Bassett, Richard (1745-1815), a lawyer and statesman from Delaware, was a signer of the Constitution of the United States. He played a minor role at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but he helped win ratification (approval) of the Constitution in Delaware.
Bassett was born in Cecil County, Maryland, on April 2, 1745. About 1770, he began practicing law in Dover, Delaware. During the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783), Bassett was a captain of a troop of cavalry. He was a member of the Annapolis Convention of 1786, which laid the groundwork for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Bassett served as a United States senator from 1789 to 1793 and as chief justice of the Delaware Court of Common Pleas from 1793 to 1799. He was governor of Delaware from 1799 to 1801. He served as a judge of the U.S. Circuit Court in 1801 and 1802. He died on Aug. 16, 1815.
