The
House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected
representativesA legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the
Virginia CompanyThe Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America. Its first meeting was held in
Jamestown, VirginiaJamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
, on July 30, 1619.
The word "Burgess" means an elected or appointed official of a
municipalityA municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
, or the representative of a
boroughA borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
in the English House of Commons.
Origins
In the 1610s, the Virginia Company of London ended monopoly on land ownership, believing that the colonists would display greater initiative if they could gain ownership of land. The changes encouraged private investment from the colony's settlers, which allowed them to own land rather than simply being sharecroppers. The company designed four large corporations, termed
cities [sic], to encompass the developed portion of the colony. Company officials adopted English Common Law as the basis of their system in the Virginia colony, replacing the governor as the final voice on legal matters.
The House of Burgesses consisted of delegates elected by the colonists, and these delegates would meet annually at Jamestown. (In
BermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, previously part of Virginia, the
House of AssemblyThe House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Bermuda. The house has 36 members, each elected for a five year term in a single seat constituencies....
was created that same year).
Prompted by the Virginia Company, colonial governor Sir
George YeardleySir George Yeardley was a plantation owner and three time colonial Governor of the British Colony of Virginia. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ill-fated Third Supply Mission, whose flagship, the Sea Venture, was shipwrecked on Bermuda for 10 months in 1609-10, he is best remembered...
helped facilitate elections of Burgesses to this new legislative body, and these elections would come from eleven boroughs adjacent to the
James RiverThe James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
, along with eleven additional burgesses.
The House's first session of July 30, 1619, accomplished little. It was cut short by an outbreak of malaria. The assembly had 22 members from the following constituencies:
- The colony's governor, appointed in London,
- The governor's council, a group of six citizens selected by the governor,
- The burgesses from various locales, initially larger plantations; counties were included later.
White men over the age of 17 who owned land were eligible to vote.
The House was also called the Virgina House of London.
Meeting places
In 1699, the seat of the House of Burgesses was moved from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, soon renamed
WilliamsburgWilliamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
, in honor of King
William IIIWilliam III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. The Burgesses met there in two consecutive Capitol buildings (the first use of the word in the English Colonies). The present
CapitolThe Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia was the first Capitol building in America in 1705. A reconstructed version is a centerpiece of Colonial Williamsburg.-Original building 1705-1780:...
at
Colonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
is a reconstruction of the earlier of the two lost buildings.
In 1779, and effective in April 1780, the House of Delegates moved the capital city to
RichmondRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
during the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
for safety reasons.
Legacy
The Assembly became the
Virginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
in 1776, forming the lower house of the
Virginia General AssemblyThe Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
, the legislative branch of the Commonwealth (State) of Virginia.
In honor of the original House of Burgesses, every other year, the Virginia General Assembly traditionally leaves the current
Virginia State CapitolThe Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly...
in Richmond, and meets for one day in the restored
CapitolThe Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia was the first Capitol building in America in 1705. A reconstructed version is a centerpiece of Colonial Williamsburg.-Original building 1705-1780:...
at
Colonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
.
In 2006, the Assembly held a special session at Jamestown to mark the 400th anniversary of its founding as part of the
Jamestown 2007Jamestown 2007 is the name of the organization planning the events commemorating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in what is now the United States of America...
celebration.
Further reading
- Hatch, Charles E., Jr., (1956 rev). America's Oldest Legislative Assembly & Its Jamestown Statehouses, Appendix II. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
- Salmon, Emily J. and Campbell, Jr., Edward D. C., editors, The Hornbook of Virginia History. Richmond, Virginia: The Library of Virginia, 1994.