Who was the principal author of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights?

George Mason was the principal author of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights.

Mason drafted the document in May 1776 while serving in the Fifth Virginia Convention. The convention adopted it in Williamsburg on June 12, 1776, shortly before Virginia adopted its first state constitution.

The declaration asserted that people possess inherent rights and that government exists to serve the community. Its language concerning liberty, equality, popular sovereignty, and the right to reform government influenced later American constitutional writing.

Mason’s document is often connected with both the United States Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson and other members of the Committee of Five likely drew on ideas expressed in Virginia’s declaration, while James Madison later worked to secure amendments protecting individual liberties. Mason himself refused to sign the federal Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights and because he objected to aspects of federal power.