Students will analyze George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights and compare it to the United States Bill of Rights. Students will discover that many rights in George Mason’s documents are also included in the Bill of Rights.
Historical Background
George Mason was born on December 11, 1725. He grew up on a plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia. In 1776, George Mason, 51,wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights. In this document he said that people had certain inalienable rights that were above any government. In 1776, his ideas were very radical.
In September of 1787, state delegates gathered at the Constitutional Convention to sign the Constitution. George Mason refused to sign because he felt it gave too much power to the government and did not have a bill of rights. George Mason tried to add a bill of rights to the Constitution but his idea was not accepted.
The Constitution was ratified by 9 out of 13 states and went into effect on June 21, 1788. The first Congress met in New York in March of 1789 and the issue of the bill of rights was quickly proposed. James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights using many of George Mason’s ideas from The Virginia Declaration of Rights. The Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791.
Lesson Objective
The students will be able to tell what rights in the Virginia Declaration of Rights were put into the United States Bill or Rights. They will understand how the Bill of Rights borrowed from the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
Materials
- Primary Source Analysis Worksheet
- Source#1: This modern painting by Jack Clifton portrays the fifth Virginia Revolutionary Convention during the adoption of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Clifton, Jack, artist, Adoption of The Virginia Declaration of Rights 1974 http://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/hire/AdoptionVADeclarationofRights.pdf
- Source# 2: This is a copy of the original Virginia Declaration of Rights document. George Mason, Declaration of Rights, 1776, Accession 21512, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. http://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/hires/VirginiaDeclarationofRights.pdf
- Source #3: This is a transcript of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. George Mason, Declaration of Rights, 1776, Accession 21512, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond. Virginia. http://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/VADeclaration.pdf
- Source #4: This is the Virginia Declaration of Rights written in kid friendly language. http://www.gunstonhall.org/education/resources/discover/cclesson3.html
- Source#5: This is a copy of the original first ten amendments to the Bill of Rights http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_zoom_1.html
- Source#6: This is a transcript of the first ten amendments to the Bill of Rights. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/print_friendly.html?page=bill_of_rights_transcript_content.html&title=The%20Bill%20of%20Rights%3A%20A%20Transcription
- Source #7: This is the Bill of Rights written in kid friendly language. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/after1500/government/billofrights.htm
Procedure
- Introduction/Hook:I will put up the painting “ Adoption of the Declaration of the Virginia Declaration of Rights” and students will have a copy of the image to view. Students will discuss the following questions:
- What does the way the people are dressed say about the time period of the painting? Why aren’t there any women in the painting? Who do you think the men in the painting could be? Are there any symbols in the painting that might tell you anything about the painting?
- First Class Session (45 minutes)
- The teacher will first provide some background knowledge about George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Students will be arranged in heterogeneous groups of 2 or 3 that balance between academic levels, as well as special education. Each group will have a folder with copies of the documents along with the questions to be answered to help guide them.
- Students will analyze the Virginia Declaration of Rights and answer questions with their partner(s). Then they will look at the kid friendly version of the VDR and highlight the rights. After the students are finished with both documents, there will be a class discussion.
- Second Class session (45 minutes)
- The teacher will provide some background knowledge about the United States Bill of Rights. Students will be arranged in heterogeneous groups of 2 or 3 that balance between academic levels, as well as special education. Each group will have a folder with copies of the documents along with the questions to be answered to help guide them.
- Students will analyze the United States Bill of Rights and answer questions with their partner(s). Then they will look at the kid friendly version of the Bill of Rights and highlight the rights. After the students are finished with both documents, there will be a class discussion.
- Finally, students will look at their highlighted kid friendly copies of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights. They will compare the two documents and find rights from the VDR that are in the Bill of Rights and list them together on an analysis worksheet entitled “The Virginia Declaration of Rights is the Basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights Because….”. When students have finished the analysis worksheet, there will be a class discussion.
Assessment
“The Virginia Declaration of Rights is the Basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights Because…” analysis worksheet will be collected and used as a formative assessment. The following rubric will be used:
4
All of the comparisons are completed for the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights
Both questions are answered with correct responses
3
Most of the comparisons are completed for the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights
Both questions are answered with correct responses
2
Some of the comparisons are completed for the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
One of the questions is answered with correct responses
1
Few of the comparisons are complete for the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
One of the questions is answered with correct responses.
