Marc Cole
Though the name of George Wythe is not that well-known today, during the era of the march towards independence, he was one was one of the most revered men in America.
Just as John Witherspoon was America’s pastor and Benjamin Rush was America’s doctor, George Wythe was America’s lawyer. During his distinguished legal career, he would serve in the government of Virginia in top positions in the legislative, judicial and executive branches.
And like Witherspoon and Rush, Wythe was a vastly learned man and a lifelong student, not only of the law, but of the whole sum of human knowledge. Wythe began his formal education at home, where he was taught by his mother. He went on to William and Mary, and then completed his apprenticeship in the law. But it was really after his formal education was complete and he entered the bar that Wythe became serious with his studies and developed his private, disciplined and extremely ambitious course of study which was to become routine for him for the rest of his life.
He became a devoted scholar of Latin and Greek, devouring the Roman and Hellenic classics in solitude without the benefit of a teacher. He likewise thoroughly investigated the origins of English law, often utilizing in court his vast arsenal of scholarly references to both ancient and modern legal treatises – to the surprise and dismay of opposing lawyers. Later in life, even while keeping up a busy schedule of teaching up and coming lawyers, George Wythe was famous throughout Virginia for teaching the Greek and Latin classics and modern English literature to young people. When he was seventy years old, he mastered Hebrew. Suffice it to say, George Wythe was a world class scholar.
Wythe’s most enduring contribution to the founding era and, indeed, to posterity, came through his role as a private legal tutor and as the first professor of law in America. After many years of teaching law students one on one, George Wythe was appointed to his professorship at William and Mary in 1789 by Governor Thomas Jefferson. In his capacity as a teacher of the law, he would teach would teach scores of influential lawyers of the period including James Monroe, Henry Clay, and John Marshall. Eventually, George Wythe would serve as a teacher of the law to more than thirty governors, senators, members of congress, ambassadors and judges.
Wythe’s most famous law student was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson and Wythe spent five years intense years together reading, studying, analyzing, discussing, not just the law narrowly defined, but history, literature, political philosophy, rhetoric, ethics and so on. They read many ancient works in their original languages, so as not to miss any shade of meaning. Both Jefferson and Wythe poured their energy into Jefferson’s legal education.
Obviously it paid off. It must have been thrilling for both Wythe and Jefferson when they were elected to represent Virginia together in the Continental Congress. Together they would sign the Declaration of Independence – which was penned, of course by Jefferson.
How many teachers have publicly pledged their life, fortune and sacred honor in a document written by a former student? We can only wonder at the satisfaction Wythe must have felt to see one of his students excel beyond the teacher – a dream that every true educator shares for those entrusted to his care.
Though a brilliant scholar, Wythe was no ivory tower intellectual. True to the pledge he took as a signer of the Declaration, Wythe sought to enlist in the military aspects of the cause. A story is told that when a group of Virginia militiamen assembled on a Williamsburg green near his residence to go out and meet the enemy, the 49-year-old legal scholar donned a hunting shirt, grabbed his musket, and sought to join them. Fortunately for us, he was gently, but firmly rejected. But his ardor for the cause did not cool: it is also reported that near the end of the Revolution, Wythe and a couple of hunting companions opened fire with shotguns on a party of British soldiers in boats near Jamestown.
In spite of his best efforts to be involved in the violence on the battlefield, Wythe survived the Revolution. He went on to serve as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, he was a tremendous advocate for the Constitution, even though he was unable to sign the final document because he had to depart early due to his wife’s illness.
While he was at the Convention, George Wythe played a vital role. As a founding father and signer of the Declaration, and as Jefferson’s law teacher, Wythe possessed an enormous amount of moral authority. He wielded this authority and all of the power of his intellect to appeal to those in the Antifederalist camp – a group he had natural sympathies with. Professor George Wythe was able to bridge the Federalist/Antifederalist divide in a way that virtually no other man could. In addition, seeing as Jefferson was in Paris serving as a diplomat, when Wythe spoke, he spoke not only for himself and for Virginia but also, perhaps, implicitly for Jefferson. Who knew the mind of the great Jefferson better than George Wythe, after all?
Finally, Wythe’s advocacy for the Constitution was grounded in his mastery of the ancient sources of the law and no one at the Convention could doubt that he was the undisputed master of history and ancient jurisprudence. If George Wythe testified to those in attendance that by historic standards, the Constitution was a viable and well-crafted governmental charter, then, it was.
Though Wythe stoutly advocated its adoption, he did not believe that the Constitution was perfect. So before leaving the Convention, he also suggested a list of revisions that needed to be made. Interestingly enough, his list resembles the first ten amendments to the Constitution and for that reason he is referred to by some legal historians as the “Father of the Bill of Rights.”
The end of Wythe’s life was, unfortunately, senseless and tragic. Like some of the other signers of the Declaration, Wythe became an abolitionist and attempted to provide for his slaves in his will. A young renegade in his family tree discovered Wythe’s wishes and attempted to poison the slaves with hopes of increasing his share of the estate. Wythe himself was poisoned, but managed to disinherit his murderer before dying. He was eighty years old.
In his will, he left his substantial library to his best and most famous student, then an ex-President of the United States. Upon hearing of the death of his mentor, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “He was my ancient master, my earliest and best friend, and to him I am indebted for first impressions which have [been] the most salutary on the course of my life.”
In 1814, when Thomas Jefferson turned his library over to the United States to become the Library of Congress, several hundred volumes had previously belonged to George Wythe. Wythe would have been deeply honored that his library ended up in such a place.
Today a college in Utah is named after George Wythe, in recognition of his unique role as America’s lawyer and first law professor, and as an educator of statesmen. The silent legacy of George Wythe is a true cornerstone of American history and American liberty.
Check out Mark’s book: Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor: The Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence
