At the 1776 Virginia Convention, a pivotal event that shaped the future of religious freedom, the delegates agreed to join its sister colonies and declare independence from Great Britain before taking up the task of creating a new Constitution and an accompanying Declaration of Rights. As a delegate to this Convention, Madison persuaded his colleagues to establish an equal right to the free exercise of religion rather than merely extending toleration to religious dissenters. This provided an opening for the allies of religious freedom to press for the complete disestablishment of religion. These dissenters responded to its passage by sending the General Assembly petitions requesting the disestablishment of the Episcopal Church and all laws granting religious domination. As this chapter recounts, these petitions demonstrated the power of collective actions in the fight for religious freedom. Jefferson proposed a bill for that purpose, but the conservatives blocked it, instead enacting a paired down bill which freed the dissenters only from the burden of religious taxes. The dissenters sent in another round of petitions the following year, but with little success. These events demonstrate the important link between individual rights and the disestablishment of religion.