House of Burgesses

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House of Burgesses
Colony of Virginia
Coat of arms or logo
Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of Burgesses by Peter F. Rothermel
History
Established1619
Succeeded byVirginia House of Delegates in 1776
Meeting place
Reconstructed chamber in Williamsburg
Jamestown, Virginia (1619–1699)
Williamsburg, Virginia (1699–1776)

The House of Burgesses (/ˈbɜːrdʒəsɪz/) was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia.

From 1642 to 1776, the House of Burgesses was an instrument of government alongside the royally-appointed colonial governor and the upper-house Council of State in the General House.[1]

When the Virginia colony declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain at the Fifth Virginia Convention in 1776 (and became the independent Commonwealth of Virginia), the House of Burgesses became the House of Delegates, which continues to serve as the lower house of the General Assembly.[2]

Title

Main article: Burgess (title)

Burgess originally referred to a

freeman of a borough
, a self-governing town or settlement in England.

Early years

The

royal charter. Early governors provided the stern leadership and harsh judgments required for the colony to survive its early difficulties.[citation needed
]

Early crises with famine, disease, Native American raids, the need to establish cash crops, and lack of skilled or committed labor, meant the colony needed to attract enough new and responsible settlers if it were to grow and prosper.[citation needed]

To encourage settlers to come to Virginia, in November 1618 the Virginia Company's leaders gave instructions to the new governor, Sir George Yeardley, which became known as "the great charter."[3]

It established that immigrants who paid their own way to Virginia would receive fifty acres of land and not be mere tenants. The civil authority would control the military. In 1619, based on the instructions, Governor Yeardley initiated the election of 22 burgesses by the settlements and Jamestown. They, together with the royally appointed Governor and six-member Council of State, would form the first General Assembly as a unicameral body.[4]

The governor could veto its actions and the Company still maintained overall control of the venture, but the settlers would have a limited say in the management of their own affairs, including their finances.[4]

A House of Assembly was created at the same time in Bermuda (which had also been settled by the Virginia Company, and was by then managed by its offshoot, the Somers Isles Company) and held its first session in 1620.[citation needed]

A handful of

free and enfranchised, apparently by agreement with the Virginia Company.[5]

First session

On July 30, 1619, Governor Yeardley convened the Virginia General Assembly as the first representative legislature in the Americas for a six-day meeting at the new timber church on Jamestown Island, Virginia. The unicameral Assembly was composed of the Governor, a Council of State appointed by the Virginia Company, and the 22 locally elected representatives.[6][7]

The Assembly's first session of July 30, 1619, was cut short by an outbreak of malaria and adjourned after five days.[8] On the third day of the assembly, the assembly's Journal noted "Mr. Shelley, one of the Burgesses, deceased."[9] Twenty-two (22) members were sent to the assembly from the following constituencies:[10]

The latter two burgesses were excluded from the assembly because John Martin refused to give up a clause in his land patent that exempted his borough "from any command of the colony except it be aiding and assisting the same against any foreign or domestic enemy."[11][12]

Later 17th century

Especially after the massacre of almost 400 colonists on March 22, 1622, by Native Americans, and epidemics in the winters before and after the massacre, the governor and council ruled arbitrarily, showing great contempt for the assembly and allowing no dissent.[13]

By 1624, the royal government in London had heard enough about the problems of the colony and revoked the charter of the Virginia Company. Virginia became a crown colony and the governor and council would be appointed by the Crown. Nonetheless, the Assembly maintained management of local affairs with some informal royal assent, although it was not royally confirmed until 1639.[4]

In 1634, the General Assembly divided the colony into eight

judicial system. By 1643, the expanding colony had 15 counties. All of the county offices, including a board of commissioners, judges, sheriff, constable, and clerks, were appointed positions. Only the burgesses were elected by a vote of the people. Women had no right to vote. Only free and white men originally were given the right to vote, by 1670 only property owners were allowed to vote.[4]

In 1642, Governor William Berkeley urged the creation of a bicameral legislature which the Assembly promptly implemented; the House of Burgesses was thus formed and met separately from the Council of State.[14][page needed]

In 1652, the parliamentary forces of Oliver Cromwell forced the colony to submit to being taken over by the English government. Again, the colonists were able to retain the General Assembly as their governing body. Only taxes agreed to by the assembly were to be levied. Still, most Virginia colonists were loyal to Prince Charles and were pleased with his restoration as King Charles II in 1660. He went on to directly or indirectly restrict some of the liberties of the colonists, such as requiring tobacco to be shipped only to England, only on English ships, with the price set by the English merchant buyers;[15] but the General Assembly remained.[4]

A majority of the members of the General Assembly of 1676 were supporters of

Nathaniel Bacon. They enacted legislation designed to further popular sovereignty and representative government and to equalize opportunities.[16] Bacon took little part in the deliberations since he was busy fighting the Native Americans.[17]

