# Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law

Date: 1786

## The fact

On 16 January 1786 Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom Jefferson had drafted for the revisal. It bars compelled attendance and civil incapacity for belief. The instrument is that enacted statute. Later federal disestablishment is a different text. Thomas Jefferson's documented role is: He drafted in 1777; Madison shepherded passage in 1786 while Jefferson was in France. The Assembly enacted. He did not sit in that House.

## Context

James Madison managed the 1785–86 fight against a general assessment. Sharing passage with him and the Assembly is required. Jefferson listed the statute among three achievements on his tomb. Notes on Virginia discuss religion in other queries; this is the law. The setting of Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law is the public file around 1786-01-16. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Driver [protection-of-minority-rights](/drivers/protection-of-minority-rights) is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

## Evidence and sources

Official locator: Avalon Project — Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom at https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jefvir.asp (Yale Law School / Avalon Project). Independent locator: Britannica — Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Official carrier: Avalon Project — Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jefvir.asp; Yale Law School / Avalon Project). Independent carrier: Britannica — Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson; Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Official or archival record: Avalon Project — Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jefvir.asp; Yale Law School / Avalon Project).

## Significance

Improving path from Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law on 1786-01-16. A statute that bars civil disability for belief is a minority-rights path of high weight. The welfare reading on this path is improving.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

## What is established and what is not

Established: a sourced public record of Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law under 1786-01-16 for Thomas Jefferson. Established: a sourced public record of Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law under 1786-01-16.

The attached driver is protection-of-minority-rights. The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Madison's floor work is required sharing. Do not treat the First Amendment as this statute. Mixed effects of Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law are separate paths.

Shared responsibility is part of Virginia enacts Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom, disestablishing coerced belief as civil law. Naming Thomas Jefferson does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1786-01-16 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

## People

- Thomas Jefferson: https://factrail.ai/people/thomas-jefferson

## Drivers

- Protection of Minority Rights: https://factrail.ai/drivers/protection-of-minority-rights

## Sources

- https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jefvir.asp
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/tj-religious-freedom