http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/img/EV_Logo_sm.gif This is the url http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org The first and ultimate online reference work about the Commonwealth /Percy_George_1580-1632_or_1633 Thu, 16 May 2013 15:34:22 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Percy_George_1580-1632_or_1633 Thu, 16 May 2013 15:34:22 EST]]> /Colonial_Virginia Thu, 16 May 2013 14:50:38 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Colonial_Virginia Thu, 16 May 2013 14:50:38 EST]]> /Jamestown_Settlement_Early Thu, 16 May 2013 14:24:23 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jamestown_Settlement_Early Thu, 16 May 2013 14:24:23 EST]]> /Allen_Arthur_ca_1652-1710 Thu, 09 May 2013 09:57:05 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Allen_Arthur_ca_1652-1710 Thu, 09 May 2013 09:57:05 EST]]> /Brent_George_ca_1640-by_1_September_1700 Wed, 08 May 2013 15:10:01 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Brent_George_ca_1640-by_1_September_1700 Wed, 08 May 2013 15:10:01 EST]]> /Corbyn_Henry_1628_or_1629-ca_1676 Wed, 08 May 2013 14:52:36 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Corbyn_Henry_1628_or_1629-ca_1676 Wed, 08 May 2013 14:52:36 EST]]> /Cary_Miles_bap_1623-1667 Wed, 08 May 2013 14:01:35 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Cary_Miles_bap_1623-1667 Wed, 08 May 2013 14:01:35 EST]]> /Berkeley_John_ca_1560-1622 Wed, 08 May 2013 11:37:31 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_John_ca_1560-1622 Wed, 08 May 2013 11:37:31 EST]]> /Carter_John_ca_1613-1670 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:01:16 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Carter_John_ca_1613-1670 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:01:16 EST]]> /Custis_John_1678-1749 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:53:06 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Custis_John_1678-1749 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:53:06 EST]]> /Cocke_William_1672-1720 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:31:46 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Cocke_William_1672-1720 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:31:46 EST]]> /Carter_John_1695_or_1696-1742 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:27:25 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Carter_John_1695_or_1696-1742 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:27:25 EST]]> /Camm_John_bap_1717-1779 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:39 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Camm_John_bap_1717-1779 John Camm, a Cambridge-educated Anglican priest, lived in Virginia for most of his life. He served as a professor (1749–1757; 1763–1771) and president of the College of William and Mary (1771–1777) and was elected to the governor's Council (1772). Because Virginia had no episcopate, Camm took it upon himself to protect the interests of the clergy. In 1757 he protested the governor's Council's decision to remove John Brunskill Jr. from his parish because he felt that only the church could strip a clergyman of his ordination. After the General Assembly passed the Two Penny Act of 1758, the second of two laws that stabilized the clergy's salary at a time when crop failure had inflated the price of tobacco, Camm went to England and obtained an order from the Privy Council that disallowed the acts but never fully invalidated them. He continued to fight the Two Penny Acts until the Privy Council ruled against his appeal in 1767. His political involvement extended to the College of William and Mary, where he often butted heads with the board of visitors. Despite these troubles, he was elected president of the College of William and Mary in 1772 and appointed to the governor's Council that same year. Because of his Loyalist sympathies during the American Revolution (1775–1783), he was removed as president in 1777. He held the rectorship of Yorkhampton Parish until his death in 1779.
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:39 EST]]> /Bland_Richard_1710-1776 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:13:05 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Bland_Richard_1710-1776 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:13:05 EST]]> /Berkeley_Norborne_baron_de_Botetourt_1717-1770 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:08:07 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_Norborne_baron_de_Botetourt_1717-1770 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:08:07 EST]]> /Account_of_the_Lottery_in_Leicester_by_Rogert_Hawfeilde_June_12_1618 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:57:29 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Account_of_the_Lottery_in_Leicester_by_Rogert_Hawfeilde_June_12_1618 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:57:29 EST]]> /Relation_of_Juan_de_la_Carrera_March_1_1600 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:50:32 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Relation_of_Juan_de_la_Carrera_March_1_1600 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:50:32 EST]]> /Newes_from_Virginia_The_lost_Flocke_Triumphant_by_Lord_Robert_Rich_1610 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:29:03 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Newes_from_Virginia_The_lost_Flocke_Triumphant_by_Lord_Robert_Rich_1610 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:29:03 EST]]> /_A_Declaration_of_the_State_of_the_Colonie_and_Affaires_in_Virginia_July_22_1620 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:17:50 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_A_Declaration_of_the_State_of_the_Colonie_and_Affaires_in_Virginia_July_22_1620 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:17:50 EST]]> /A_true_and_sincere_declaration_of_the_purpose_and_ends_of_the_plantation_begun_in_Virginia_by_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_1609 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:40:41 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/A_true_and_sincere_declaration_of_the_purpose_and_ends_of_the_plantation_begun_in_Virginia_by_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_1609 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:40:41 EST]]> /Letter_from_the_Council_of_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_to_the_Mayor_and_Aldermen_of_the_City_of_Norwich_December_4_1617 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:37:40 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Letter_from_the_Council_of_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_to_the_Mayor_and_Aldermen_of_the_City_of_Norwich_December_4_1617 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:37:40 EST]]> /Petition_from_Alderman_Johnson_et_al_to_King_James_I_April_1623 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:43:47 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Petition_from_Alderman_Johnson_et_al_to_King_James_I_April_1623 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:43:47 EST]]> /Wingfield_Edward_Maria_1550-1631 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:00:56 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Wingfield_Edward_Maria_1550-1631 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:00:56 EST]]> /_Instructions_to_George_Yeardley_by_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_November_18_1618 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:02:40 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Instructions_to_George_Yeardley_by_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_November_18_1618 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:02:40 EST]]> /Carter_Robert_ca_1664-1732 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:11:43 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Carter_Robert_ca_1664-1732 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:11:43 EST]]> /Spotswood_Alexander_1676-1740 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:55:30 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Spotswood_Alexander_1676-1740 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:55:30 EST]]> /Runaway_Slaves_and_Servants_in_Colonial_Virginia Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:53:29 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Runaway_Slaves_and_Servants_in_Colonial_Virginia Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:53:29 EST]]> /Henry_Patrick_1736-1799 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:45:16 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Henry_Patrick_1736-1799 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:45:16 EST]]> /Bacon_s_Rebellion_1676-1677 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:08:10 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Bacon_s_Rebellion_1676-1677 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:08:10 EST]]> /Craford_William_d_by_April_15_1762 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:58:13 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Craford_William_d_by_April_15_1762 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:58:13 EST]]> /First_Charter_of_Virginia_1606 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:19:06 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/First_Charter_of_Virginia_1606 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:19:06 EST]]> /General_Court_Responds_to_Runaway_Servants_and_Slaves_1640 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:21:46 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/General_Court_Responds_to_Runaway_Servants_and_Slaves_1640 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:21:46 EST]]> /_A_Report_of_a_Comittee_from_an_Assembly_Concerning_the_freedome_of_Elizabeth_Key_1656 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:34:02 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_A_Report_of_a_Comittee_from_an_Assembly_Concerning_the_freedome_of_Elizabeth_Key_1656 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:34:02 EST]]> /Francis_Nicholson_1655-1728 Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:44:09 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Francis_Nicholson_1655-1728 Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:44:09 EST]]> /Indentured_Servants_in_Colonial_Virginia Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:37:42 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Indentured_Servants_in_Colonial_Virginia Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract (also known as an indenture or a covenant) by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and shelter. Adults usually served for four to seven years and children sometimes for much longer, with most working in the colony's tobacco fields. With a long history in England, indentured servitude became, during most of the seventeenth century, the primary means by which Virginia planters filled their nearly inexhaustible need for labor. At first, the Virginia Company of London paid to transport servants across the Atlantic, but with the institution of the headright system in 1618, the company enticed planters and merchants to incur the cost with the promise of land. As a result, servants flooded into the colony, where they were greeted by deadly diseases and often-harsh conditions that killed a majority of newcomers and left the rest to the mercy of sometimes-cruel masters. The General Assembly passed laws regulating contract terms, as well as the behavior and treatment of servants. Besides benefiting masters with long indentures, these laws limited servant rights while still allowing servants to present any complaints in court. By the end of the seventeenth century, the number of new servants in Virginia had dwindled, and the colony's labor needs were largely met by enslaved Africans.
Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:37:42 EST]]> /Chiles_Walter_1609-after_July_6_1653 Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:50:28 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Chiles_Walter_1609-after_July_6_1653 Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:50:28 EST]]> /Burwell_Lewis_d_1743 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:42:33 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burwell_Lewis_d_1743 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:42:33 EST]]> /Burwell_Lewis_1651_or_1652-1710 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:14:18 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burwell_Lewis_1651_or_1652-1710 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:14:18 EST]]> /Burwell_Lewis_bap_1622-c_1652 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:01:06 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burwell_Lewis_bap_1622-c_1652 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:01:06 EST]]> /Jenings_Edmund_1659-1727 Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:30:06 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jenings_Edmund_1659-1727 Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:30:06 EST]]> /Gates_Sir_Thomas_d_1622 Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:57:59 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Gates_Sir_Thomas_d_1622 Sir Thomas Gates served as governor of Virginia in 1610 and then as lieutenant governor from 1611 until 1614. Born in the southwest of England, he served in the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake and fought with Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, in Normandy and Cádiz, where Gates was knighted in 1596. Gates was an original investor in the Virginia Company of London and led an infantry company in the Netherlands until taking command of a massive resupply fleet to Virginia in 1609. Aboard the flagship Sea Venture, Gates and his crew were shipwrecked on Bermuda for nearly a year before finally making it to Virginia. There, Governor Gates encountered a colony on the brink of extinction, saved only by the timely arrival of a new governor, Thomas West, twelfth baron De La Warr. Advocating a strict, military-style regime, Gates instituted a set of rules that were expanded and, in 1612, published as For the Colony in Virginea Britannia. Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall, &c. He participated in sometimes brutal attacks on the Indians during the First Anglo-Powhatan War(1609–1614), and, in England, worked as a tireless advocate for the Virginia Company. Returning to Virginia in 1611, Gates stiffened Jamestown's defenses and, with Sir Thomas Dale, cleared much of the James River of Powhatan Indians. Gates died in the Netherlands in 1622.
Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:57:59 EST]]> /Surrender_to_Parliament_Treaty_of_Jamestown Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:46:52 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Surrender_to_Parliament_Treaty_of_Jamestown On March 12, 1652, Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley and the governor's Council agreed to a negotiated surrender to the forces sent out by the Commonwealth government of England under the authority of the English Parliament. By capitulating, Virginia relinquished its status as a royal colony and ceased its formal support of the Stuart royal family. The surrender came after the colony endured an embargo and a blockade, both ordered by the Commonwealth government of England. The colonial government negotiated relatively favorable terms for its surrender, although Berkeley was forced to step down as governor. Virginia would return to royal colony status in 1660 with the Restoration.
Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:46:52 EST]]> /James_II_1633-1701 Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:38:42 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/James_II_1633-1701 James II was king of England, Ireland, and—as James VII—Scotland from 1685 to 1688. He was the second son of Charles I, who was tried by Parliament and executed after the English Civil Wars (1642–1648). James spent much of his youth in exile in France and Spain; he returned to London in 1660 when his older brother was restored to the throne as Charles II. James maintained an active role in his brother's court and, as lord high admiral, administered the Royal Navy. In 1668 or 1669 James converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, a decision that would alter the course of his political life. His relations with Parliament, the Church of England, and the political nation soured soon after he took the throne in 1685. He was deposed in the so-called Glorious Revolution (1688–1689) led by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband and cousin, William III of Orange, who would rule in James's stead as Mary II and William III. James II spent his later years in exile, again in France, leaving once to attempt, unsuccessfully, an invasion of Ireland in 1689–1690. He died in 1701 of a cerebral hemorrhage at the court-in-exile, Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:38:42 EST]]> /Elections_in_Colonial_Virginia Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:40:18 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Elections_in_Colonial_Virginia Elections were an integral part of the colonial political system and used primarily to choose members of the House of Burgesses, the lower house of the General Assembly in Virginia, and less frequently to select members of the vestry in each Anglican parish. Building on customs and practices brought from England in the seventeenth century, Virginians developed their own unique electoral system, which allowed counties, towns, and colleges to be represented; defined who got to vote through an evolving franchise law; and governed the behavior of candidates and voters before and during elections. While wealthy planters won nearly all of these political contests, the electorate, which was composed of small-landowning and tenant farmers, responded to a variety of personal, neighborhood, parish, county, provincial, and imperial factors in deciding which members of the gentry to elect. In most places, incumbents easily won reelection, but in some constituencies at certain points in time, one set of elites challenged another, heated campaigning went on for months, members of the most prominent families suffered defeat, and outcomes were so close and contentious that they could only be resolved by the House of Burgesses in the capital at Williamsburg.
Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:40:18 EST]]> /Laws_Concerning_Indentured_Servants_1619 Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:51:26 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Laws_Concerning_Indentured_Servants_1619 In these ordinances recorded by the General Assembly on August 4, 1619, the government of the Virginia colony attempts for the first time to regulate customs of indentured servitude. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:51:26 EST]]> /The_General_Assembly_Convenes_1619 Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:47:35 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_General_Assembly_Convenes_1619 In this excerpt from the Journals of the House of Burgesses, the assembly's's first meeting on July 30, 1619, is described, with Governor Sir George Yeardley, the governor's Council, and the burgesses meeting in unicameral session in the church at Jamestown. After the Reverend Richard Bucke said a prayer to open the session, the assembly ruled on two of its new members' standing. Some spelling has been updated and contractions expanded.
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:47:35 EST]]> /John_Nickson_Runs_Away_1687 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:31:03 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/John_Nickson_Runs_Away_1687 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:31:03 EST]]> /_Act_directing_the_trial_of_Slaves_committing_capital_crimes_and_for_the_more_effectual_punishing_conspiracies_and_insurrections_of_them_and_for_the_better_government_of_Negros_Mulattos_and_Indians_bond_or_free_1723 Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:54:19 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Act_directing_the_trial_of_Slaves_committing_capital_crimes_and_for_the_more_effectual_punishing_conspiracies_and_insurrections_of_them_and_for_the_better_government_of_Negros_Mulattos_and_Indians_bond_or_free_1723 In "An Act directing the trial of Slaves, committing capital crimes; and for the more effectual punishing conspiracies and insurrections of them; and for the better government of Negros, Mulattos, and Indians, bond or free," passed by the General Assembly in the session of May 1723, Virginia's colonial government establishes laws with regards to the punishment of slaves and the overall government of slaves, free blacks, and Indians.
