal Philosophy of James Wilson, 1742-1798. U. of Missouri Press, 1997. 228 pp.
• Read, James H. Power versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson. U. Press of Virginia, 2000. 201 pp.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Library of Congress: James Wilson
2. ^ americanrevolution.org Key to Trumbull's picture

[edit] External links

• Declaration Signers biography of James Wilson
• Penn Law School biography of James Wilson
• Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856

The Jay Court
1789–1792:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Rutledge | J. Iredell
1792–1793:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Th. Johnson
1793–1795:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson
The Rutledge Court
1795:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson
The Ellsworth Court
1796–1798:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase