Wise man among wise men: 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.(HISTORY--GREATNESS OF THE FOUNDERS)

A fellow delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia made the following assessment of James Wilson's gifts: "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."

That is certainly high praise when one considers the caliber of men serving in that council, but the attribution of such abilities was not rare in the case of James Wilson as he was generally considered the most erudite of all the learned Founding Fathers.

Wilson began his education by training to become a Presbyterian minister, but he had to abandon that design when his father died, forcing James to seek employment. He, as did contemporary and fellow convention delegate Alexander Hamilton, took to bookkeeping as a vocation. Following the passing of his father, Wilson soon immigrated to the United States from his native Scotland. Upon arriving in America, Wilson began studying law under John Dickinson, Philadelphia's most prominent attorney of the day.

Wilson's legal career afforded him the opportunity to become acquainted with many of Philadelphia's leading citizens, many of whom were growing more and more impatient with Great Britain's unbounded tyranny. Impatience festered into revolt. Wilson's personal involvement in revolutionary politics began in the infancy of the uprising. By 1774, he was writing eloquent and persuasive tracts in favor of the American cause. One particularly potent paragraph boldly asserts: "All men are by nature, equal and free. No one has a right to any authority over another without his consent." He continued, "The happiness of the society is the first law of every government." Wilson's rhetoric was so well crafted that his enemies were regularly frustrated in their efforts to deconstruct his arguments.

James Wilson's involvement in the establishment of the American republic included playing pivotal roles in the ratification of both of America's foundation documents: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In the case of the Declaration, Wilson found himself in a bind since his home state of Pennsylvania was divided on the issue of independence, and he refused to vote against the will of his constituents despite his own vocal support for independence. But he petitioned Congress for and was granted a three-week delay on the vote so he could consult with his fellow Pennsylvanians. On July 4, 1776, he cast the deciding vote for Pennsylvania on behalf of independence. After the Declaration was engrossed on parchment, Wilson signed it. Eleven years later, he signed the Constitution.

As was the case with many of the most influential Founders, Wilson's best work was done in defense of the Constitution produced in the summer of 1787. When Wilson was chosen to represent his home state at the Constitutional Convention, the convention was very controversial because it was to be held behind closed doors. Afterward. Wilson made frequent and timely use of his gifts of oratory and persuasive argument to convince the populace-at-large to ratify the product of that convention: the Constitution. Although certainly less renowned today than James Madison, Wilson's contemporaries counted him as the vanguard in the fight for ratification. When he spoke, he had a powerful presence. His physical stature was by all accounts impressive and imposing, standing over six feet tall, and he had the delivery of a Roman senator.

On October 6, 1787, while gathered at the yard in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia to elect delegates to the Pennsylvania legislature, the public congregated there was witness to a masterful discourse by Wilson in favor of the proposed Constitution. His was an impassioned and convincing speech delivered by one who was more than a mere "witness at the creation." Though Wilson's speech is not ...