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:54:19 EST]]> /_An_Acte_towching_dyvers_Orders_for_Artificers_Laborers_Servantes_of_Husbandrye_and_Apprentises_1563 Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:04:07 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Acte_towching_dyvers_Orders_for_Artificers_Laborers_Servantes_of_Husbandrye_and_Apprentises_1563 In this excerpt from the beginning of the otherwise long "Acte towching dyvers Orders for Artificers Laborers Servantes of Husbandrye and Apprentises," passed in 1563, the English Parliament compiles and revises two hundred years worth of law regarding indentured servitude. When colonists needed labor in Virginia, the General Assembly looked to the Statute of Artificers in order to create more Virginia-specific legislation. The full act is in 40 parts. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:04:07 EST]]> /Testimony_about_the_York_County_Conspiracy_1661 Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:05:31 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Testimony_about_the_York_County_Conspiracy_1661 In these depositions, taken in January 1661, several indentured servants, captured in an attempt to rebel in York County, explain what their plan was and how it should have been executed. The servants' overseer, John Parkes, also testified. Some spelling has been updated and contractions expanded.
Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:05:31 EST]]> /Jacob_Rowe_Sanctioned_in_Debate_over_Two_Penny_Bill_1758 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:27:48 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jacob_Rowe_Sanctioned_in_Debate_over_Two_Penny_Bill_1758 Debate in the House of Burgesses over the proposed Two Penny Bill turned nasty in September 1758. In the following excerpts from the Journal of the House of Burgesses, the Reverend Jacob Rowe is sanctioned and then apologizes for comments he made in a private conversation that were overhead by burgess William Kennon. The Two Penny Act of 1758 was signed into law by Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, on behalf of George II, on October 12, 1758. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:27:48 EST]]> /Letter_from_Robert_King_Carter_to_William_Cage_1724 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:56:56 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Letter_from_Robert_King_Carter_to_William_Cage_1724 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:56:56 EST]]> /_Eight_hundred_choise_persons_an_excerpt_from_A_Declaration_of_the_Supplies_intended_to_be_sent_to_Virginia_1620 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:40:39 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Eight_hundred_choise_persons_an_excerpt_from_A_Declaration_of_the_Supplies_intended_to_be_sent_to_Virginia_1620 In this document dated July 18, 1620, the Virginia Company of London declares its intention to pay to ship 800 new settlers to Virginia, including tenants, apprentices, young women, and indentured servants. Company officials also used this declaration to explain the role and rights of tenants. Some spelling has been modernized.
Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:40:39 EST]]> /_An_act_concerning_Servants_and_Slaves_1705 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:28:39 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_concerning_Servants_and_Slaves_1705 In "An act concerning Servants and Slaves," passed by the General Assembly in the session of October 1705, Virginia's colonial government collects old and establishes new laws with regards to indentured servants and slaves.
Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:28:39 EST]]> /_An_Act_for_Exempting_their_Majestyes_Protestant_Subjects_dissenting_from_the_Church_of_England_from_the_Penalties_of_certaine_Lawes_1688 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:43:20 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Act_for_Exempting_their_Majestyes_Protestant_Subjects_dissenting_from_the_Church_of_England_from_the_Penalties_of_certaine_Lawes_1688 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:43:20 EST]]> /Olive_Branch_Petition_1775 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:21:27 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Olive_Branch_Petition_1775 This letter, or what became known as the Olive Branch Petition, was written by John Dickinson, delegate from Pennsylvania, and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 8, 1775, during the American Revolution (1775–1783). It was addressed to King George III and served as an appeal for the redress of colonial grievances. The Virginia delegates who signed it were Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Harrison, and Thomas Jefferson.
Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:21:27 EST]]> /_An_act_enabling_freemen_to_vote_for_burgesses_and_preventing_false_returnes_of_burgesses_1676 Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:46:44 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_enabling_freemen_to_vote_for_burgesses_and_preventing_false_returnes_of_burgesses_1676 The following law, "An act enabling freemen to vote for burgesses and preventing false returnes of burgesses," passed by the General Assembly in its June 1676 session, during the tumult of Bacon's Rebellion (1676–1677), defines the franchise as consisting of all freemen.
Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:46:44 EST]]> /Lee_s_Resolution_1776 Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:20:24 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Lee_s_Resolution_1776 Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, offered the following resolution on June 7, 1776. He was acting on instructions from the Virginia Convention, meeting in Williamsburg. Lee's resolution was seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts, and approved by the Congress on July 2.
Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:20:24 EST]]> /An_Ordinance_and_Constitution_of_Treasurer_and_Company_in_England_for_a_Council_and_Assembly_in_Virginia_1621 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:11:27 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/An_Ordinance_and_Constitution_of_Treasurer_and_Company_in_England_for_a_Council_and_Assembly_in_Virginia_1621 In "An Ordinance and Constitution of Treasurer and Company in England for a Council and Assembly in Virginia," passed on July 24, 1621, the Virginia Company of London revised Virginia's General Assembly from a unicameral to a bicameral body, consisting of a lower House of Burgesses and an upper house comprised of the governor and the governor's Council. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:11:27 EST]]> /The_Relation_of_the_Right_Honourable_the_Lord_D-La-Warre_Lord_Governour_and_Captaine_Generall_of_the_Colonie_planted_in_Virginea_1611 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:28:03 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Relation_of_the_Right_Honourable_the_Lord_D-La-Warre_Lord_Governour_and_Captaine_Generall_of_the_Colonie_planted_in_Virginea_1611 On June 25, 1611, Thomas West, twelfth baron De La Warr, governor of the Virginia colony, addressed this letter to his superiors at the Virginia Company of London. He had left Virginia with plans to recuperate from illness in the Bermuda islands, but a storm forced his fleet of ships west, first to the Azores and then to England. Back home, he felt obliged to explain his presence and the dismal state of the colony. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:28:03 EST]]> /Law_Regulating_Indentured_Servants_1643 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 11:09:32 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Law_Regulating_Indentured_Servants_1643 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 11:09:32 EST]]> /Sir_Walter_Raleigh_s_Patent_to_Settle_Virginia_1584 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:27:38 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Sir_Walter_Raleigh_s_Patent_to_Settle_Virginia_1584 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:27:38 EST]]> /Requesting_to_Hire_an_Indian_Servant_1711 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:21:48 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Requesting_to_Hire_an_Indian_Servant_1711 In the following petition to Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood, Richard Little Page (sometimes Littlepage) of New Kent County requests permission to hire two Pamunkey Indians to work for him as servants. He does so according to the provisions of a law, "Concerning Indians," passed by the General Assembly in its March 1662 (New Style) session. Spotswood then replies, granting Little Page's request. Some contractions have been expanded.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:21:48 EST]]> /Irish_Servants_1654 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:09:49 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Irish_Servants_1654 This law, passed by the General Assembly in its March 1655 (New Style) session, establishes the terms of service specifically for immigrants from Ireland who arrive in Virginia without indentures. During the March 1658 session, the assembly revised the law so "that at the end of the act these words are added, 'and all aliens to be included in this act.'" The law was repealed five years later, with special mention made of this final clause. Some spelling has been modernized.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:09:49 EST]]> /_Against_Runnaway_Servants_1657-1658 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:00:50 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Against_Runnaway_Servants_1657-1658 In this law, "Against Runnaway Servants," passed in its March 1658 (New Style) session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants who ran away, while also making provisions for servants who believed they were being mistreated to seek justice in the courts. Some spelling has been modernized.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:00:50 EST]]> /_An_Act_for_repealing_an_Act_for_Irish_Servants_1659 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:54:29 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Act_for_repealing_an_Act_for_Irish_Servants_1659 This law, "An Act for repealing an Act for Irish Servants," passed by the General Assembly in its March 1660 (New Style) session, repeals an earlier act that established the terms of service specifically for immigrants from Ireland who arrived in Virginia without indentures.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:54:29 EST]]> /_Cruelty_of_masters_prohibited_1661-1662 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:49:18 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Cruelty_of_masters_prohibited_1661-1662 In this law, "Cruelty of masters prohibited," passed in its March 1662 (New Style) session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants not being treated properly by their masters.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:49:18 EST]]> /_Masters_of_Ships_to_provide_fower_months_provisions_1661-1662 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:45:59 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Masters_of_Ships_to_provide_fower_months_provisions_1661-1662 In this law, "Masters of Ships to provide fower months provisions," passed in its March 1662 (New Style) session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants not being treated properly during their passage from England to Virginia.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:45:59 EST]]> /_An_act_lymiting_masters_dealing_with_their_servants_1676-1677 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:42:12 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_lymiting_masters_dealing_with_their_servants_1676-1677 In this law, "An act lymiting masters dealing with their servants," passed in its February 1677 (New Style) session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants not being treated properly by their masters.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:42:12 EST]]> /_Concerning_Indians_1661 Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:38:35 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Concerning_Indians_1661 In the following act, "Concerning Indians," passed in its March 1662 (New Style) session, the General Assembly attempts to regulate various interactions colonists have with the neighboring Virginia Indians.
