Thomas Jefferson's liberal views of democracy were first proposed in his draft of the Bill of Rights in 1776. Unfortunately, the Virginia Convention used only the preamble of this draft in the more conservative document that they accepted, which had been drafted by George Mason. Much of what Jefferson wanted was, however, obtainable as ordinary legislation and when he took his seat in the new legislature, it was with a view of putting through a definite program of reforms. In this he had the support of such men as Mason, George wythe, and James Madison, against the strenuous opposition of such leaders of the old order as Edmund Pendleton and Robert Nicholas Carter. These men had much to lose if Jefferson's ideas were carried out.