John Blair Jr is the son of John Blair, of scotland. John Blair Jr was born in Williamsburg Virginia in October 1731 and died August 31, 1800. He graduated from the college of William and Mary and moved on to study law at London’s Middle Temple (archives.gov). He was characterized as a wealthy, well-connected, and influential merchant , planter, legislator, and lawyer from the powerful Tidewater aristocracy who was an important leader of the second rank when Virginia joined most of the colonies in the drive for independence (Seriatim page 16).
John Blair Jr was a great and intelligent man. He was politically involved, an active patriot, American politician, and a founding father. He was very proud to represent Virginia in everything and anything. Blair was one of the best trained jurists of his day. A famous legal scholar, he avoided the tumult of state politics, preferred to work behind the scenes. But he was devoted to the idea of the permanent union of the newly independent states and loyally supported Virginians James Madison and George Washington at the Constitutional Convention (constitutionday.com).
John Blair's feelings during the convention were that of an intelligent, powerful man. His actions and opinions showed himself to be a staunch Federalist and a supporter of the mercantile oriented, weak new central government, imperiled from within by agrarian and democratic dissent. He was not a profound writer nor a leader in the court. He ranks at the top because of his clear pronouncements empowering the government and were phased narrowly so as to provoke no animosity, even though he was the only southern justice to consistently support federalist positions (Seriatim page 16).
John Blair Jr voted for general on state laws and election of president by legislature. John Blair votes against single executive, restricting money bills to house, and permitting export tax by two thirds vote. He is from the South and he wanted the slaves to be counted as one person in the population, but the North didn’t so in the end he compromised with the three fifths rule, a rule where every five slaves counted as three people in the population (Records of the Federal Convention page 652).
John Blair didn’t seem to have many enemies. He encouraged peace. He did however have allies and colleagues. One of his biggest allies was James Madison, a american statesman who also attended the Constitutional convention. His colleague was was George Wythe, the first american law professor and a Virginia judge (constitutionday.com).
John Blair Jr lived in Williamsburg Virginia as a Virginia court Judge. Being a judge and a man of power helped him get into the Constitutional Convention. A man with much political experience, John Blair Jr attended the House of Burgesses as a representative of William of Mary in 1766- 1770, he was a Clerk of Colony’s council in 1770-1775, he was a legislator in State Upper House of Virginia in 1776-1777, He attended the Constitutional