And not only that: he also proved himself to be a staunch opponent to the government including any support of slave interests. His first opportunity to rally for strong central government came when he was elected as a delegate for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. (The Articles of Confederation were all about limiting big government power-everyone had just escaped rule by a British monarch, after all.) He advocated for a stronger central government, which, under the Articles of Confederation wasn't exactly a walk in the park. In 1783, King was elected to the Massachusetts State Assembly, and was from there elected to be a delegate for Massachusetts at the Continental Congress. This would rapidly lead to a prosperous political career, because nothing screamed "political potential" in early American like knowing your law facts.
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In 1777 King graduated from a quaint little Massachusetts college called Harvard (heard of it?) and settled in to begin a prosperous law career. interests in Britain after the war.Īlso a check in the born negotiator box? He was a lawyer. This would later make him among the best candidates to represent U.S. Lil' Rufus' parents were rich loyalists, but King became a Patriot during the war. In fact, it seems like he was destined to deal with tricky disagreements. He did disagree with a few of them, but everything was kept pretty respectful. He cut his teeth during the American War for Independence, and he grew up to become a gung-ho Federalist and a friend and ally to many of the Founding Fathers. Rufus King knew politics backwards and forewards by the time the Missouri Compromise rolled around. Tompkins, William Pinkney, Thomas JeffersonĪnalysis British Connections with Patriot Sympathies King, John Alsop King, Charles King, Edward King, Frederic Gore Kingįriends : James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, Thomas Jeffersonįoes : Aaron Burr, Daniel D. Siblings : William King, Paulina King, Elizabeth Lydden Porter, Mary SouthgateĬhildren : James G. Occupation : Educator, lawyer, politicianĮducation : Harvard College FAMILY & FRIENDS Hometown : Scarborough, then Massachusetts and now Maine WORK & EDUCATION King remained in the Senate until two years before his death in New York, on April 29, 1827.Nickname: Minister for Great Britain, Henry Clay's Electoral Punching Bag As a senator, he criticized the War of 1812 and the institution of slavery. King became minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain in 1796, following Thomas Pinckney, and ran unsuccessfully as the vice-presidential candidate in 18. King served as a New York Senator 1789-24, maintaining a strong Federalist stance and supporting the Jay Treaty.
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Speaking to the Convention on August 8, 1787, King described the Committee of Detail's report as being full of "inequality and unreasonableness." He asserted that he "never could agree" to permit slaves to be "imported without limitation and then be represented in the National Legislature." After promoting the ratification of the Constitution at the Massachusetts convention, he married into a prominent New York family.
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He supported Massachusetts-friendly proportional representation in Congress. At the Constitutional Convention, he argued against the "phantom of state sovereignty." Nevertheless, King stood firm for the interests of Massachusetts, refusing to give in to the demands of small states or Southern states, even for the sake of the Union. Later serving as a member of the Continental Congress (1784-86), he supported the creation of a more powerful government than existed under the Articles of Confederation. In 1783, he began his political career as a delegate to the Massachusetts General Court. After studying law with Theophilus Parsons, King opened a legal practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
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He was the eldest son of a successful merchant, and he graduated from Harvard in 1777. King, Rufus (1775-1827) Lawyer, Politician: King was born on March 24, 1755, in Scarboro, Massachusetts, which is now considered part of Maine.