Virginia SOL VS.6.c
The Standard
describing how principles of these founding Virginia documents inspired the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of Virginia, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify natural rights, government by consent, freedom of the press, and religious liberty in Virginia’s founding documents. They explain where those ideas appear in later state and national documents.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can connect George Mason’s ideas to declarations, constitutions, and protected rights. They can connect Thomas Jefferson’s religious freedom principle to protections for belief and worship.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often treat the documents as if they were written at the same time for the same purpose. They may mix up Mason and Jefferson or assume religious freedom protects only the majority faith.
How to Assess It
- Give this exit ticket: “Virginia Declaration of Rights led to ___ because both include ___. Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom led to ___ because both protect ___.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs document, author, principle, and influence cards to arrange into chains, then have them explain each connection aloud.
Ask students to write: Which Virginia idea had the greatest effect on American government, and what evidence supports your choice?
Play an influence matching game where teams pair principle cards with the founding documents that include those ideas.
Compare one current Bill of Rights freedom with its Virginia source, then name one way people use that freedom today.
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Related Standards
- VS.5.a
explaining the principles and events that convinced the colonists to declare independence and go to war with Great Britain, as expressed in the Declaration of I...
- CE.1.f
describing the procedures for amending the Constitution of Virginia and the Constitution of the United States.
- CE.1.b
describing the Magna Carta, English common law, the charters of the Virginia Company of London (April 10, 1606; May 23, 1609; and March 12, 1612), the Virginia ...
- VS.6.b
explaining the development of founding Virginia documents, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights (written by George Mason) and the Virginia Statute for R...
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