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VIRGINIA
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
June
12, 1776
George
Mason, a neighbor of George Washington, signer of the
Declaration of Independence, and participant in the
Constitutional Convention, drafted this bill of rights
on June 12, 1776. It was adopted with slight changes
by the Virginia Convention and proved influential on
Jefferson in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence
and in the later discussions regarding the First Amendment.
Virginia
is one of two states (the other being Rhode Island)
to offer complete religious freedom to its citizens.
Virginia's constitution and its leaders led the way
in modeling the freedoms in the federal Bill of Rights.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
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.
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* * *
XV. 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 of fundamental principles.
XVI. 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.
Source:
The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters,
and Other Organic Laws of the United States 1908-09 (Ben
Berley Poore ed., 2d ed. 1878).
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