Hallowed Heritage: The Life of VirginiaTorpey, Dorothy Margaret
History
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia
Torpey, Dorothy Margaret
Virginia -- Civilization
The State of Virginia missed by five days the honor of being the
necessary ninth state to ratify the Constitution, New Hampshire
having this honor. As Virginia became the tenth state to ratify
it, the following declaration was officially recorded: "We, the
Delegates of the People of Virginia, ... Do, in the name and in
behalf of the People of Virginia, declare and make known, that the
powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the People
of the United States, may be resumed by them whensoever the same
shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, and that every
power not granted thereby remains with them and at their Will; that
therefore no right of any denomination can be canceled, abridged,
restrained, or modified by the Congress ... or any department or
Officer of the United States, except in those instances in which
power is given by the Constitution for those purposes: and that,
among other essential rights, the liberty of Conscience and of the
press cannot be canceled, abridged, restrained or modified by any
Authority of the United States." This declaration expressed fear
on the part of Virginians concerning the new Constitution. At the
same time, the members of the Virginia convention proposed forty
amendments which became the bases of the ten amendments of the Bill
of Rights in the Constitution of the United States: James Madison
introduced the first nine amendments and Richard Henry Lee, the
tenth amendment, to the Constitution of the United States--all
eventually adopted in 1791.
Between 1783 and 1789, on the domestic scene, Virginia had gained
five new counties: Campbell (formed from Bedford County and named
for General William H. Campbell, the hero of the Battle of King's
Mountain), Greensville (formed from Brunswick County and, later,
parts of Sussex County and named for General Nathaniel Greene or Sir
Richard Grenville), Franklin (formed from Bedford and Henry Counties
and, later, parts of Patrick and named for Benjamin Franklin),
Russell (formed from Washington County and named for General William
Russell, a military hero also at the Battle of King's Mountain in
the Revolutionary War) and Nottoway (formed from Amelia County and
named for an Indian tribe, "Nottoway"--the word meaning "snake or
enemy"). Two years later, Patrick County was formed from Henry
County and was named in honor of the patriot, Patrick Henry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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