Talk:Constitution of Virginia

Successful good article nomination

I am glad to say that this article which was nominated for good article status has succeeded. This is how the article, as of June 6, 2007, compares against the six good article criteria:

1. Well written?: yes, prose is direct and clear

2. Factually accurate?: yes, all main points are referenced

3. Broad in coverage?: yes, the article covers all aspects of the topic

4. Neutral point of view?: yes

5. Article stability? yes

6. Images?: yes, all are free or appropriately tagged

If you feel that this review is in error, feel free to take it to a GA review. Thank you to all of the editors who worked hard to bring it to this status. — Argos'Dad 04:29, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Introduction wording

I have edited the introduction to read, “Virginia was an early state to adopt its own Constitution on June 29, 1776, and the document was widely influential both in the United States and abroad.[1]" IP.173 copy edited the introduction, “the third state to adopt its own constitution (New Hampshire enacted its new Constitution on January 5, 1776 and Georgia followed suit on April 12)” — leaving out that the Constitution of South Carolina was enacted March 26.

No doubt the source, Jethro Lieberman, said that Virginia passed the first Constitution of its own as related by the previous editor. Virginian historian Hugh Blair Grigsby in “The Virginia Convention 1776” (1855) p. 19, states that in Virginia, “the first written constitution ever framed by an independent political society, was adopted by a unanimous vote.” — after recognizing the earlier New Hampshire and South Carolina Constitutions.

The other state Constitutions either stated that they would take effect when the dispute with Parliament was resolved, or they took effect in stead of Parliament, without declaring independence. The introduction to the Virginia Constitution explained that King George III had dissolved government in Virginia, therefore the representatives of the people enacted Virginia’s constitution (apart from Parliament) in a republican form of government.

But the Fifth Virginia Convention instructed its representatives to vote for independence from George III and the British Empire of the United Colonies in the Continental Congress; North Carolina permitted its delegates to “concur” with others in the Continental Congress on the subject — so Virginian scholars have often argued primacy of its Constitution as an independent state, another “first”. Nevertheless, the flag run up over the Williamsburg Capitol was had a British Union Jack in the canton, with thirteen red and white stripes taken from the self-governing but trade regulated British East India Company flag. It was not until after Congress authorized a Declaration of Independence that a canton of thirteen stars appeared with thirteen stripes for the United States of America. TheVirginiaHistorian (talk) 23:38, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Constitution of Virginia/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

*Could expand more on the history of the individual constitutions Expand lead per WP:LEAD Needs info on the 1971 constitution

Last edited at 23:04, 27 November 2006 (UTC). Substituted at 12:13, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

I added Virginia Conventions to the See also section, since that article addresses some of the history of the individual constitutions as initially promulgated. This article might be expanded by noting the Virginia and U.S. Constitutional Amendments between Conventions modifying their initial promulgated Constitutions, Acts of Congress and the adjudication of the Virginia and U.S. courts which modified each Virginia Constitution. TheVirginiaHistorian (talk) 15:50, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

Problematic new section

The newly added section #Twenty-first century contests is a mirror of the same section found at Virginia Conventions. Should it be rewritten and expanded here, especially the section on State and Federal courts including the unsuccessful challenges? Should the section be rewritten at “Virginia Conventions” with a different focus? TheVirginiaHistorian (talk) 15:56, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

I saw the same editor copy a lot of content from the Virginia Conventions article into this and several newly created articles. The idea of multiple articles may be valid, but I don't know that this is the best way to proceed. I see you have opened at thread at ANI, so I will comment there.--Mojo Hand (talk) 17:55, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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Independent cities

I came here from the article Independent city (United States), which says that out of 41 independent cities in the US, 38 are in Virginia and it's a specific feature of the Virginia Constitution. But this article doesn't even mention it. Could somebody more familiar with the subject add something about it please? Richard75 (talk) 19:34, 17 February 2024 (UTC)