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Primary sourceDocument12 June 1776

Virginia Declaration of Rights

George Mason · 12 June 1776

A 1776 statement of inherent rights adopted by the Virginia Convention; Henry served on the drafting committee and later invoked it at the ratifying convention.

Henry sat on the drafting committee and successfully argued to remove a clause, later quoting the Declaration in 1788.

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Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

This 1776 document lists rights that Virginians claimed belonged to all people, including life, liberty, and the right to alter or abolish bad government. It was drafted mainly by George Mason, with other delegates adding articles, and adopted unanimously by the Fifth Virginia Convention.

Why it matters

The Declaration influenced the American Declaration of Independence and later the U.S. Bill of Rights. Patrick Henry sat on the drafting committee and argued successfully to remove a clause; he later quoted the Declaration at Virginia's 1788 ratifying convention. The document also reveals the limits of its authors' ideals, since a phrase added by Edmund Pendleton let slaveholders support "universal" rights while excluding enslaved people.

Look closer

  • Why might the drafters have wanted to limit who counted as part of "civil society"?
  • How does this document's language compare with the Declaration of Independence?
  • What does Henry's committee role tell you about how such documents were actually written?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Patrick Henry on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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