State Convention at Richmond, VA
Engraving. The State Convention at Richmond, VA., In Session. From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. 15 February 1868, p. 345.
Online Exhibitions, accessed March 29, 2021, //www.virginiamemory.com/online-exhibitions/items/show/602
Virginia has had a state constitution since 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. George Mason and James Madison were two of the main writers for the Virginia Constitution, both of whom would later go to Philadelphia to help write the United States Constitution, and would bring their ideas from the Virginia Constitution to help draft the highest document in our nation’s history. Since being drafted in 1776 there have been five major draft changes to
the Virginia Constitution: 1830, 1851, 1864, 1870, and 1902. In 1969 there was a special assembly in Richmond which amended the Virginia Constitution that was ratified in 1971 and serves as our current constitution.
Constitutional Convention
Painting, Virginia [Constitutional] Convention of 1829- 1830 by George Catlin.
Virginia Museum of History & Culture [1957.39]. //www.virginiahistory.org/
There are currently twenty-two articles in the Virginia state constitution. The first Article contains the Bill of Rights. The second article details franchise and officers, which are voting rights and privileges, qualifications to hold public office, and districting. Articles three through six detail separation of powers and the creation of three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judiciary. Article seven details the local governments. Articles
eight and nine detail education and corporations respectively. Article ten details taxes and finance laws. Article eleven is conservation. Article twelve outlines protocol for future changes to the state constitution.
For the full text of the Virginia Constitution, see the Virginia state website here: //law.lis.virginia.gov/constitution
The above engraving [top right] from Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper depicts the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868 in Richmond. The 1870 Constitution expanded voting to men of all races and established a public school system in Virginia.
The Library of Congress
>> Researchers
>>
Virtual Programs & Services
Home >> Primary Documents >> American Revolution & New Nation >>
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Virginia Declaration of Rights A call for American independence from Britain, the Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted by George Mason in May 1776 and amended by Thomas Ludwell Lee and the Virginia Convention. Thomas Jefferson drew heavily from it when he drafted the Declaration of Independence one month later. This uniquely influential document was
also used by James Madison in drawing up the Bill of Rights [1789] and by the Marquis de Lafayette in drafting the French Declaration of the Rights of Man [1789]. Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites |
Selected Bibliography Digital Collections
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 The Letters of Delegates to Congress contain correspondence to
and from George Mason. In addition, Mason's involvement as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 is documented in Farrand's Records.
George Washington Papers Contains correspondence with George Mason, including Washington's draft of their joint
Fairfax Resolves.
Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera Contains a copy of the Virginia Declaration of
Rights as printed in the Virginia Gazette on June 14, 1776.
Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827 Thomas Jefferson also corresponded with George Mason. Enter "George Mason" in the search box for this collection.
Exhibitions
Creating the United States This online exhibition offers insights into how the nation’s founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self–governing country. The exhibition contains two documents related to the Virginia Declaration of Rights. - Drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights
- Virginia Declaration of Rights
American Treasures of the Library of Congress - The Virginia Declaration of Rights
George Mason of Fairfax County, Virginia, wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, on which the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are modeled. Mason refused to support the original Constitution because it failed to protect essential liberties.
American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Madison's Copy of the Proposed
"Bill of Rights"
In response to the demands of the anti-federalists for amendments guaranteeing individual rights, James Madison [1751-1836] drafted these twelve amendments to the Constitution. Seen here in one of only two known copies of the preliminary printing, these amendments were closely modeled on Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights.
Today in History July 4, 1776
The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. September 17, 1787 Members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
October 27, 1787 The Federalist Papers were a series of
eighty-five essays by "Publius," the pen name of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The first appeared in the New York Independent Journal on October 27, 1787.
December 15, 1791 Confirming the fundamental rights of its citizens, the new United States of America adopted the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, on December 15,
1791.
External Web SitesAmerica's Founding Documents: Bill of Rights, National Archives and Records Administration Constitution of the United States, Government Printing Office The Founders' Constitution, University of Chicago Press and the Liberty Fund George Mason Online, Gunston Hall Plantation
Our Documents, Bill of Rights, National Archives and Records Administration
Selected Bibliography Conley, Patrick, and John P. Kaminski, eds. The Bill of Rights and the States: The Colonial and
Revolutionary Origins of American Liberties. Madison, Wis.: Madison House, 1992. [Catalog Record] Hickok, Eugene W., Jr. The Bill of Rights: Original Meaning and Current Understanding. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991.[Catalog Record] Miller, Helen Hill. George Mason: Gentleman Revolutionary. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1975. [Catalog Record] Rowland, Kate Mason. The Life of George Mason, 1725-1792: Including His Speeches, Public Papers, and Correspondence. New York: Russell & Russell, 1964. [Catalog Record] Rutland, Robert A., ed. The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792. 3 vols. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1970. [Catalog Record]
Younger Readers Banks, Joan. The U.S. Constitution. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. [Catalog Record] Faber, Doris, and Harold Faber. We the People: The Story of the United States Constitution Since 1787. New York: Scribner's, 1987.
[Catalog Record] Heymsfeld, Carla R., and Joan W. Lewis. George Mason, Father of the Bill of Rights. Alexandria, Va.: Patriotic Education Incorporated, 1991. [Catalog Record]
|
| Top of Page
|
Home >> Primary Documents >> American Revolution & New Nation >>
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Why was the first Virginia Constitution Important?
Virginia started the process by writing the first Declaration of Rights and then the first state constitution, describing how a new form of government would replace colonial authority and eliminate the role of a monarch. Virginia became an independent state when it adopted its first state constitution in 1776.
When was the first Constitution of Virginia first approved?
The first Virginia constitution was adopted in 1776. Since then, the state constitution has gone through a number of re-draftings and revisions. The most recent general revision was ratified by Virginia voters in 1970 and became effective on July 1, 1971. The current constitution consists of 12 articles.
Who wrote Virginias constitution?
James Madison's work on the Virginia Constitution helped him develop the ideas and skills that he would later use as one of the main architects of the United States Constitution.
What was the purpose of the Constitution of 1902?
The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1902 was an assembly of delegates elected by the voters to write the fundamental law of Virginia. The 1902 Constitution severely restricting suffrage among blacks and whites was proclaimed without submitting it to the people.