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Introduced by George Mason at the Virginia
Convention meeting in the Capitol at Williamsburg, and unanimously
adopted on June 12, 1776. Governor Edmund Randolph, in his History
of Virginia, attributed the authorship of Articles 15 and
16 to Patrick Henry.
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 or 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
burthens 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 laws 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 representatives 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 judgement 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 be 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
blessings 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 practice Christian
forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.
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