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Edmund Randolph and the Constitution
Kara Beal
The American Constitution - HIS:303
Professor Lum
July 22, 2008







Edmund Randolph and the Constitution
There were fifty-five delegates at the Constitutional Convention, but on September 17, 1787 only forty-one were present to sign the Constitution (Mee, 1987). Three delegates that were present, Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to sign what they considered a flawed document. Therefore, only thirty-nine delegates signed the Constitution (Mee, 1987). Randolph is of particular interest because of his role in the Virginia Plan and his thoughts about the proposed Constitution. This paper will discuss the Randolph’s beliefs in government, which helped solidify the Virginia Plan and why he refused to sign the Constitution.
Background of Randolph
Edmund Randolph was born on August 10, 1753, in Tazewell Hall in Williamsburg, Virginia, to Ariana Jenings and John Randolph. He had two sisters (Susannah Beverly and Ariana). Randolph attended the College of William and Mary and continued on to study law under his father's guidance. When the Revolution broke out, John Randolph, a Loyalist, followed the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, to England. Edmund stayed with his uncle, Peyton Randolph, a prominent person in Virginia politics. Serving as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, led him to attend the convention where Virginia’s first Constitution was adopted in 1776. Randolph was only 23 years old when he attended, the youngest member at the convention. He married in 1776 Elizabeth Nicholas and had five children (Peyton, Susan, John Jenings, Edmonia, and Lucy). Randolph’s political career continued; he became the mayor of Williamsburg and Virginia’s Attorney General. In 1776 Edmund Randolph was the governor of Virginia and in 1786 he...