In 1691, the House of Burgesses abolished the enslavement of Native peoples; however, many Powhatans were held in servitude well into the 18th century.[18]

The statehouse in Jamestown burned down for the fourth time on October 20, 1698. The General Assembly met temporarily in Middle Plantation, 11 miles (18 km) inland from Jamestown, and then in 1699 permanently moved the capital of the colony to Middle Plantation, which they renamed Williamsburg.[19]

Moving toward independence

See also: Virginia Conventions

The French and Indian War in North America from 1754 to 1763 resulted in local colonial losses and economic disruption. Higher taxes were to follow, and adverse local reactions to these and how they were determined would drive events well into the next decade.[20]

In 1764, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, Parliament passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The Sugar Act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies.[21] The same year, the Currency Act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own currency.[22] These angered many American colonists and began colonial opposition with protests. By the end of the year, many colonies were practicing non-importation, a refusal to use imported British goods.[21]

In 1765, the British

better source needed
] and sought to increase in local production.

In May 1765, Patrick Henry presented a series of resolves that became known as the Virginia Resolves, denouncing the Stamp Act and denying the authority of the British parliament to tax the colonies, since they were not represented by elected members of parliament. Newspapers around the colonies published all his resolves, even the most radical ones which had not been passed by the assembly.[27] The assembly also sent a 1768 Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance to Parliament.[citation needed]

From 1769 -1775 Thomas Jefferson represented Albemarle County as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses.[28] He pursued reforms to slavery and introduced legislation allowing masters to take control over the emancipation of slaves in 1769, taking discretion away from the royal Governor and General Court. Jefferson persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but the reaction was strongly negative.[29]

In 1769 the Virginia House of Burgesses passed several resolutions condemning Britain's stationing troops in Boston following the Massachusetts Circular Letter of the previous year; these resolutions stated that only Virginia's governor and legislature could tax its citizens.[30][page needed] The members also drafted a formal letter to the King, completing it just before the legislature was dissolved by Virginia's royal governor.[31]

In 1774, after Parliament passed the

the first of five Virginia Conventions. These conventions were essentially meetings of the House of Burgesses without the governor and Council, Peyton Randolph the Speaker of the House would serve as the President of the convention, and they would elect delegates to the Continental Congress.[2] The First Continental Congress passed their Declaration and Resolves, which inter alia claimed that American colonists were equal to all other British citizens, protested against taxation without representation, and stated that Britain could not tax the colonists since they were not represented in Parliament.[32][page needed
]

In 1775 the burgesses, meeting in conventions, listened to

Committee of Safety to take over governance in the absence of the royal governor, Dunmore, who had organized loyalists forces but after defeats, he took refuge on a British warship.[34]

In 1776 the House of Burgesses ended. The final entry in the Journals of the House of Burgesses is "6th of May. 16 Geo. III. 1776 … FINIS."

Senate and an elected House of Delegates. The House of Delegates acceded to the role of the former House of Burgesses.[2]

Meeting places

Second Capitol at Williamsburg (viewed from Duke of Gloucester Street)

In 1619, the General Assembly first met in the church in Jamestown. Subsequent meetings continued to take place in Jamestown.[37]

In 1700, the seat of the House of Burgesses was moved from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, near what was soon renamed

College of William and Mary, while the Capitol was under construction. When the Capitol burned in 1747, the legislature moved back into the college until the second Capitol was completed in 1754. The present Capitol building at Colonial Williamsburg is a reconstruction of the earlier of the two lost buildings.[citation needed
]

In 1779, and effective in April 1780, the House of Delegates moved the capital city to Richmond during the American Revolutionary War for safety reasons.[39]

Legacy

The House of Burgesses became the

Commonwealth of Virginia. Through the General Assembly and House of Burgesses, the Virginia House of Delegates is considered the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World.[40]

In honor of the original House of Burgesses, every four years, the Virginia General Assembly traditionally leaves the current Capitol in Richmond and meets for one day in the restored Capitol building at Colonial Williamsburg. The most recent commemorative session (the 26th) was held in January 2016.[41][42]

In January 2007, the Assembly held a special session at Jamestown to mark the 400th anniversary of its founding as part of the Jamestown 2007 celebration, including an address by then-Vice-President Dick Cheney.[43]

In January 2019, to mark the 400th anniversary of the House of Burgesses, the Virginia House of Representatives Clerk's Office announced a new Database of House Members called "DOME" that "[chronicles] the 9,700-plus men and women who served as burgesses or delegates in the Virginia General Assembly over the past four centuries."[44][45][46]

