St. George Tucker

Born in Bermuda in 1752, he moved into the world of colonial Virginia as a young man, studied law under George Wythe, and served during the American Revolution. After the war, he built a distinguished career as a lawyer and public figure in Virginia.

He became one of the most important legal thinkers in the early United States. At the College of William & Mary, he taught law and helped raise expectations for formal legal education, and his American edition of Blackstone's Commentaries became a major reference for students and lawyers.

Tucker also served as a judge in Virginia's courts and later as a federal judge. Modern readers often find him especially interesting because his writing joined deep respect for republican liberty with serious engagement—though not without limits and contradictions—with the question of slavery in the new nation.