The Virginia Declaration
of Rights
George Mason (1725-1792) and
Thomas Ludwell Lee (ca. 1730-1778)
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The Virginia Declaration
of Rights
Holograph manuscript, May 1776
Manuscript Division
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A call for American independence from Britain, the Virginia Declaration
of Rights was drafted by George Mason in May 1776 and amended by
Thomas Ludwell Lee and the Virginia Convention. Thomas Jefferson
drew heavily from this document when he drafted the Declaration
of Independence one month later.
Mason wrote that "all men are born equally free and independant
[sic], and have certain inherent natural rights,...among which are
the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and
possessing Property, and pursueing [sic] and obtaining Happiness
and Safety." This uniquely influential document was also used by
James Madison in drawing up the Bill of Rights (1789) and the Marquis
de Lafayette in drafting the French Declaration of the Rights of
Man (1789).
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