James Wilson: American Patriot: Father of the Constitution

by James Biser Whisker, John R. Coe

James Wilson appears in James Madison's Notes on the Federal Convention more frequently than anyone except Madison. Wilson signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and was the only person to be both a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convent ion and the Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention. His Statehouse Address anticipated many of the parts of the Federalist Papers. That document was widely reprinted in newspapers throughout the nation for months after it was initially published. Wilson later served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. His thought was directed at establishing and maintaining popular sovereignty.

187 pages, Paperback

Published March 22, 2021

About the author

He publishes also as:
James B. Whisker and
James Biser Whisker Sr.

Reviews

[Dave Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien," Montesquieu famously stated. For those who denigrate the compromises which engendered the Constitution, “James Wilson American Patriot,” is obligatory reading. Wilson, the foremost legal mind in the early republic, provided the theoretical grounding for the American experiment, and is aptly termed America’s Blackstone.

James B. Whisker and John Coe’s look at Wilson is a serviceable study of an oft overlooked American. Born in Scotland, Wilson studied at St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh. A student of Scholasticism, most notably Hooker, he also absorbed the common sense of the Scottish Enlightenment, particularly the thought of Reid and Stuart.

Wilson moved to Philadelphia, in 1765, and taught Latin and Law at the University of Pennsylvania, practiced law, signed the Declaration, then served as a Brigadier General during the war. Later, he helped draft the U.S. Constitution, and was selected by George Washington to serve on the first U.S. Supreme Court.

Wilson’s jurisprudence is important. He spoke with moral clarity and warned of the nihilism that might seep into the Enlightenment Project. In addition, he warned of the consequences he foresaw in political liberalism. Wilson averred, “Without liberty, law loses its nature, and its name becomes oppression; without law, liberty loses its nature and its name and becomes licentiousness.” .