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Lee continued to serve in the Continental Congress until his term expired in 1788, shortly before that body was replaced by the new [[United States Congress]], and was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. Though Lee had up to this time acted as a Federalist and moderate nationalist, he soon reversed his stance in response to the centralizing policies of other Federalists, especially the financial system advocated by [[Alexander Hamilton]]. He joined the ranks of the [[Anti-Federalists]], calling for the adoption of a [[Bill of Rights]] and other measures to restrain the federal government, and was especially concerned about the potential for a Northern-dominated Congress to oppress the Southern states.
Lee continued to serve in the Continental Congress until his term expired in 1788, shortly before that body was replaced by the new [[United States Congress]], and was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. Though Lee had up to this time acted as a Federalist and moderate nationalist, he soon reversed his stance in response to the centralizing policies of other Federalists, especially the financial system advocated by [[Alexander Hamilton]]. He joined the ranks of the [[Anti-Federalists]], calling for the adoption of a [[Bill of Rights]] and other measures to restrain the federal government, and was especially concerned about the potential for a Northern-dominated Congress to oppress the Southern states.
Lee was elected governor of Virginia in 1791, serving until December 1794.
Lee was elected governor of Virginia in 1791, serving until December 1794. In this capacity, he opposed the formation of the [[Bank of the United States]], Hamilton's policy of assuming state debts by the federal government, and any upsetting of a balance of power between the Northern and Southern states. Though these positions brought Lee closer to the [[Democratic-Republicans]] under [[Thomas Jefferson]], he never united with that party, chiefly because of their support for the [[French Revolution]], which he despised, and his fears that they would foment similar social unrest in America. The outbreak of the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] in 1794 marked his return to the Federalist camp, taking command (while still governor) of a force of militia sent to [[Pennsylvania]] to restore order.
==Later Life==
Lee's tenure as governor ended while he was still on duty in Pennsylvania. Though he would hold office again in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1795 to 1798, and as a member of the [[House of Representatives]] from 1799 to 1801, he was no longer a leading figure in the political debates of the day (though he would take part in the controversy over the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]] of 1798, upholding the actions of the [[John Adams|Adams]] administration). He was alienated from the Republicans now politically dominant in Virginia, and his personal life, from the 1790s onward, became overshadowed by financial troubles, brought on by bad investments in land speculation and other enterprises. Eventually he became unable to pay his debts, and in April 1809 was jailed, first in Westmoreland, then in Spotsylvania County. During this time, he wrote ''A Cursory Sketch of the Motives and Proceedings of the Party Which Sways the Affairs of the Union'', an attack on the policies and character of Jefferson, especially during his time as governor during the war.
After being released from jail in March 1810, Lee moved his family for a time to Alexandria, Virginia. In July 1812, after the outbreak of the [[War of 1812]] with Britain--a war he had opposed--Lee was involved in a riot in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], when he and several other Federalists defended a Federalist newspaper office against a Republican mob. Following the disorder, Lee and his friends were jailed; the mob subsequently broke into the jail and beat the men so badly that one later died, and Lee himself was left with permanent injuries, both physical and mental. He returned to Alexandria to recover (only partially successfully), then left the country in May 1813, touring the [[West Indies]] to fully regain his health. After fruitless wandering through the Caribbean, Lee began his return to the country in early 1818, but made it only as far as Cumberland Island on the [[Georgia]] coast, dying on March 25 at the plantation of Nathanael Greene's daughter Louisa.
==References==
==References==