|
|
|
|
| |
|
American Revolution |
Democratizing the Old Dominion
Civil War and Reconstruction |
Twentieth Century | Virginia
Political Leaders |
|
Colonial Virginia |
 |
Two political cultures existed side by side in
Virginia in 1607, the Powhatan chiefdom and the English colony.
For both, the art of government, or politics, existed under the
overall authority of a single person. For the Native Americans,
the paramount chief, known as Powhatan, ruled over a territory
consisting of allied tribes, each with its own local ruler, and
towns. All were subordinate to his ultimate authority through
custom and payment of tribute. For the English colonists, the king
in England authorized his agents to govern in accordance with the
laws of the kingdom and the charter of the corporation, the
Virginia Company of London, that financed the settlement. Both
political nations recognized the hierarchy of power within the
other's culture. |
|
Charles I. Commission to
Sir Francis Wyatt,
Governor of the Royal Colony of Virginia,
11 January 1639. Manuscript on vellum. Acc. 24702.
|
|
| English
political practices evolved into the distinctive political culture
of Virginia. Ultimate authority rested with the Crown until 1776,
but royal governors acting on behalf of the Crown shared
responsibility with locally elected representatives of the
colony's population, the House of Burgesses as well as the
councillors chosen by the governor, who together formed the
General Assembly, and who enacted laws to govern the colony. Only
adult white men who owned property and a few who rented
substantial farms were permitted to vote for representatives in
the lower house of the General Assembly. The only elected
officials in colonial Virginia were the members of the House of
Burgesses. Even though voting was restricted to a minority of the
population and an even smaller minority, the prosperous and
better-educated members of the society, was represented in the
General Assembly, politics was always a public event, and on
election day many Virginians congregated to watch the voting and
enjoy the carnival-like atmosphere. |
 |
|
|
Election day in colonial Virginia
may have resembled the eighteenth century scene in "The
Election" by William Hogarth. 1840.
Colored engraving. Library of Virginia
|
|
|
Colonial
Virginia Political Leaders |
|
|
Virginia
Colonial Records Project
VA-NOTES,
Poll Books
|
|
