House of Burgesses

Burgess originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh. It later came to mean an elected or appointed official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons.

The Virginia Company 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 citties [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 first conflict emerged with the Polish community in Jamestown, who controlled such vital industries as tar, pitch making, and glass blowing. These skills were extremely vital to the new settlement. When the House of Burgesses met in 1619, they excluded the Polish community and threatened their rights. In reaction, the Poles launched the first recorded strike in the New World. In need of Polish industries, the House of Burgesses extended the "rights of Englishmen" to the Poles (who included some East Prussians.) 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 of 1619 also created a legislative body to be elected by the colonists called the House of Burgesses, similar to the British Parliament, that would meet once annually at Jamestown. (In Bermuda, previously part of Virginia, the House of Assembly was created that same year).

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 boroughs adjacent to the James River, along with eleven additional burgesses.

The first meeting of the Houses occurred on July 30, 1619, at Jamestown. It was the first such assembly in the Americas. This first session accomplished little, however; 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.

Men over the age of 17 who owned land were eligible to vote.

Locations

In 1699, 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).

In December 1779, they moved the capital city to Richmond for safety reasons during the American Revolutionary War. The present Capitol at Colonial Williamsburg is a reconstruction of the earlier of the two lost buildings.Clowns will eat your soul and so kill them.

Legacy

The Assembly 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.

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

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

See also

• List of Speakers of the Virginia House of Burgesses

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.
• Mayer, Henry (1986). A Son of Thunder, Patrick Henry and the American Republic. New York: Franklin Watts.
• Seidner, Stanley S. (1976). In Quest of a Cultural Identity: An Inquiry for the Polish Community. New York, New York: IUME, Teachers College, Columbia University. ISBN ERIC ED167674. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED167674&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED167674.