Bedford attended the College of New Jersey (which is now known as Princeton), graduating in 1771. While at the college, he became acquainted with the most key figure in forming of the Constitution, James Madison. They were classmates as well as roommates in New Jersey.
After graduating from college, Bedford studied law under Joseph Read. In the later years of the Revolution, he started a law practice in Dover, Delaware. He also began his political participation as a representative to the Continental Congress between the years of 1783 and 1785. Bedford also served as the Delaware state Attorney General from 1774-1789. As one of Delaware's great statesman, he was selected to attend the Annapolis Convention which led to the Constitutional Convention. He, like many other delegates, did not end up making it to Annapolis.
At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Bedford was a strong advocate of the small states. He was concerned that small states, such as Delaware, would be pushed around by the larger states. As a delegate from Delaware, he was instructed to stick with the New Jersey Plan. He ended up helping hammer out the Great Compromise between the large state plans and the small state plans as he sat on the Committee which drafted the compromise. William Pierce wrote that Gunning Bedford was, "Bold...[with] a very commanding and striking manner [but] warm and impetuous in his temper and precipitate in his judgement".
Bedford was a key figure, along with John Dickinson and William Basset, in getting Delaware to be the first state to ratify the Constitution. Without the help of Gunning Bedford Jr., the United States would not be the great nation it was formed to be.
1 comment:
What a great name! I don't remember him, but I should have with that name.
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