The chapter begins with a biographical introduction to St. George Tucker. Tucker had migrated from Bermuda to the United States in search of legal education, studied under George Wythe, then coordinated an illegal shipping venture during the Revolution. He married wealthy widow Frances Bland Randolph, mother of John Randolph “of Roanoke,” and became integrated into Virginia’s leading families. By 1791, Tucker’s political, legal, and economic connections had propelled him to prominence; he was the professor of law at William and Mary, a General Court judge, and part of the effort to revise Virginia’s laws. But the hard schedule made him weary, as he adapted to what he saw as the economic reality of post-war Virginia.