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Virginia
Declaration of Rights
12 June 1776 Mason
Papers 1:287--89
A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the Representatives of the good people
of VIRGINIA, assembled in full and free Convention; which rights do
pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of
Government.
1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have
certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of
society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity;
namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring
and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the
People; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all
times amenable to them.
3. That Government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit,
protection, and security of the people, nation, or community;--of all the
various modes and forms of Government that is best which is capable of
producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most
effectually secured against the danger of mal-administration;--and that,
whenever any Government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these
purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable,
and indefeasible right, to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner
as shall be judged most conducive to the publick weal.
4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate
emoluments and privileges from the community, but in consideration of
publick services; which, not being descendible, neither ought the offices
of Magistrate, Legislator, or Judge, to be hereditary.
5. That the Legislative and Executive powers of the State should be
separate and distinct from the Judicative; and, that the members of the
two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating
the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a
private station, return into that body from which they were originally
taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular
elections, in which all, or any part of the former members, to be again
eligible, or ineligible, as the law shall direct.
6. That elections of members to serve as Representatives of the people,
in Assembly, ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient
evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the
community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be taxed or deprived of
their property for publick uses without their own consent or that of
their Representative so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have
not, in like manner, assented, for the publick good.
7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any
authority, without consent of the Representatives of the people, is
injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man hath a right to
demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the
accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and to a
speedy trial by an impartial jury of his vicinage, without whose
unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty, nor can he be compelled to
give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of his liberty
except by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers.
9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
10. That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be
commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact
committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence
is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and
oppressive, and ought not to be granted.
11. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man
and man, the ancient trial by Jury is preferable to any other, and ought
to be held sacred.
12. That the freedom of the Press is one of the greatest bulwarks of
liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotick Governments.
13. That a well-regulated Militia, composed of the body of the people,
trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free
State; that Standing Armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as
dangerous to liberty; and that, in all cases, the military should be
under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
14. That the people have a right to uniform Government; and, therefore,
that no Government separate from, or independent of, the Government of
Virginia, ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof.
15. That no free Government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved
to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance,
frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental
principles.
16. That Religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the
manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction,
not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to
the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience;
and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance,
love, and charity, towards each other.
The Papers of George Mason, 1725--1792. Edited by Robert A. Rutland. 3
vols. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1970.
To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in
hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, on a revision of them,
restore us to that state, in which both countries found happiness and
prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the
following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation,
non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. 2. To
prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the
inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a loyal address to his
majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into.
Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American
States. House Doc. No. 398. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
1927.
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