Luther Martin (February 20, 1748, New Brunswick, New Jersey – July 10, 1826, New York, New York) was a Founding Father of the United States, framer of the U.S. Constitution, politician, lawyer, and slave owner. Martin was a delegate from Maryland to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but did not sign the Constitution, having left the convention early because he felt the document as proposed violated states' rights. In the months following the convention, he was a leading Anti-Federalist, along with Patrick Henry and George Mason, whose collective efforts led to the passage of the Bill of Rights.
Early life
Martin was an early advocate of American independence from Great Britain. In the fall of 1774, as a resident of Somerset County, Maryland, he served on the county's patriot committee and in December attended a convention of the Province of Maryland in Annapolis, which had been called to consider the recommendations of the Continental Congress. He went to the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and graduated with honors in 1766.
Constitutional convention
In 1785, he was elected to the Confederation Congress by the Maryland General Assembly, but his numerous public and private duties prevented him from traveling to Philadelphia. Martin was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. When he arrived on June 9, 1787, he expressed suspicion of the secrecy rule imposed on the proceedings. He also opposed the creation of a government in which the large states would dominate the small ones, he consistently sided with the small states, helping to formulate the New Jersey Plan and voting against the Virginia Plan. On June 27, Martin spoke for more than three hours in opposition to the Virginia Plan's proposal for proportionate representation in both houses of the legislature.
He was known for his warm opposition to the development of a strong central government. He was known for his ability to talk and as stated by William Pierce "he was educated for the Bar... and he never speaks without tiring the patience of all who hear him."
Martin believed the legislative branch should be unicameral, proposed limiting the standing army during peacetime, and argued that the Convention had exceeded its powers by creating a national government when they were sent to Philadelphia "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation."
Martin served on the committee formed to seek a compromise on representation, where he supported the case for equal numbers of delegates in at least one house. Before the convention closed, he became convinced that the new government would have too much power over state governments and would threaten individual rights. Failing to find any support for a bill of rights, Martin and another Maryland delegate, John Francis Mercer, walked out of the convention on September 3, 1787. He was one of the most vocal opponents of slavery at the Constitutional Convention, denouncing it as "an odious bargain with sin" that was "inconsistent with the principles of the revolution and dishonorable to the American character."
Ratification fight
In November 1787, in a speech to the Maryland House of Delegates, he assailed the Constitutional Convention for what it was attempting to do and for how it was going about the job. He broke the pledge to secrecy under which the convention had met and informed the Maryland legislators that the convention had violated its instructions to meet "for the sole and express purpose of revising" the Articles of Confederation. Instead, convention delegates had taken it upon themselves to make a fresh start by creating an entirely new system of government. To Martin, such an effort was akin to launching a coup d'état. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin had backed the change of direction of the convention, but, Martin said, we should not "suffer our eyes to be so far dazzled by the splendor of names, as to run blindfolded into what may be our destruction."