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:38:35 EST]]> /The_humble_Petition_of_Jane_Dickenson_Widdowe_1624 Fri, 25 May 2012 14:22:25 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_humble_Petition_of_Jane_Dickenson_Widdowe_1624 In this petition to Virginia governor Sir Francis Wyatt and members of the governor's Council, dated March 30, 1624, Jane Dickenson pleads for her release from indentured servitude. Having been taken prisoner by Pamunkey Indians following Opechancanough's attack in 1622, she was ransomed by Dr. John Pott, to whom she then owed service for both herself and her husband, who was killed in the attack. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Fri, 25 May 2012 14:22:25 EST]]> /A_Servant_Demands_his_Freedom_Dues_1624 Fri, 25 May 2012 14:05:51 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/A_Servant_Demands_his_Freedom_Dues_1624 On January 24, 1624, members of the General Court heard testimony in the case of an indentured servant called William Mutch who argued with his master over so-called freedom dues, or the payment servants customarily received upon completion of their contracts. In this case, Mutch contended that he was owed corn. Dr. John Pott, who provided the testimony, was a member of the General Court and later served as governor of the colony. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Fri, 25 May 2012 14:05:51 EST]]> /_An_act_for_punishment_of_ffornication_and_seaverall_other_sins_and_offences_1696 Thu, 24 May 2012 11:31:39 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_punishment_of_ffornication_and_seaverall_other_sins_and_offences_1696 In this law, "An act for punishment of ffornication and seaverall other sins and offences," passed in its September 1696 session, the General Assembly addressed the perennial problems of swearing, drunkenness, and extramarital sex. The act is a revision of one passed in the April 1691 session.
Thu, 24 May 2012 11:31:39 EST]]> /_An_act_for_the_more_effectuall_suppressing_the_severall_sins_and_offences_of_swaring_cursing_profaineing_Gods_holy_name_Sabbath_abuseing_drunkenness_ffornication_and_adultery_1691 Thu, 24 May 2012 11:22:03 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_the_more_effectuall_suppressing_the_severall_sins_and_offences_of_swaring_cursing_profaineing_Gods_holy_name_Sabbath_abuseing_drunkenness_ffornication_and_adultery_1691 In this law, "An act for the more effectuall suppressing the severall sins and offences of swaring, cursing, profaineing Gods holy name, Sabbath abuseing, drunkenness, ffornication, and adultery," passed in its April 1691 session, the General Assembly addressed the perennial problems of swearing, drunkenness, and extramarital sex. The act would be revised in the 1696 session.
Thu, 24 May 2012 11:22:03 EST]]> /Declaration_of_Independence_1776 Mon, 21 May 2012 11:39:26 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Declaration_of_Independence_1776 On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Virginia delegate Thomas Jefferson in committee with John Adams, of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston, of New York, and Roger Sherman, of Connecticut. The Declaration followed a resolution, made by Virginia's Richard Henry Lee on June 7, that the Congress declare independence. The resolution was adopted on July 2, and the Declaration of Independence listed the Congress's grievances with George III. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 21 May 2012 11:39:26 EST]]> /_An_Act_for_amending_the_Staple_of_Tobacco_and_for_preventing_Frauds_in_his_Majesty_s_Customs_1730 Thu, 17 May 2012 14:17:16 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Act_for_amending_the_Staple_of_Tobacco_and_for_preventing_Frauds_in_his_Majesty_s_Customs_1730 The following law, "An Act for amending the Staple of Tobacco; and for preventing Frauds in his Majesty's Customs," passed by the General Assembly in its May 1730 session, at the urging of Virginia lieutenant governor Sir William Gooch, outlined a controversial plan for the inspection of tobacco before it went to market. It was popularly known as the Tobacco Inspection Act.
Thu, 17 May 2012 14:17:16 EST]]> /Parishes_and_Tithes_1643 Thu, 17 May 2012 13:26:28 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Parishes_and_Tithes_1643 In its March 1643 session, the General Assembly repealed all former laws and passes a series of new laws that helped to clarify the intentions of its previous legislation. In this first act, the assembly explains the powers and obligations of the parish vestry and dictates taxes to be paid and the people—including enslaved African women—considered tithable, or eligible to be taxed. Some spelling has been modernized.
Thu, 17 May 2012 13:26:28 EST]]> /Defining_the_Franchise_1646 Mon, 14 May 2012 14:53:27 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Defining_the_Franchise_1646 The following law, passed by the General Assembly in its October 1646 session, requires all freemen to vote in elections of burgesses or face a fine. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 14:53:27 EST]]> /Defining_the_Franchise_1655 Mon, 14 May 2012 14:50:11 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Defining_the_Franchise_1655 The following law, passed by the General Assembly in its March 1655 session, articulates election procedures and defines the franchise. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 14:50:11 EST]]> /_Election_of_burgesses_by_whome_1670 Mon, 14 May 2012 14:45:54 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Election_of_burgesses_by_whome_1670 The following law, "Election of burgesses by whome," passed by the General Assembly in its October 1670 session, defines the franchise as consisting of all property-holding "ffreeholders and housekeepers."
Mon, 14 May 2012 14:45:54 EST]]> /_An_act_for_keeping_holy_the_13th_of_September_1663 Mon, 14 May 2012 14:41:44 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_keeping_holy_the_13th_of_September_1663 In "An act for keeping holy the 13th of September," the General Assembly declares an annual holiday after a foiled attempt by servants in Gloucester County to rebel.
