George Mason

Virginians George Washington and George Mason establish the Fairfax County Militia Association, a military unit independent of British control, on September 21, 1774.

Washington begins training troops.

"Give me liberty, or give me death!" is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he makes to the Second Virginia Convention, after the Virginia House of Burgesses had been disbanded by the Royal Governor, on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.

He is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the convention to pass a resolution delivering Virginian troops for the Revolutionary War.

Among the delegates to the convention are future U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

According to Edmund Randolph, the convention sat in silence for several minutes afterwards.

Thomas Marshall will tell his son John Marshall, who will later become Chief Justice of the United States, that the speech was “one of the most bold, vehement, and animated pieces of eloquence that had ever been delivered.”

Edward Carrington, who was listening outside a window of the church, requested that he be buried on that spot.

In 1810, he will get his wish.

The drafter of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, George Mason, said, “Every word he says not only engages but commands the attention, and your passions are no longer your own when he addresses them.”

More immediately, the resolution, declaring the United Colonies to be independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, passes, and Henry is named chairman of the committee assigned to build a militia.

Britain's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, reacts by seizing the gunpowder in the public magazine at Williamsburg—Virginia’s equivalent of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

The Virginia Convention of Delegates adopts George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights on June 12.

The Virginia Declaration of Rights is drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government.

The Declaration is adopted unanimously by the Fifth Virginia Convention at Williamsburg, Virginia on June 12, 1776, as a separate document from the Constitution of Virginia, which will later be adopted on June 29, 1776.

It will influence a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the United States Bill of Rights (1789).

Ten articles were initially drafted by George Mason circa May 20–26, 1776; three other articles were added in committee, seen in the original draft in the handwriting of Thomas Ludwell Lee, but the author is unknown.

James Madison later proposed liberalizing the article on religious freedom, but the larger Virginia Convention made further changes.

It was later amended by Committee and the entire Convention, including the addition of a section on the right to a uniform government (Section 14).

Patrick Henry persuades the Convention to delete a section that would have prohibited bills of attainder, arguing that ordinary laws could be ineffective against some terrifying offenders.

Edmund Pendleton proposed the line "when they enter into a state of society" which allows slave holders to support the declaration of universal rights which would be understood not to apply to slaves as they were not part of civil society.

Mason bases his initial draft on the rights of citizens described in earlier works such as the English Bill of Rights (1689), and the writings of John Locke.

The Declaration can be considered the first modern Constitutional protection of individual rights for citizens of North America.

It rejects the notion of privileged political classes or hereditary offices such as the members of Parliament and House of Lords described in the English Bill of Rights.

The Declaration consists of sixteen articles on the subject of which rights "pertain to [the people of Virginia]...as the basis and foundation of Government."

In addition to affirming the inherent nature of rights to life, liberty, property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety, the Declaration both describes a view of Government as the servant of the people, and enumerates its separation of powers into the administration, legislature, and judiciary.

Thus, the document is unusual in that it not only prescribes legal rights, but it also describes moral principles upon which a government should be run.

 

James Madison has introduced a series of Constitutional amendments in the House of Representatives for consideration.

Among his proposals is one that would have added introductory language stressing natural rights to the preamble.

Another would apply parts of the Bill of Rights to the states as well as the federal government.

Several seek to protect individual personal rights by limiting various Constitutional powers of Congress.

Like Washington, Madison urges Congress to keep the revision to the Constitution "a moderate one", limited to protecting individual rights.

Madison is deeply read in the history of government and uses a range of sources in composing the amendments.

The English Magna Carta of 1215 inspires the right to petition and to trial by jury, for example, while the English Bill of Rights of 1689 provides an early precedent for the right to keep and bear arms (although this applies only to Protestants) and prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

The greatest influence on Madison's text, however, are existing state constitutions.

Many of his amendments, including his proposed new preamble, are based on the Virginia Declaration of Rights drafted by Anti-Federalist George Mason in 1776.

To reduce future opposition to ratification, Madison also looks for recommendations shared by many states.

He does provide one, however, that no state has requested: "No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases."

He has not included an amendment that every state has asked for, one that would have made tax assessments voluntary instead of contributions.