Thomas Jefferson
Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress |
Thomas Jefferson was the major author of the Declaration of Independence and largely responsible for the description of natural rights (or human rights that are inherent and universal) found in the Declaration. His Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom states that all people should be free to worship as they please; it was the basis for the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Jefferson also had a hand in the formation of the Commonwealth’s government. In 1776 he created the preface to the Constitution of Virginia, and he would later serve as governor of the Commonwealth. |
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George Mason served in the third, fourth, and fifth Virginia Revolutionary Conventions. It was the fifth convention that agreed that “a Committee ought to prepare a Declaration of Rights and such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this colony and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people.” Mason worked to create the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the first draft of the Constitution of Virginia. The Virginia Declaration of Rights makes clear that all Virginians should have certain rights, including freedom of religion and the press. It is a basis for the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. His steadfast refusal to support Virginia’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution without a Bill of Rights helped ensure such a listing of rights was soon adopted in the early American republic. |
 George Mason Courtesy of the Virginia Historical Society (1858.2) |
 James Madison Courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress |
James Madison is often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution of the United States” because he kept detailed notes during the Constitutional Convention and engineered compromises on the most important issues facing the delegates. He authored the “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the government described in the U.S. Constitution. Madison also authored much of the Bill of Rights. |
| Did You Know? Four of the first five presidents of the United States were Virginians. Other influential Virginians, such as Chief Justice John Marshall, had a large impact in shaping the United States. In total there have been eight presidents from the Commonwealth of Virginia. |