18th century – Page 2 – Lonnie Sandifer tour guide

Virginia Declaration of Rights Part 2 (Changing the World)

George Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 and the very first line changed the world.

He said “all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights…” and then lists them. There was a big problem with that first line. In Virginia we had slavery. That was Virginia’s problem but there was a much larger global issue at work.

In the 18th century it was an established fact that all men are NOT equal. The idea had been around for awhile but no government would ever put something that progressive or that radical into practice. The men of Virginia couldn’t do it either. They changed it. If you live in Virginia this is the way it still reads to this day, “all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights… when they enter into a state of society”.

That’s a nice little legal loophole. They got to be equally free and independent but they got to keep their enslaved because the only ones “in society” were free, white, adult, male, protestant, land owners.

Their change did not stop Jefferson from copying it into the Declaration of Independence. All men are created equal. That didn’t make us equal. It put us on a path to equality. A path we are still on because we never quite achieved equality.

BUT we did change the world. Go anywhere in the world today and challenge them with the idea “all men are created equal”. They will not disagree with you. We changed the way the word thinks and it all started in Virginia.

The Virginia Declaration of Rights (part 1)

In May of 1776 the 5th Virginia convention met at the capitol building.

They voted to declare independence from Great Britton. Then immediately realized that you can’t just declare yourself independent. You would leave Virginia without a government. So the first order of business… create a new government. None of them had ever created a government before so when they created the government of Virginia…. they did it wrong.

They actually thought the best way to form a government was to define the rights of the citizens and then form a government to protect those rights. It’s a great idea but that’s not how governments are formed.

Governments are traditionally formed the other way around (like our federal government) When a small group of men seize power (in Philadelphia). Those men form a government (create a constitution) then tell the citizens what rights they will allow them to have (begrudgingly add the bill of rights).

But in Virginia they decided on the rights of citizens first and then formed a government that answers to the people.

It instilled in the new nation the idea that the Government’s main function is to protect the rights of it’s citizens.

The Reconstructed Raleigh Tavern

The rebuilt Raleigh tavern. One of the most under rated buildings in American history.

In March of 1773 the Virginia committee of correspondence was formed to “consist of eleven persons, to wit: the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esquire; Robert Carter Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson, Esquires, any six of whom to be a committee, whose business it shall be to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such Acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in America”. A spy ring. Any six of them would constitute a meeting of the committee. The committee met in the Daphne room of the Raleigh tavern.

James Southall was the owner of the tavern and a sympathizer for the rebellious cause. He later became the leader of one of the committees of public safety ( more about the committees of safety in future articles).

In 1774 the Virginia house of burgessess met in the Apolo room. They called for the first contental congress (like it or not the idea of our government meeting in congress started in the Raleigh tavern).

In 1776 the 5th Virginia convention met. George Mason stayed at the Raleigh tavern. From his room at the tavern he wrote the Virginia declaration of rights (more about the declaration of rights and the forming of the Virginia government in future articles). His declaration of rights would be adapted by the contental congress to become the bill of rights attached to the constitution.

The Raleigh tavern was the first building opened to the public at Colonial Williamsburg. Two years before any other. But NOT because of its historical importance but because of its sentimental importance. In 1776 the phi beta kappa fraternity was formed here. W.A.R. Goodwin (the man who had the idea for Colonial Williamsburg) and Rockefeller (the money behind Colonial Williamsburg) were both phi beta kappa alumni .

The Royal Governor’s Palace.

The governor’s palace in Colonial Williamsburg.

There are over 540 weapons on display in the governor’s palace. Colonial Williamsburg has the largest revolutionary war weapons collection and the largest replica weapons collection.

The English were the first ones to industrialize warfare. Different parts of the musket were fabricated in different locations in the kingdom and then sent to the tower of London. Once assembled the musket would be test fired. If it successfully fired 3 times it would receive the proof mark. GR with a crown (king George). You can tell the originals from the replicas in the palace by the proof mark which looks like a little dimple.