1600s The Powhatan and Rappahannock are believed to be the first settlers of Virginia. Virginia was officially established with the landing at Jamestown on May 13, 1607, and the founding on May 14, 1607; it had been explored previously as unsettled land. Virginia's first (true) governor was Edward Maria Wingfield, in 1607. The first Thanksgiving feasts by the English were actually held in Virginia as early as 1607, with a definite date in 1610. During Virginia's grim "Starving Time", in early colonial history, some folks turned to cannibalism in order to survive. VA's 3rd supply ship voyage being caught in a hurricane and landing at Bermuda in 1609–10, might have inspired Shakespeare's "The Tempest". That same voyage also caused Virginia to lay claim to Bermuda. The Indian tribe, and the state Delaware, are named for Virginia's 6th governor: Thomas West, 3rd Baron de la Warr. The early meetings of Virginia's House of Burgesses were about education; the City of Henricus chosen as a site for a university in 1618. The Virginia General Assembly, which was founded in 1619, is the oldest legislature in the Western Hemisphere. The first Africans to arrive at Virginia's coast most likely originated from Ndongo/Angola. The land that Virginia once claimed included West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Bermuda, and parts of Wisconsin & Minnesota. In 1634, King Charles I ordered the creation of eight shires in Virginia, which were later renamed as counties. 5 of those 8 still exist. From 1660 – 1665, Virginia's legislature held sessions in a Jamestown tavern. On Sept 17, 1671, Abraham Wood claimed the area of Blacksburg for England, since Indians there killed each other off, leaving it unclaimed. Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 was a challenge against Native-friendly Governor Berkeley, and resulted in the hardening of slavery, racially. The College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia, is the second-oldest higher education facility in the US, established in 1693. When Williamsburg was established and declared the capital of Virginia in 1699, the legislature met at the Wren Building at William & Mary. |
1700s 1699 – 1755 saw an increase in Virginia's ethnic diversity, with the immigrations of Scots-Irish, Germans, and Welsh Baptists in the west. The first settlers of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley of European ancestry were the Scots-Irish and Germans from PA, in the 1730s. George Washington was only 21 when he was sent by Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie to order the French to withdraw from VA's Ohio. Freedom of religion in Virginia first got its start, due to resentment against the officially established Anglican Church in Virginia. Part of Virginia's opposition to the King was that he planned on establishing a new colony called Vandalia, from western VA land. Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech was performed in St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. |
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