See also

References

  1. ^ ibid.
  2. ^ a b c Gottlieb, Matthew S. "House of Burgesses". Virginia Foundation of the Humanities. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. ^ Virginia Company of London (1957). Instructions to George Yeardley, 18 November 1618 (Sometimes called "The Great Charter"). Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet Number 4. Introduction by Samuel M. Bemiss. Williamsburg, Virginia: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation. pp. 95–108. Retrieved 5 July 2013. Fn. 4: There is no authority in these Instructions for the Governor to establish a General Assembly. There is, however, evidence in the Instructions to Wyatt (p. 123) that a "Commission" was given to Yeardley which granted this authority.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-393-05630-9
    . pp. 3–27.
  5. JSTOR 25779776
    .
  6. ^ Billings, Warren M.: A Little Parliament; The Virginia General Assembly in the Seventeenth Century (Richmond, The Library of Virginia, in partnership with Jamestown 2007/Jamestown Yorktown Foundation. 2004) and Kukla, Jon: Political Institutions in Virginia 1619–1660; (New York, Garland Publishing, Inc. 1989). p. 7.
  7. ^ Bosher, Kate Langley. [1] The First House of Burgesses. The North American Review, Vol. 184, No. 612, April 5, 1907, University of Northern Iowa, pp. 736-737. Retrieved July 12, 2020. via JSTOR.org.
  8. OCLC 1150082
    . Retrieved July 21, 2011. pp. 61-62.
  9. ^ Henry, 1894, p. 61.
  10. OCLC 253261475
    , Retrieved July 15, 2011. p. 52.
  11. ^ Stanard, Mary Newton [2] The Real Beginning of American Democracy: The Virginia Assembly of 1619. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Virginia Historical Society, April 1922, Vol. 30, No. 2. pp. 165-166. via JSTOR.org.
  12. ^ Henry, 1894, p.62.
  13. JSTOR 4241919
    .
  14. ^ Billings, Warren M.: A Little Parliament; The Virginia General Assembly in the Seventeenth Century (Richmond, The Library of Virginia, in partnership with Jamestown 2007/Jamestown Yorktown Foundation. 2004) and Kukla, Jon: Political Institutions in Virginia 1619–1660; (New York, Garland Publishing, Inc. 1989).
  15. ^ Rubin, 1977, p. 19.
  16. ^ Rubin, 1977, p. 25.
  17. ^ Rubin, 1977, p. 26.
  18. ISBN 978-0-8061-2849-8
    .
  19. ^ Rubin, 1977. p. 29.
  20. ^ Anderson, Fred (2005). "The Real First World War and the Making of America". American Heritage. 6. 56 (75).
  21. ^ a b Johnson, Allen. "The Passage of the Sugar Act". The William and Mary Quarterly. 16 (4): 507–14.
  22. JSTOR 1921098
    .
  23. ^ "America During the Age of Revolution, 1764–1775". Library of Congress. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  24. ^ "The Sons of Liberty".
  25. ^ Rothbard, Murray (1975). The Stamp Act Congress. NY: Arlington House.
  26. ^ America During the Age of Revolution, 1764–1765, Library of Congress
  27. ^ Wood, 2002, p.14
  28. ^ "Timeline of Jefferson's Life | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello". www.monticello.org. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  29. ^ Meacham, 2012, pp. 47–49
  30. ^ MacDonald, William (1914). Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606–1775. NY: Macmillan.
  31. ^ America During the Age of Revolution, 1768–1769, Library of Congress
  32. ^ Macdonald, William (1916). Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606–1913. NY: Macmillan.
  33. ^ "Virginia Resolutions on Lord North's Conciliatory Proposal, 10 June 1775". Founders Online, National Archives. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  34. ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Dunmore, John Murray" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  35. ^ "Final Meeting of the House of Burgesses ("Finis" Document), May 6, 1776". Encyclopedia of Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  36. ^ "The General Assembly Adjourns (1776)". Shaping the Constitution. Library of Virginia. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  37. ^ Hatch, Charles (1956). America's Oldest Legislative Assembly & Its Jamestown Statehouses, Appendix II. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
  38. ISBN 9780879351113
    .
  39. ^ "April dates in Virginia history". Virginia Historical Society. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  40. ^ "This Day in History". Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  41. ^ Hodges, Ty (27 January 2016). "Colonial Williamsburg's Capitol Building to Host General Assembly on Saturday". Williamsburg Yorktown Daily. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  42. ^ "Capitol of Colonial Williamsburg". www.history.org. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  43. ^ "Vice President's Remarks to a Joint Session of the Virginia General Assembly". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  44. ^ "Virginia House unveils new searchable website of its members". Village News. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  45. ^ "Virginia House of Delegates unveils searchable website". Henrico Citizen. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  46. ^ Hankerson, Mechelle (2019-01-03). "New database holds 400 years worth of information on members of Virginia's legislature". Virginia MErcury. Retrieved 25 January 2019.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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