Mon, 14 May 2012 14:41:44 EST]]> /Defining_the_Franchise_1656 Mon, 14 May 2012 14:39:28 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Defining_the_Franchise_1656 The following law, passed by the General Assembly in its March 1656 session, revises a previous, more restrictive law to define the franchise as consisting of all freemen. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 14:39:28 EST]]> /_An_Act_to_declare_who_shall_have_a_right_to_vote_in_the_Election_of_Burgesses_to_serve_in_the_General_Assembly_for_Counties_and_for_preventing_fraudulent_Conveiances_in_order_to_multiply_Votes_at_such_Elections_1736 Mon, 14 May 2012 11:46:49 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Act_to_declare_who_shall_have_a_right_to_vote_in_the_Election_of_Burgesses_to_serve_in_the_General_Assembly_for_Counties_and_for_preventing_fraudulent_Conveiances_in_order_to_multiply_Votes_at_such_Elections_1736 The following law, "An Act to declare who shall have a right to vote in the Election of Burgesses to serve in the General Assembly, for Counties; and for preventing fraudulent Conveiances, in order to multiply Votes at such Elections," passed by the General Assembly in its August 1736 session, articulated the land-ownership requirements for voting. It also repealed a voting oath from a previous act and replaced it with another.
Mon, 14 May 2012 11:46:49 EST]]> /A_Black_Indentured_Servant_Sues_for_His_Freedom_1675 Mon, 14 May 2012 11:13:19 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/A_Black_Indentured_Servant_Sues_for_His_Freedom_1675 This letter serves as a petition to Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley and members of the General Court on behalf of Phillip Corven, a black indentured servant who claims to have had his rights violated by his master. Following the petition is an excerpt from the proceedings of the General Court, dated June 16, 1675, in which the judges order that the servant be freed. From the first document to the second, the servant's name changes from Corven to Gowen, and his master's from Charles Lucas to Jonathan Lucas. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Mon, 14 May 2012 11:13:19 EST]]> /_An_act_for_prevention_of_undue_election_of_Burgeses_1699 Mon, 14 May 2012 11:05:14 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_prevention_of_undue_election_of_Burgeses_1699 The following law, "An act for prevention of undue election of Burgeses" passed by the General Assembly in its April 1699 session, sets out the rules governing elections.
Mon, 14 May 2012 11:05:14 EST]]> /_Concerning_secret_Marriages_1657-1658 Mon, 14 May 2012 10:55:50 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Concerning_secret_Marriages_1657-1658 In this law, "Concerning secret Marriages," passed in its 1658 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants having children and marrying. For masters, this resulted in a loss of the women servants' labor, for which the law attempted to provide compensation. The act revises one passed during the 1643 session. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 10:55:50 EST]]> /_By_the_King_A_Proclamation_For_Suppressing_Rebellion_and_Sedition_1775 Mon, 14 May 2012 10:27:20 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_By_the_King_A_Proclamation_For_Suppressing_Rebellion_and_Sedition_1775 In this response to the so-called Olive Branch Petition, sent to the king by the Second Continental Congress on July 8, 1775, George III rejects the idea of reconciliation and declares the colonies to be in open rebellion. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 10:27:20 EST]]> /_How_long_Servants_without_Indentures_shall_Serve_1657-1658 Mon, 14 May 2012 10:23:24 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_How_long_Servants_without_Indentures_shall_Serve_1657-1658 In the act "How long Servants without Indentures shall Serve," passed in its 1658 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of men and women arriving to Virginia without negotiated contracts, or indentures, for their labor. This law revised a similar one passed in the 1643 session. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 10:23:24 EST]]> /_The_order_about_Jayle_birds_1670 Mon, 14 May 2012 09:22:36 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_The_order_about_Jayle_birds_1670 On April 20, 1670, Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley and the governor's Council issued the following order, glossed in the record as "The order about Jayle birds," prohibiting the importation of certain English convicts as servants. The concern in part stems from the Gloucester County Conspiracy of 1663, in which a group of servants that included convicts allegedly plotted an insurrection. Some spelling has been updated and contractions expanded.
Mon, 14 May 2012 09:22:36 EST]]> /A_Memoriall_Concerning_the_Mal-administrations_of_His_Excelly_Francis_Nicholson_Esqr_Her_Ma_ties_Lieut_and_Governour_Generall_of_Virginia_1703 Mon, 14 May 2012 09:13:59 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/A_Memoriall_Concerning_the_Mal-administrations_of_His_Excelly_Francis_Nicholson_Esqr_Her_Ma_ties_Lieut_and_Governour_Generall_of_Virginia_1703 In May 1703, six members of the governor's Council— John Lightfoot, Matthew Page, Benjamin Harrison, Robert "King" Carter, James Blair, and Philip Ludwell—sent to the Crown the following list of grievances against Virginia governor Francis Nicholson. In April 1705 the Crown dismissed Nicholson, replacing him with Colonel Edward Nott. Some contractions have been expanded.
Mon, 14 May 2012 09:13:59 EST]]> /Testimony_about_the_Gloucester_County_Conspiracy_1663 Mon, 14 May 2012 08:24:49 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Testimony_about_the_Gloucester_County_Conspiracy_1663 In these depositions, several indentured servants, captured in an attempt to rebel in Gloucester County, explain what their plan was and how it should have been executed. Some spelling has been modernized.
Mon, 14 May 2012 08:24:49 EST]]> /The_General_Assembly_Adjourns_1776 Tue, 01 May 2012 10:55:46 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_General_Assembly_Adjourns_1776 In this excerpt from the Journals of the House of Burgesses, the House of Burgesses is seen to dissolve as a lawmaking body and as the lower house of Virginia's General Assembly during the American Revolution (1775–1783). In the original manuscript, the House secretary wrote "Finis" in dramatically large letters. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 01 May 2012 10:55:46 EST]]> /Instructions_from_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_to_the_First_Settlers_1606 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:24:30 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Instructions_from_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_to_the_First_Settlers_1606 In these instructions, dated November 1606, the Virginia Company of London informs the men who would settle what became Jamestown of its priorities once they land. In particular, the company suggests how to look for a Northwest Passage, how to search for gold, and how to treat the Virginia Indians, whom it calls "naturals." Captain Christopher Newport and Bartholomew Gosnold are mentioned by name. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:24:30 EST]]> /Third_Charter_of_Virginia_1612 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:38:50 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Third_Charter_of_Virginia_1612 On March 12, 1612, King James I of England granted the following charter to the investors of the Virginia Company of London. It extends the colony's boundaries to include the islands of Bermuda and authorizes a lottery in order to raise funds. Some spelling has been modernized, contractions expanded, and paragraphs formed.
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:38:50 EST]]> /_An_act_declaring_all_the_acts_orders_and_proceedings_of_a_grand_assembly_held_att_James_Citty_in_the_month_of_June_1676_voyd_null_and_repealed_1677 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:48:38 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_declaring_all_the_acts_orders_and_proceedings_of_a_grand_assembly_held_att_James_Citty_in_the_month_of_June_1676_voyd_null_and_repealed_1677 The following law, "An act declaring all the acts, orders and proceedings of a grand assembly held att James Citty, in the month of June, 1676, voyd, null and repealed," passed by the General Assembly in its February 1677 session, voids all laws passed during the previous session, which had been held during the tumult of Bacon's Rebellion (1676–1677).
Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:48:38 EST]]> /_An_act_to_repeale_a_former_law_makeing_Indians_and_others_ffree_1682 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:28:16 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_to_repeale_a_former_law_makeing_Indians_and_others_ffree_1682 In "An act to repeale a former law makeing Indians and others ffree," passed by the General Assembly in the session of November 1682, Virginia's colonial government attempts to clarify the definitions of indentured servants and slaves.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:28:16 EST]]> /_Concerning_Hireing_of_Servants_1657-1658 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:34:10 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Concerning_Hireing_of_Servants_1657-1658 In this law, "Concerning Hireing of Servants," passed in its session of March 1657/58 (Old Style), the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants who ran away and hired themselves out to new, presumably more lenient, masters. The act revises one passed in the March 1642/43 session. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:34:10 EST]]> /_English_running_away_with_negroes_1660-1661 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:28:33 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_English_running_away_with_negroes_1660-1661 In this act, "English running away with negroes," passed by the General Assembly in the session of March 1660/61 (Old Style), colonial Virginia's government responds to the problem of runaway indentured servants and slaves.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:28:33 EST]]> /_Negro_women_not_exempted_from_tax_1668 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:57:53 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Negro_women_not_exempted_from_tax_1668 In the act "Negro women not exempted from tax," passed by the General Assembly in the session of September 1668, colonial Virginia's government attempted to better define the conditions by which free and enslaved African Americans were taxed.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:57:53 EST]]> /Law_Regulating_Marriage_of_Indentured_Servants_1642-1643 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:55:12 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Law_Regulating_Marriage_of_Indentured_Servants_1642-1643 In this law, passed in the session of March 2, 1642/43 (Old Style), the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants having children and marrying. For masters, this resulted in a loss of the women servants' labor, for which the law attempted to provide compensation. The law was revised during the 1657/58 session.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:55:12 EST]]> /Runaway_Slaves_1642-1643 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:38:20 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Runaway_Slaves_1642-1643 In this act, passed by the General Assembly in the session of March 2, 1642/43 (Old Style), Virginia's colonial government responds to the problem of runaway indentured servants and slaves. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:38:20 EST]]> /Law_Prohibiting_Indentured_Servants_from_Hiring_Themselves_Out_1642-1643 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:25:35 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Law_Prohibiting_Indentured_Servants_from_Hiring_Themselves_Out_1642-1643 In this law, passed in its March 1643 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants who ran away and hired themselves out to new, presumably more lenient, masters. The law was revised in the 1658 session. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:25:35 EST]]> /Burgesses_for_the_Assembly_of_1619 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:49:01 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burgesses_for_the_Assembly_of_1619 In this list are the twenty-two burgesses who gathered in Jamestown on July 30, 1619, for the first meeting of the unicameral General Assembly. The two representatives from Martin's Brandon, a plantation owned by Captain John Martin, were denied their seats when it was called to the attention of Governor Sir George Yeardley that a clause in Martin's land patent exempted him from England's uniform laws and from any laws passed by the General Assembly.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:49:01 EST]]> /General_Court_Hears_Case_on_Witchcraft_1626 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:10:20 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/General_Court_Hears_Case_on_Witchcraft_1626 The following is a transcript of the proceedings of the General Court, meeting in Jamestown on September 11, 1626. The court heard evidence against Joan Wright of Surry County, who was accused by her neighbors of practicing witchcraft. She was acquitted in, perhaps, the earliest allegation of witchcraft on record against an English settler in North America. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:10:20 EST]]> /_Women_servants_whose_common_imployment_is_working_in_the_ground_to_be_accompted_tythable_1662 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:49:25 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Women_servants_whose_common_imployment_is_working_in_the_ground_to_be_accompted_tythable_1662 In the act "Women servants whose common imployment is working in the ground to be accompted tythable," passed by the General Assembly in the session of December 1662, Virginia's colonial government attempted to better define the conditions by which free and enslaved African Americans were taxed.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:49:25 EST]]> /Letter_from_the_Council_in_Virginia_to_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_1607 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:40:01 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Letter_from_the_Council_in_Virginia_to_the_Virginia_Company_of_London_1607 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:40:01 EST]]> /_What_tyme_Indians_serve_1670 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:25:55 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_What_tyme_Indians_serve_1670 In this act, "What tyme Indians serve," passed by the General Assembly in the session of October 1670, Virginia's colonial government attempts to clarify the definitions of indentured servants and slaves.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:25:55 EST]]> /_An_act_declaring_that_baptisme_of_slaves_doth_not_exempt_them_from_bondage_1667 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:22:27 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_declaring_that_baptisme_of_slaves_doth_not_exempt_them_from_bondage_1667 In "An act declaring that baptisme of slaves doth not exempt them from bondage," passed by the General Assembly in the session of September 1667, Virginia's colonial government attempted to better define the conditions by which people were enslaved or free.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:22:27 EST]]> /_Women_servants_gott_with_child_by_their_masters_after_their_time_expired_to_be_sold_by_the_Churchwardens_for_two_yeares_for_the_good_of_the_parish_1662 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:18:39 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Women_servants_gott_with_child_by_their_masters_after_their_time_expired_to_be_sold_by_the_Churchwardens_for_two_yeares_for_the_good_of_the_parish_1662 In this law, "Women servants gott with child by their masters after their time expired to be sold by the Churchwardens for two yeares for the good of the parish," passed in its December 1662 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants having children by their masters.
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:18:39 EST]]> /_An_act_for_suppressing_outlying_slaves_1691 Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:44:50 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_suppressing_outlying_slaves_1691 In April 1691, the General Assembly passed "An act for suppressing outlying slaves," designed to deal with the problem of runaway slaves. It came in the wake of alleged slave conspiracies in, among other places, Westmoreland County in 1687 and 1688.
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:44:50 EST]]> /_An_act_for_preventing_Negroes_Insurrections_1680 Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:04:11 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_for_preventing_Negroes_Insurrections_1680 On June 8, 1680, the General Assembly passed "An act for preventing Negroes Insurrections" in response to planters' concerns about rebellious slaves.
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:04:11 EST]]> /An_excerpt_from_A_Declaration_of_the_state_of_the_Colonie_and_Affaires_in_Virginia_1622 Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:33:12 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/An_excerpt_from_A_Declaration_of_the_state_of_the_Colonie_and_Affaires_in_Virginia_1622 In August 1622, Edward Waterhouse, secretary to the Virginia Company of London, composed A Declaration of the state of the Colonie and Affaires in Virginia. With a Relation of the barbarous Massacre in the time of peace and League, treacherously executed upon the English by the native Infidels, 22 March last … In this excerpt, he details the massive attack on the Jamestown colonists by Opechancanough and his forces, which started the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622–1632). Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:33:12 EST]]> /_Against_ffornication_1661-1662 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:38:05 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Against_ffornication_1661-1662 In this law, "Against ffornication," passed in its March 1662 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of indentured servants having sex that produced pregnancies that, in turn, cost masters money and labor.
Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:38:05 EST]]> /Phillip_Mongom_Accused_of_Stealing_Hogs_1659-1660 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:25:02 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Phillip_Mongom_Accused_of_Stealing_Hogs_1659-1660 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:25:02 EST]]> /Court_Ruling_on_Anthony_Johnson_and_His_Servant_1655 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:09:58 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Court_Ruling_on_Anthony_Johnson_and_His_Servant_1655 On March 8, 1655, the Northampton County Court ruled in favor of Anthony Johnson, a free man of African descent, when he was accused of keeping an indentured servant as a slave.
Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:09:58 EST]]> /Virginia_Resolves_on_the_Stamp_Act_1765 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:27:33 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Resolves_on_the_Stamp_Act_1765 Patrick Henry wrote the following five resolutions against the Stamp Act and introduced them to the House of Burgesses on May 29, 1765. The House passed them after a heated debate, but rescinded the fifth resolution the following day. This iteration of the Virginia Stamp Act resolves comes from a handwritten document that was found inside a small envelope that Henry included with his last will and testament.
Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:27:33 EST]]> /The_Deaths_of_Elizabeth_Abbott_and_Elias_Hinton_1624 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:18:53 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Deaths_of_Elizabeth_Abbott_and_Elias_Hinton_1624 In these depositions, delivered to the General Court on October 10, 1624, various indentured servants, masters, and other witnesses testify about the deaths of two servants—Elizabeth Abbott and Elias Hinton—at the hand of their master and mistress, John and Alice Proctor. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:18:53 EST]]> /Edmund_Jenings_Removed_from_Governor_s_Council_1726 Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:42:07 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Edmund_Jenings_Removed_from_Governor_s_Council_1726 In its meeting on June 25, 1726, the governor's Council, in consultation with Lieutenant Governor Hugh Drysdale, removed Edmund Jenings from his position on the Council. Jenings had long been absent from meetings, and his health, both physical and mental, was deteriorating. Drysdale, too, was ill, and Jenings, as senior member of the Council, was in line to serve as president, or acting governor, when Drysdale died. With Jenings's removal, his rival Robert "King" Carter served that role when Drysdale died on June 22, 1726.
Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:42:07 EST]]> /Proclamation_from_Governor_Nicholson_1690 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:38:21 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Proclamation_from_Governor_Nicholson_1690 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:38:21 EST]]> /_An_Acte_against_Conjuration_Witchcrafte_and_dealing_with_evill_and_wicked_Spirits_1604 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:03:26 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Acte_against_Conjuration_Witchcrafte_and_dealing_with_evill_and_wicked_Spirits_1604 In this act, "An Acte against Conjuration Witchcrafte and dealing with evill and wicked Spirits," passed by Parliament in the session that began on March 19, 1603, and ended July 7, 1604, the English government, not for the first time, outlawed witchcraft. It was the this law, however, that authorities used to prosecute accused witches in Virginia. Some contractions have been expanded. The last witchcraft trial in the mainland colonies took place in 1730, and Parliament repealed the law in 1736. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:03:26 EST]]> /Second_Charter_of_Virginia_1609 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:55 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Second_Charter_of_Virginia_1609 On May 23, 1609, King James I of England granted the following charter to the investors of the Virginia Company of London. It transferred control from the Crown to private investors, extended Virginia's borders from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and installed a new, more powerful governor who, it was hoped, would introduce discipline to Jamestown.
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:55 EST]]> /_Against_Runawayes_1669 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:59:51 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Against_Runawayes_1669 In this act, "Against Runawayes," passed by the General Assembly in the session of October 1669, Virginia's colonial government responds to the problem of runaway indentured servants and slaves.
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:59:51 EST]]> /Denying_Free_Blacks_the_Right_to_Vote_1724_1735 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:56:21 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Denying_Free_Blacks_the_Right_to_Vote_1724_1735 In this exchange of letters, the Board of Trade questions the appropriateness of a 1723 law in Virginia denying free blacks the right to vote. The Board's legal counsel, Richard West, raised his question in 1724, but the Board's secretary, Alured Popple, did not ask for an explanation until 1735, when he wrote to Virginia lieutenant governor William Gooch.
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:56:21 EST]]> /The_Case_of_Grace_Sherwood_1706 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:52:25 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Case_of_Grace_Sherwood_1706 The following is a transcript of the proceedings of the Princess Anne County Court as it hears the case, in 1706, of Grace Sherwood on the charge of witchcraft. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded. The case is heard first in the county court, then in the General Court, and finally is removed back to the county court. There is the suggestion that it was once more heard by the General Court, but the courts records for that period are missing. Whatever the case, Sherwood is known to have survived her legal ordeal. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:52:25 EST]]> /Governor_Effingham_Reveals_a_Planned_Slave_Insurrection_1687 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:11:45 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Governor_Effingham_Reveals_a_Planned_Slave_Insurrection_1687 In the official record of the governor's Council for October 24, 1687, Virginia governor Francis Howard, baron Howard of Effingham, announces that Nicholas Spencer, the colony's secretary and a resident of Westmoreland County, had uncovered a conspiracy among the slaves there. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:11:45 EST]]> /Parish_in_Colonial_Virginia_The Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:09:08 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Parish_in_Colonial_Virginia_The A parish in colonial Virginia was a unit of both civil and religious authority that covered a set geographical territory. Each Church of England parish in the colony was served by a single minister and governed by a vestry usually composed of local elites. As a religious institution, a parish contained a mother, or central, church, and frequently two or more so-called chapels of ease in outlying areas that the minister served on successive Sundays. As a civil institution, the parish vestry was charged with overseeing a wide range of responsibilities that included social welfare and presenting moral offenders to the courts. The contemporary understanding of parishes and vestries as institutions that deal primarily, if not exclusively, with internal parochial affairs is at odds with the extent of duties associated with the colonial parish. Indeed, according to the historian John Nelson, local government in early Virginia should be understood as "parish-county" government, these two "linked institutions sharing, dividing up, and intermingling their interests and responsibilities."
