the Commonwealth, and they only shall have power to make laws or repeal them, to grant levies, to admit freemen, and also shall have power to call either Court or magistrate or any other person whatsoever into question for any misdemeanor. And [the General Court] may for just cause displace or deal otherwise, according to the nature of the offence. And also [it] may deal in any other matter that concerns the good of the Commonwealth, except election of magistrates, which shall be done by the whole body of freemen. In which [General] Court the Governor or moderator shall have power to order the Court to give liberty of speech, and silence unseasonable and disorderly speakings, to put all things to vote, and in case the vote be equal, to have the casting voice. But none of these Courts shall be adjourned or dissolved without the consent of the major part of the Court. . . ... 11. Virginia asserts the principles of just government 1 In the century and a half following the establishment of the first English colonies on the Atlantic seaboard the principles of local self-government had found widespread acceptance among the Americans. As relations with the mother country became more and more strained, it was evident that many of the colonies considered these principles in danger. The determination of the Americans to maintain their rights against English aggression led, more and more often, to colonial protests against English colonial policies, and to declarations of rights. One of the most important of these declarations is the Virginia Bill of Rights, adopted by a convention that met in Williamsburg, May 6, 1776. The following are some of the more significant passages from this document: 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. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; 1 From the Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776. namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the Basis of people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all government. times amenable to them. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common The object benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community; of government. of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and that, when a government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal. That the legislative, executive and judicial powers should be separate and distinct; and that the members thereof may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain and regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former members to be again eligible or ineligible, as the laws shall direct. ... The threefold divigovern sion of mental powers That all elections ought to be free, and that all men having sufficient The sufevidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to frage, etc. the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be taxed, or deprived of their property for public uses, without their own consent, or that of their representatives so elected; nor bound by any law to which they have not in like manner assented, for the public good. . . ... That in all capital or criminal prosecutions, a man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man Protection of the in dividual in his legal relations. Bail and punishments. Jury trial. Freedom of the press. The conditions of free govern ment. Freedom of worship. The circum- leading up be deprived of his liberty, except by the law of the land or the judg ment of his peers. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. . . . That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by jury of twelve men is preferable to any other, and ought to be held sacred. That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. That the people have a right to uniform government; and, therefore, that no government separate from or independent of the government of Virginia, ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof. That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. 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 duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love and charity toward each other. . . 12. The colonies declare their independence 1 In 1774 the First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia to protest against the attitude of Great Britain toward the colonies. Instead of improving, however, the situation grew worse, and in April, 1775, the Americans clashed with British troops at Concord and Lexington. Actual warfare necessitating some joint action on the part of the colonies, a Second Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia submitted to the Congress three resolutions, the first of which declared "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are ab1 From the Declaration of Independence, 1776. solved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." The resolutions were seconded by John Adams, and a declaration to the effect of the said first resolution was drawn up. This was the celebrated Declaration of Independence, which on July 4, 1776, was agreed to, and signed by John Hancock as president of the Congress. The complete text of the declaration follows: statement. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for Preliminary one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, The nature of govern ment. circumstances a government ought to be altered or abolished. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive Under what of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of The colo nies submit a list of injuries which they have sustained at the hands of the English monarch. the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws of naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. |