YORKTOWN,
Va., July 1, 2014 – A rare newspaper printing of the Virginia Declaration of
Rights, a precursor of the United States Declaration of Independence, has been
acquired for the future American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, replacing the
Yorktown Victory Center by late 2016. The June 12, 1776, issue of The
Pennsylvania Gazette containing the Virginia Declaration will be exhibited in
the new museum galleries near a July 1776 broadside of the U.S. Declaration of
Independence that currently is on exhibit at the Yorktown Victory Center.
It was the June 12, 1776, Pennsylvania Gazette version of the
Virginia Declaration that was available to Thomas Jefferson and the other
delegates selected by Congress to draft the U.S. Declaration of Independence, a
task they began in Philadelphia on June 11, 1776. Expressing principles
that citizens have the right to “enjoyment of life and liberty … and pursuing
and obtaining happiness and safety,” and that “all power is vested in, and
consequently derived from, the people,” the Virginia Declaration of Rights
directly influenced the composition of the Declaration of Independence adopted
by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and many later statements of basic
human rights.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights was an outcome of a resolution
passed by the Virginia Convention on May 15, 1776, appointing a committee to
prepare a declaration of rights and plan of government and instructing
Virginia’s delegation to the Continental Congress “to propose to that respectable
body to declare the United Colonies free and independent states.” A draft
of the Virginia Declaration, whose principal author was George Mason, first
appeared in The Virginia Gazette on June 1, 1776. It subsequently
appeared in newspapers outside Virginia, including The Pennsylvania Gazette on
June 12, coincidentally the same date as a modified version of the declaration
was adopted by the Virginia Convention.
The Pennsylvania Gazette, founded in 1728, was one of America’s
most prominent newspapers during the 18th century and for a time was published
by Benjamin Franklin. The June 12, 1776, issue containing the text of the
Virginia Declaration of Rights was acquired with private gifts to the
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc., which directs fundraising efforts for
private gifts, manages an endowment, assists with the acquisition of artifacts,
and supports special projects and programs of the Jamestown-Yorktown
Foundation, a Virginia state agency that operates Jamestown Settlement and
Yorktown Victory Center history museums.
The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will present a
comprehensive overview of the people and events of the Revolution, from the
mid-1700s to the early national period, through gallery exhibits, films and
outdoor living history. The Yorktown Victory Center continues in daily
operation as a museum of the American Revolution throughout construction, which
is occurring in phases and will include a move from the existing museum
building to the new facility in early 2015.
Located at 200 Water Street in Yorktown, the Yorktown Victory
Center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through August 15, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
beginning August 16. Admission is $9.75 for adults, $5.50 for ages 6
through 12. A combination ticket with Jamestown Settlement is $20.50 for
adults, $10.25 for ages 6-12. For more information, call (888) 593-4682
toll free or (757) 253-4838, or visit www.historyisfun.org.
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