← Explore on the interactive map

First Convening of the Virginia House of Burgesses

Type Event Region North America Time 1619

On July 30, 1619, the Virginia colony held its first House of Burgesses meeting at Jamestown, the first elected representative legislature in British…

Timeline

  1. 1619Jamestown · VirginiaNew governor George Yeardley convened the assembly under the Virginia Company's new charter, composed of the governor, six councilors, and more than twenty "burgesses" from districts including James City and Henricо.
  2. 1619Jamestown · VirginiaThe assembly passed statutes concerning the plantation economy, public order, religion, and Indian relations, establishing an internal consultative legislative mechanism for the colony and inaugurating the subsequent annual regular session system.

Sources