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The House of Burgesses (/ ˈ b ɜːr dʒ ə s ɪ z /) 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 ...
May 16, 2024 · The Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619 in the Virginia Colony, was the first elected representative government in America. The members were known as “Burgesses,” and were elected to represent the towns and plantations in the colony.
House of Burgesses, representative assembly in colonial Virginia, which was an outgrowth of the first elective governing body in a British overseas possession, the General Assembly of Virginia. The General Assembly was established by Gov. George Yeardley at Jamestown on July 30, 1619.
This is a list of members of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1619 to 1775 from the references listed at the end of the article. The members of the first assembly in 1619, the members of the last assembly in 1775 and the Speakers of the House are designated by footnotes.
Dec 7, 2020 · The House of Burgesses was an assembly of elected representatives from Virginia that met from 1643 to 1776. This democratically elected legislative body was the first of its kind in English North America.
Feb 24, 2021 · The House of Burgesses (1619-1776 CE) was the first English representative government in North America, established in July 1619 CE, for the purpose of passing laws and maintaining order in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia and the other settlements that had grown up around it.
Jan 3, 2022 · The new Virginia state constitution, ratified in 1776, nullified Virginia’s previous colonial-era government, including the House of Burgesses. It create a bicameral state legislature, allowing for citizens to elect members to a Senate and a House of Delegates.
The Virginia House of Burgesses became the first general assembly of the commonwealth when the United States declared its independence from England in 1776. One of the first legislation passed by this general assembly was religious equality and the disownment of the Church of England in Virginia.
With its origin in the first meeting of the Virginia General Assembly at Jamestown in July 1619, the House of Burgesses was the first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies.
The colonists drew upon their claims to traditional English rights and insisted on raising their own representative assemblies. Such was the case with the Virginia House of Burgesses, the first popularly elected legislative body in the New World.
