As Americans celebrate the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary, they would do well to commemorate alongside it the Virginia Declaration of Rights, also in its 250th year. Adopted a few weeks after the Virginia Declaration, the grand statement of American independence built upon ideas in the former document.
Framing the Declaration of Rights
Virginia’s Fifth Convention assembled in Williamsburg on May 6, 1776. On May 15, it passed a resolution instructing the Commonwealth’s delegates at the Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain. This initiative raised questions about the civil authority extant in the Commonwealth. Believing, perhaps, they had reverted to a state of nature, the delegates thought it necessary to frame a new social compact, beginning with a declaration of humankind’s natural rights, followed by a new plan—or constitution—of civil government. The assembly appointed a committee to prepare a declaration of rights and plan of government. Among those appointed to this committee were George Mason and the young, untested delegate from Orange County, James Madison Jr.
Sometime in late May, Mason took the initiative in framing the Declaration, preparing ten articles to which others were added by fellow delegates. A committee draft was printed and circulated up and down the Atlantic seaboard in early June, and it had a significant impact on compatriots in the nascent states engaged in the task of creating new governments. The Convention debated and amended drafts of the Declaration before it was unanimously passed on June 12.
In summary, the Declaration has sixteen articles setting forth the essential principles of republicanism—namely, that power is vested in and derived from the people and exercised through their duly elected representatives. It recognizes the inalienable right of “a majority of the community … to reform, alter, or abolish” any government that fails to provide “for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community”; separates the state’s “Legislative and Executive powers” from the “Judiciary”; and disallows taxation or the deprivation of private property for public uses without consent of the people or their representatives. It affirms due process of law, borrowing language from Magna Carta. It also enumerates, among other things, the rights of criminal defendants to be informed of accusations and “to a speedy trial by an impartial jury,” allows for the privilege against self-incrimination, and prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments” and unreasonable searches and seizures. It also protects the “freedom of the Press” and “free exercise of religion.”