James Wilson came to America in 1765, studied law under John Dickinson, and within a decade was arguing in published pamphlets that Parliament had no authority over the colonies. He signed the Declaration. He helped write the Constitution. He proposed the structure of the presidency and the Electoral College. He gave the speech that launched ratification. The documents are in the archive.
James Wilson drafted his pamphlet on parliamentary authority in 1768, three years after arriving in America. He published it in 1774 — the same year the First Continental Congress met. The argument: Parliament had no legitimate authority to legislate for the colonies because the colonies had no representation there. The document is at Teaching American History.
All men are, by nature, equal and free: no one has a right to any authority over another without his consent: all lawful government is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: such consent was given with a view to ensure and to increase the happiness of the governed, above what they could enjoy in an independent and unconnected state of nature.
The pamphlet was published the same year John Adams published his Novanglus letters making a similar argument — that Parliament had no authority over the colonies. Wilson's pamphlet preceded Adams's by six years in drafting but was published simultaneously. Both are in the primary record.
Wilson arrived at the Continental Congress in 1775 representing Pennsylvania. His constituents were divided on independence and he initially voted to delay. Jefferson recorded the debates of June 7 to August 1, 1776 in his Notes on Proceedings — the closest primary record of what was argued in Congress. Jefferson's notes record Wilson's argument on June 8, 1776 — the day after Richard Henry Lee's resolution for independence was introduced.
The voice of our constituents called for delay; the sentiments of America are in rapid change. We must wait until those sentiments ripen; we must not be the first to cut the cord that binds us to Great Britain.
On July 1 and 2, Wilson voted in the affirmative for independence. On August 2, 1776, he signed the engrossed parchment of the Declaration. The Declaration is at Yale Avalon.
Wilson arrived at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in May 1787 as a Pennsylvania delegate. He gave 168 speeches over the summer — second only to Gouverneur Morris among all delegates. The question before the Convention on June 1 was the structure of the executive branch. Edmund Randolph of Virginia had proposed an executive of three persons. Wilson proposed a single executive. Madison's convention notes record the moment.
Mr. Wilson moved that the Executive consist of a single person. Mr. C. Pinkney seconded the motion. A considerable pause ensuing and the Chairman asking if he should put the question, Docr. Franklin observed that it was a point of great importance and wished that the gentlemen would deliver their sentiments on it before the question was put.
The single executive passed. Wilson also proposed direct popular election of the president — that proposal failed. The compromise was the Electoral College, which Wilson helped design as a substitute for direct election when it became clear Congress would not support one.
The Convention ended September 17, 1787. The ratification debate began immediately. On October 6, 1787, three weeks before the first Federalist Paper was published, Wilson stood in the courtyard of the Pennsylvania State House and delivered the first public defense of the proposed Constitution. The speech was reprinted in 34 newspapers across 12 states. It became the primary argument for ratification until the Federalist Papers superseded it. The full text is at Teaching American History.
In a government possessed of enumerated powers, such a [bill of rights] would be not only unnecessary, but dangerous. For it would imply that whatever is not expressed were given, which is not the principle of the proposed constitution. On every occasion, the delegation of power is to be presumed the exception, not the rule.
Wilson argued that a Bill of Rights was unnecessary — and potentially dangerous — because the federal government held only enumerated powers. Whatever was not given was retained by the people. This argument was widely accepted by Federalists during ratification but did not survive: the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. Wilson had opposed it. Both positions are in the primary record.
Washington nominated Wilson as one of the original six Associate Justices of the Supreme Court on September 24, 1789. He was confirmed the same day. He delivered the first law lectures at the College of Philadelphia — attended by President Washington, Vice President Adams, and members of Congress. The lecture notes are at the University of Pennsylvania Archives.
The last years of the record are documented. Wilson had invested heavily in western land speculation. When the land market collapsed in the Panic of 1796–1797, he owed debts he could not pay. A sitting Supreme Court Justice was arrested for debt twice — once in 1797, once in 1798. He fled to Edenton, North Carolina to avoid his creditors. He died there on August 21, 1798, of a stroke — the first United States Supreme Court Justice to die in office. He was 55 years old.