What’s the House of Burgesses?

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The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly to be established in the Americas and was an important step in the movement towards independence from the English monarchy. Although the legislature was still under the rule of the English crown, it set an important precedent: England was to have a limited monarchy over the region, giving Virginians – and subsequent colonies – the freedom to form their own local laws for government. This type of monarchical government was in stark contrast to the Spanish and French monarchies, which exercised total power over their colonies. The legislature first met in 1619 at Jamestown Church and over time became an important intellectual meeting place for American revolutionary figures such as George Washington, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.

The House of Burgesses was a major experiment in democracy during the colonial period; it would help create legislative bodies that would continue to be models for democracy after America declared independence from England. It is perhaps strange, therefore, that England played a significant role in the creation of the legislative assembly. The Virginia Company, a London firm founded by the king responsible for the settlement of Jamestown, voted to establish the corporation on the belief that it would make the settlement more attractive to live in.

In establishing the assembly, the Virginia Company hoped to make Jamestown more attractive by giving the locals a hand in their government. Other efforts to make the settlement an attractive place to live included replacing the martial law that had governed there with the more civilized English Common Law and allowing locals to own land for the first time. Complying with these decisions, Governor George Yeardley traveled from England to Virginia to establish the legislature in 1619.

Under the new assembly, burgesses, or elected officials, were to be elected by the people of Jamestown. However, only white male landowners over the age of 17 were allowed to vote. Initially, 22 citizens were elected, two representatives for 11 settlements. The new assembly met on July 30, 1619 and worked to fix a minimum selling price for tobacco. The assembly was not intended by England to be fully autonomous; this would have subverted the rule of the monarchy, which King James I was unwilling to do. England would continue to have veto power over the colony through the governor, Virginia Company officials, and eventually the king himself.

In 1624, King James I disbanded the Virginia Company and the Virginia settlement officially became a royal colony. This turn of events curtailed some of the legislative liberty of the House of Burgesses. Governors were instituted who had little regard for how the burghers thought the colony should be governed and taxed. Nonetheless, the assembly continued to thrive as an important group through which political ideas were exchanged and developed, even if England did not always heed them. Between that time and America’s independence, many prominent American figures were elected to the group and they continued to build the idea of ​​a democracy independent of the English monarchy.

The House of Burgesses was an essential part of the legislative framework that was to become the government of the United States. In 1776, when America declared independence, it became the first General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia. One of the first major pieces of legislation passed through the General Assembly was the religious equality movement and the dissolution of the Church of England in Virginia. Once the nation successfully achieved independence, the established blueprint provided by the General Assembly in Virginia proved to be an invaluable asset in building the new democratic system.

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