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:09:08 EST]]> /_An_Act_to_enable_the_inhabitants_of_this_Colony_to_discharge_their_public_dues_officers_fees_and_other_tobacco_debts_in_money_for_the_ensuing_year_1758 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:45:41 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_Act_to_enable_the_inhabitants_of_this_Colony_to_discharge_their_public_dues_officers_fees_and_other_tobacco_debts_in_money_for_the_ensuing_year_1758 In "An Act to enable the inhabitants of this Colony to discharge their public dues, officers fees, and other tobacco debts, in money, for the ensuing year," better known as the Two Penny Act, the General Assembly responded to a second failure of the colony's tobacco crops by again allowing vestries and county courts to collect taxes and pay salaries in money calculated at the usual market price for tobacco rather than in tobacco at windfall rates. Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier signed the act into law, on behalf of George II, on October 12, 1758.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:45:41 EST]]> /The_Two_Penny_Act_1755 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:44:20 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Two_Penny_Act_1755 In "An act to enable the inhabitants of this colony to discharge their Tobacco debts in money, for this present year," better known as the Two Penny Act, the General Assembly responded to the failure of the colony's tobacco crops by allowing vestries and county courts to collect taxes and pay salaries in money calculated at the usual market price for tobacco rather than in tobacco at windfall rates. Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie signed the act into law, on behalf of George II, on November 8, 1755.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:44:20 EST]]> /_Man_Servants_getting_any_bastard_child_to_make_satisfaction_to_the_parish_after_their_service_ended_1662 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:04 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Man_Servants_getting_any_bastard_child_to_make_satisfaction_to_the_parish_after_their_service_ended_1662 In this law, "Man Servants getting any bastard child to make satisfaction to the parish after their service ended," passed in its December 1662 session, the General Assembly addressed the problem of male indentured servants having children while under contract.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:04 EST]]> /_Negro_womens_children_to_serve_according_to_the_condition_of_the_mother_1662 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:12:43 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_Negro_womens_children_to_serve_according_to_the_condition_of_the_mother_1662 In the act "Negro womens children to serve according to the condition of the mother," passed by the General Assembly in the session of December 1662, Virginia's colonial government attempted to better define the conditions by which people were enslaved or free.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:12:43 EST]]> /_An_act_prohibiting_servants_to_goe_abroad_without_a_lycense_1663 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:10:53 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_An_act_prohibiting_servants_to_goe_abroad_without_a_lycense_1663 In "An act prohibiting servants to goe abroad without a lycense," passed by the General Assembly in the session of September 1663, Virginia's colonial government responds to the problem of runaway indentured servants and slaves.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:10:53 EST]]> /Punishment_for_the_Enslaved_Man_Sam_1688 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:47:59 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Punishment_for_the_Enslaved_Man_Sam_1688 On April 26, 1688, the General Court found Sam, the slave of Richard Metcalfe of Westmoreland County, guilty in James City County of promoting a slave rebellion. His conviction came just six months or so after a suspected plot was discovered in Westmoreland County. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:47:59 EST]]> /Governor_s_Council_The Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:50:28 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Governor_s_Council_The The governor's Council, also known as the Council of State or simply the Council, consisted of about a dozen of colonial Virginia's wealthiest and most prominent men. Beginning in the 1630s the Crown appointed Council members, although from 1652 to 1660 the General Assembly elected the members. Crown appointments were lifetime appointments. From 1625, when Virginia became a royal colony, until the outbreak of the American Revolution (1775–1783), the Council members advised the royal governor or his deputy, the lieutenant governor, on all executive matters. The Council and the governor together constituted the highest court in the colony, known initially as the Quarter Court and later as the General Court. The Council members also served as members of the General Assembly; from the first meeting of the assembly in 1619 until 1643 the governor, Council members, and burgesses all met in unicameral session. After 1643 the Council members met separately as the upper House of the General Assembly. The Virginia Constitution of 1776 effectively abolished the governor's Council and distributed its executive, judicial, and legislative functions to three separate bodies of men.
Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:50:28 EST]]> /Richard_Kemp_ca_1600-ca_1650 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:23:28 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Richard_Kemp_ca_1600-ca_1650 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:23:28 EST]]> /Parke_Daniel_1669-1710 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:02:43 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Parke_Daniel_1669-1710 Daniel Parke was a Virginia politician who gained his first public office at age nineteen, when he was elected to the House of Burgesses for James City County (1688). By age twenty-six, he had acquired a seat on the governor's Council (1695–1697). He relocated to England in 1697. He served as an aide-de-camp to John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and carried news of Marlborough's victory at the Battle of Blenheim to Queen Anne in 1704. The queen rewarded Parke with a governorship in the Leeward Islands, a small island chain in the Caribbean, which he assumed in 1706. But Parke's accomplishments masked a darker side. Arrogant and at times violent, he became estranged from his wife and children in Virginia, had a number of extramarital relationships, and fathered offspring out of wedlock. Ultimately, Parke's sexual improprieties contributed to his political undoing. Residents of the Leeward Islands complained that he had "debauched" many of their wives and daughters, in addition to exceeding his authority as their governor; a bloody riot ended Parke's governorship, and his life, on December 7, 1710, when an angry mob pulled him from his home and murdered him.
Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:02:43 EST]]> /Keppel_William_Anne_second_earl_of_Albemarle_1702-1754 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:35:27 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Keppel_William_Anne_second_earl_of_Albemarle_1702-1754 William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle, served as governor of Virginia from 1737 until his death in 1754. His father was a confidant of William of Orange and later was made first earl of Albemarle. William Anne Keppel succeeded to his father's titles and estates in 1718. In a distinguished military career, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general and proved himself during the War of the Austrian Succession. Albemarle became ambassador to France in 1748 and a member of the Privy Council two years later. George II commissioned him governor of Virginia on November 4, 1737. Albemarle never went to America and instead employed lieutenant governors to administer the government in Williamsburg. Relations between Albemarle and his lieutenant governors were strained over their respective appointive powers, and he outmaneuvered them in making colonial appointments. These patronage policies undermined the lieutenant governors and contributed to increasing the importance of colonial assemblies and politicians. Unintentionally, Albemarle helped weaken imperial ties between the colony and England. He died in Paris on December 22, 1754.
Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:35:27 EST]]> /Bacon_Nathaniel_bap_1620-1692 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:59:43 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Bacon_Nathaniel_bap_1620-1692 Nathaniel Bacon, a member of the governor's Council, was often referred to as Nathaniel Bacon (the elder) in order to distinguish him from his namesake cousin, known as Nathaniel Bacon (the rebel) (1647–1676). Little is known about his early life. By 1653 Bacon had moved to Virginia. He settled in Isle of Wight County before moving to York County. In March 1656 Bacon represented York County in the House of Burgesses, and by December of that year he had become a member of the governor's Council, where he served for three years. After another term as a burgess in 1659, he had once again been named to the Council by August 1660. As the senior member of the Council by January 1682, on three separate occasions in the 1680s and early in 1690 he served as president and acting governor of the colony. Bacon had no children, and when he died on March 16, 1692, his niece Abigail Smith Burwell inherited his vast estate.
Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:59:43 EST]]> /The_Original_Jamestown_Settlers_an_excerpt_from_The_Generall_Historie_of_Virginia_New-England_and_the_Summer_Isles_by_John_Smith_1624 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:28:57 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Original_Jamestown_Settlers_an_excerpt_from_The_Generall_Historie_of_Virginia_New-England_and_the_Summer_Isles_by_John_Smith_1624 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:28:57 EST]]> /George_III_1738-1820 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:32:52 EST http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/George_III_1738-1820 George III was king of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1811. The third monarch from the House of Hanover, George was just twenty-two years old when he succeeded his grandfather, George II, as king in 1760. His reign was shaped by the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the Irish Rebellion (1798), and the French Revolution (1783–1815), but he is best known as the "tyrant," called "unfit to be the ruler of a free people" in the Declaration of Independence (1776), who lost the American Revolution (1775–1783). In reality, George III supported his cabinet's authority and, with a few exceptions, influenced but did not dictate policy; once the fighting began, he counseled his ministers to be consistent in their opposition to the American rebellion until the defeat at Yorktown. American patriots, hostile British contemporaries, and nineteenth-century historians all painted George III as personally responsible for the conflict and its loss, but historical scholarship since the 1930s has overturned this anachronistic and overly personalized reading of the king. Despite the American loss, George III was popular among his subjects in the decades following the war, and the fiftieth year of his reign was celebrated countrywide in 1809–1810. In 1810, an attack of an illness, probably porphyria, which had plagued him for nearly two decades, robbed him of his sight, hearing, and sanity. On February 5, 1811, his son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed regent and ruled in his place until January 29, 1820, when George III died at Windsor Castle.
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