In fact, as I show in both VIRGINIA’S AMERICAN REVOLUTION and JAMES MADISON AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA, George Nicholas (one of the three Federalist leaders in the Virginia Ratification Convention) sold the Constitution as a contract. He explained this at length, adding that in case Virginia’s stated understanding of the Constitution were not adhered to by the other signatories, Virginia would have the right to reclaim the powers it was granting the Federal Government (that is, secede).
He then went to Kentucky and became that state’s first attorney general.
