Richard Bland Lee
Though only eighteen years of age, Richard Bland Lee, in a letter written later that month, rebuked his famous uncle, characterizing the effort as "abominable ... [at a] ... time of public danger when our expenses are already unsupportable."[1] On June 17 of the next year Richard was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa society, an academic organization through which he was able to refine his speaking skills.[2] Phi Beta Kappa undertook to secure its papers against capture, and many of its members joined a hastily formed local militia company to offer at least some resistance to the expected invasion.Loudoun County voters several times elected Richard Bland Lee as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1784 to 1788, 1796.After ratification, he opposed efforts by Patrick Henry and others to call a second constitutional convention to add a bill of rights and believed the new system should be given a chance to operate before wholesale alterations were made.Ultimately, however, Madison was rejected by the Henry-led House of Delegates on the assumption that he would not push for addition of a bill of rights, a contention that Lee worked hard to counteract.In general, those who were the strongest supporters of the constitution in the form adopted by the Constitutional Convention, including its provision for a strong executive with power tilted toward the federal government were identified as Federalists, and those who were less supportive of a strong federal government, and believed that a bill of rights should have been included with the document prior to ratification were called Anti-Federalists.He narrowly fended off a challenge from his more famous relative Arthur Lee in 1792 and finally lost his seat to Richard Brent in the election of 1794."[12] With his power severely curtailed, Lee, despondent over his treatment, left his position and for a short time seriously considered moving his family to Kentucky.[13] Upon his death in 1787, Henry Lee II bequeathed 3,000 acres (12 km2) of his Cub Run estates to be equally divided between his sons Richard Bland and Theodorick.According to Gamble, "if he turned to a specific source, it was doubtless the Memoires of Maximilien de Bethune, Duke of Sully and France's Minister of Finance under Henry IV.Determined to steer clear of the untenable practices characteristic of the tobacco monoculture which predominated in Virginia, Richard, like George Washington whom he idolized, applied modern methods of farming designed to diversify production and to halt depletion of the soil.He planted clover to help replenish the soil and he "tried crop rotation and the application of nutrients, especially crushed limestone, to fields where productivity was decreasing.
U.S. House of RepresentativesVirginiaRichard Brent4th district17th districtVirginia House of DelegatesFairfax CountySamuel ClaphamLoudoun CountyJosiah ClaphamStevens Thomson MasonLeesylvaniaVirginia ColonyBritish AmericaWashington, D.C.AmericanMajor Gen. Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee IIICharles LeeRobert E. LeeAlma materThe College of William and MaryPlanterFairfax County, VirginiaHenry Lee IIHenry ("Light Horse Harry") LeeAttorney General of the United StatesWashingtonPotomac RiverPrince William CountyColony of VirginiaRichard BlandRichard Henry LeeWestmoreland County, VirginiaCollege of William and MaryHenry Lee III"Squire" Richard LeePhi Beta KappaBenedict ArnoldUnited States ConstitutionPatrick HenryJames MadisonJames MonroeBill of Rightsnew federal congressConstitutional ConventionGeorge WashingtonGeorge MasonLudwell LeeWilliam FitzhughLeven PowellDavid StuartHoratio GatesUnited States House of RepresentativesCompromise of 1790Arthur LeeJohn Peter Van NessTench Ringgoldbuildings damaged by British troopsWar of 1812Benjamin LatrobeArchitect of the CapitolJohn RandolphColumbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and SciencesAndrew JacksonJohn Quincy Adams"Chateau de Sully"Maximilien de BethunemonocultureSeneca stoneFederalGeorgianStrawberry ValeTysons CornerThomas Law HouseState Route 28Lee-Longsworth HouseZaccheus CollinsDolley Payne Todd MadisonZaccheus Collins LeeU.S. District AttorneyCongressional CemeteryChantilly, VirginiaCharles GrymesHenry Lee IRichard Bland IElizabeth RandolphRichard Lee IILaetitia CorbinHenry Corbin, Sr.Richard Lee IThomas ConstableU.S. House of RepresentativesVirginia's 4th congressional districtFrancis PrestonVirginia's 17th congressional districtPrestonHolmesSwoopeAlexanderGholsonDromgooleHubardBocockBookerStowellJorgensenHooperGainesVenableLangstonJ. EpesMcKenneyS. EpesLassiterSouthallTurnbullWatsonDrewryAbbittDanielSisiskyForbesMcEachinMcClellanHistory of slavery in VirginiaSlavery in the colonial history of the United States