The Fifth Virginia Convention adopted a declaration of rights, an influential document that proclaimed the inherent rights of men.

Fifth Virginia Convention

The Fifth Virginia Convention was a meeting of the Patriot legislature of Virginia held in Williamsburg from May 6 to July 5, 1776. This Convention declared Virginia an independent state and produced its first constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

Virginia Declaration of Rights

1776 document which influenced the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights

The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the…

Natural rights and legal rights

Philosophical and political rights

Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights.Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal, fundamental and inalienable. Natural law is the law of natural…