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House of Burgesses

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House of Burgesses:Patrick Henry before the House of Burgesses in an 1851 painting by Peter F. Rothermel
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Patrick Henry before the House of Burgesses in an 1851 painting by Peter F. Rothermel

The House of Burgesses was the lower house of the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619. Over time, the name came to represent the entire official legislative body of the Colony of Virginia, and later, after the American Revolution, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia.


Contents

Terminology

The terminology used in describing the assembly can be highly confusing:

History

The English settlement of the Virginia Colony which was established at Jamestown in 1607 was a proprietary venture authorized by King James I. The colony struggled and barely survived for its first few years. Finally, a strain of tobacco was introduced by colonist John Rolfe around 1612, and as a profitable export commodity, it led to increasing expansion, primarily along the James River.

Fearful of losing their investment, in 1619, the officers of the Virginia Company in London embarked upon a series of reforms designed to attract more people to the troubled settlement. They began by ending the company monopoly on land ownership, believing that the colonists would display greater initiative if they had an ownership position in the venture. The changes encouraged private investment from the colony's settlers which allowed them to own their own land rather than simply being sharecroppers. Four large corporations, termed citties (sic), were designated to encompass the developed portion of the colony. Company officials also made justice in Virginia more predictable by adopting English Common Law as the basis of their system, which replaced the whims of the governor as the final voice on legal matters. In 1620, in an effort to create a more stable society, the company dispatched a boatload of marriageable women to the colony; the going rate was 120 pounds of tobacco for each bride.

The changes in 1619 also created a legislative body to be selected by the colonists called the House of Burgesses, similar to the British Parliament, that would meet once annually.

Prompted by the Virginia Company, colonial governor Sir George Yeardley helped facilitate elections of representatives, called "burgesses", to this new legislative body that would come from eleven Virginia boroughs adjacent to the James River, along with eleven additional burgesses.

The first meeting of the House of Burgesses occurred on July 30, 1619 at Jamestown. It was the first such assembly in the Americas. The initial session accomplished little, however; it was cut short by an outbreak of malaria. The assembly comprised 22 members who represented the following constituencies:

Governor's Council

The upper house was called the Governor's Council. Members of the first council were:

The lower house

The House of Burgesses was empowered to enact legislation for the colony, but its actions were subject to veto by the governor, council and ultimately by the directors in London. Nevertheless, such a legislative body would have been unthinkable in the Spanish or French colonies of that day, which highlights the degree to which the concept of a limited monarchy had become accepted by the English people.

Voting for the burgesses was limited to landowning males over 17 years of age.

The initial citties (corporations) and the plantations and their representatives in the House of Burgesses in 1619 were:

Effect

After 1619, The King of England took much more control of things in Virginia, restricting the powers of the House of Burgesses. They could make laws, which could be vetoed by the governor or the directors of the Virginia Company.

Royal colony

In 1624, the Virginia Company lost its charter, and Virginia became a royal colony. The House of Burgesses continued to meet, but its influence was severely restricted. Despite limitations on its actions, the assembly listed within its later ranks such notables as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and would assume a major leadership role in the movement toward independence.

Move from Jamestown to Middle Plantation (Williamsburg)

In [[16999997u5687

]], the seat of the House of Burgesses was moved to Middle Plantation, soon renamed Williamsburg in honor of King William III. The Burgesses met there in two consecutive Capitol buildings (the first use of the word in the British Colonies) until December 1779, when they moved the capital city to Richmond for safety reasons during the American Revolutionary War. The present Capitol at Colonial Williamsburg reproduces the earlier of the two lost buildings.

Governor Lord Botetourt dissolved the House of Burgesses in 1769 as he was allowed to do as representative of the British monarch. The Assembly spurned him and continued to meet anyway, and became the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776, forming the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative branch of the Commonwealth (State) of Virginia.

Legacy

In honor of the original House of Burgesses, every other year, the Virginia General Assembly traditionally leaves the current Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, where it moved in 1780, and meets for one day in the restored Capitol at Colonial Williamsburg.

In 2006, the Assembly plans a special session at Jamestown to mark the 400th anniversary of its founding as part of the Jamestown 2007 celebration.

References

Categories


Cleanup from October 2006 | All pages needing cleanup | 1619 establishments | 1776 disestablishments | Historical legislatures | History of Virginia | House of Burgesses

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