Pendleton served as President of the Virginia Committee of Safety from August 16, 1775 to July 5, 1776 (effectively serving as governor of the colony), and as President of the Virginia Convention which authorized Virginia's delegates to propose a resolution to move for the break from Britain and create a Declaration of Independence. The Convention debated the Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason, which served as a model for the Declaration of Independence. Pendleton proposed the modification in the statement of universal rights in Virginia's declaration to exclude slaves, thus winning support of slave owners.