Washington was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1787. In 1788, he served in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, where he voted for ratification of the US Constitution. On September 29, 1798, Washington received from President John Adams a recess appointment to the seat on the US Supreme Court vacated by James Wilson after John Marshall had declined the appointment while seeking an elective office. Formally nominated on December 18, 1798, Washington was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1798, and received his commission the same day. Washington became an associate justice on February 4, 1799, at the age of 36. After Marshall became Chief Justice two years later, Washington voted with Marshall on all but three occasions. Washington served on the Supreme Court until his death in 1829. While serving on the Marshall Court, Washington authored the opinion of Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546, while riding circuit as an Associate Justice. In Corfield, Washington listed several rights that he deemed were fundamental "privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."
Residences
Around 1795, Washington purchased Belvidere, the former Richmond estate of William Byrd III. He relinquished Belvidere upon his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1798. Upon his aunt Martha Washington's death in 1802, Bushrod Washington inherited all of his uncle George Washington's papers as well the largest part of his estate, including the Mount Vernon plantation, as bequeathed in his uncle's will. By George Washington's will, George's slaves were to be freed after his wife Martha died, as she had the use of them during her lifetime. However, Martha freed the slaves before her death in an 1800 deed of manumission. When Bushrod Washington and his wife moved to Mount Vernon immediately after Martha's death, he brought his own slaves there. The estate had not included much cash, and Washington found that he was unable to support the upkeep of the plantation's mansion on the proceeds from the property and his Supreme Court salary. As a result, the mansion deteriorated while he lived there. As his farms were not profitable, Washington sold many of his slaves to gain working capital to support the main house and property.
Society memberships
Washington was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813. In 1816, he became a founding member of the American Colonization Society, which promoted the repatriation to Africa of slaves who had been freed in preparation for transport there. Washington became the Society's first president and held that position for the remainder of his life. Washington's sales of slaves to support the upkeep of Mount Vernon angered abolitionists, who questioned why the ACS president could not set an example by freeing his slaves, as had his uncle George Washington. They believed that he should have sent his freed slaves to Liberia.
Death and interment
Bushrod died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 26, 1829, while riding circuit. His wife died two days later while transporting his body for burial. Both are interred in a vault within the Washington family tomb at Mount Vernon. An obelisk erected in front of the tomb memorializes Bushrod and his wife.
