![]() Though he defended American interests at every turn, his conciliatory manner gained him the confidence of a succession of English ministers and made him the He played a key role in establishing what has been called the "First Rapprochement" between England and its former colonies. In 1796 King began 7 years of distinguished service in the critically important post of American minister to Great Britain. He coupled his political influence with expansion of his legal and commercial interests, becoming by the end of the century one of the wealthiest men in New York. In the Senate for 7 years, he was solidly Federalist, supporting Alexander Hamilton's financial plans, Jay's Treaty (1794), and a strong army and navy. ![]() senator from New York, his adopted state, in July 1789. When the convention adjourned, King was one of the nation's prominent leaders and a chief spokesman for ratification of the Constitution. He fought every effort to "gut" the new Federal Constitution but remained willing to consider changes accommodating what various states considered their vital interests. He was appointed a Massachusetts delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he spoke often and eloquently in defense of a strong Federal government, the sanctity of contracts, and a government purged as much as possible of the slave interest. In 1786 he married Mary Alsop, the daughter of a wealthy New York merchant.ĭisgusted with the impotence of the Continental Congress and alarmed by the violence of Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts, King advocated a stronger central government. He worked for enlarged powers for Congress and also sought to exclude slavery from the Northwest Territory. A year later he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he served for 3 years. In 1783 King was elected to the Massachusetts General Court. Admitted to the bar in 1780, he quickly established a large and lucrative practice that he continued intermittently throughout his life. He served briefly in the militia but devoted most of his energy to his studies. ![]() King graduated from Harvard College in 1777 and immediately entered the office of one of New England's most learned and gifted law teachers. Nevertheless, during the dramatic events leading to the Revolution, Rufus sympathized with the patriots, although he did not join Gen. Rufus King was born in Scarborough, Maine, the son of a prosperous loyalist merchant whose house was twice ransacked by revolutionary mobs. He served as a U.S.senator and as minister to Great Britain. Rufus King (1755-1827), American statesman and an important member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, typified the constructive conservativism of the Federalist party at its best. ![]()
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