September 17, 1787: This Constitution Day, Let's Remember George Wythe, Teacher of Liberty

George Wythe (1726-1806) was a major political figure in eighteenth century America. He served in Virginia's House of Burgessess where he was held the position of Clerk of the House from 1768 to 1774. He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He also represented Virginia in the Constitutional Convention where his contributions were nothing short of extraordinary. Wythe's judicial career was equally impressive. He served on Virginia's High Court of Chancery for almost three decades, including 14 years as Virginia's sole Chancellor. But I think we should remember George Wythe this Constitution Day because of his role as "Revolutionary Virginia's foremost teacher of both the law and the political process." Thomas Hunter, The Teaching of George Wythe, in 1 The History of Legal Education in the United States: Commentaries and Primary Source Materials 138, 140  (Steve Sheppard, editor)(Lawbook Exchange, 2007).

Thomas Hunter observes:

For four decades, Wythe instructed the most promising youth of Virginia in both the law and classics, and in 1779 he became America's first university law professor, and only the second in the English-speaking world, when he was appointed Professor of Law and Police at the College of William and Mary. From Jefferson's entrance into the Continental Congress in 1774 until Clay's resignation from the Senate in late 1851, Wythe's students played crucial roles in the nation's legislative chambers. They were equally important in shaping this nation's jurisprudence, for he taught such noted federal and state jurists as John Marshall, Bushrod Washington and Spenser Roane. Wythe instructed so well that most of his students assumed leading positions very soon after leaving his counsels, many while still in their twenties.

In addition to Hunter's The Teaching of George Wythe, I recommend reading Alonzo Thomas Dill's biography of Wythe entitled George Wythe, Teacher of Liberty (Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979). [JH]