On the 29th of June, 1776 the Virginia Convention of Delegates adopted The Virginia Declaration of Rights. The Declaration stated that 'all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights … namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety'. Its assertion of the natural rights of men influenced United States Declaration of Independence, and the French Revolution's 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
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