Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Jefferson's tombstone. The inscription, as he stipulated, reads "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia."

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779.[1] On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the state's law. The statute disestablished the Church of England in Virginia and guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all religious faiths, including Christians of all denominations, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus.[2][3][4] The statute was a notable precursor of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Statute for Religious Freedom is one of only three accomplishments Jefferson instructed be put in his epitaph.[5]

  1. ^ "Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, January 16, 1786". Shaping the Constitution. Virginia Memory.
  2. ^ "Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, January 16, 1786". Shaping the Constitution. Virginia Memory.
  3. ^ "The Founding Fathers and Islam". Library of Congress Information Bulletin. May 2002. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005. Retrieved April 27, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ John Ragosta. "Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786)". www.encyclopediavirginia.org. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  5. ^ W.W. Hening, ed., Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol. 12 (1823): 84–86.