Virginia was the first successful English Colony and started with the establishment of Jamestown in 1607. It was a business venture, intended to mine gold and silver, which were never found. Around 1612, John Rolfe planted a new kind of tobacco that was successful and became Virginia’s first Cash Crop.
Essential Facts
- Year Founded — 1607
- Founded By — The London Company of Virginia
- General Assembly Established — 1619
- Region — Southern Colonies, Chesapeake Colonies
Primary Documents
- First Charter of Virginia, April 1606
- Second Charter of Virginia, May 1609
- Third Charter of Virginia, March 1612
- Bacon’s Oath of Fidelity (1676)
- Bacon’s Manifesto (1676)
- Berkeley’s Declaration and Remonstrance (1676)
- Virginia Stamp Act Resolves (May 29, 1765)
- Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
Biographies
- George Baylor
- William Berkeley
- Theodorick Bland
- Daniel Boone
- Carter Braxton
- George Rogers Clark
- Patrick Henry
- Thomas Jefferson
- Simon Kenton
- Richard Henry Lee
- Francis Lightfoot Lee
- James Madison
- Hugh Mercer
- James Monroe
- Daniel Morgan
- Thomas Nelson, Jr.
- Peyton Randolph
- John Sevier
- George Washington
- Martha Washington
- George Wythe
History
Colonial America
- Virginia Company of London
- Wilderness Road
- First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1614)
- House of Burgesses
- Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622–1632)
- Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–1646)
- Bacon’s Rebellion
- Ohio Company of Virginia
- Albany Congress (1754)
- French and Indian War (1754–1763)
Key Concepts
- Agriculture in Colonial America
- Board of Trade
- Mercantilism
- Navigation Acts
- Salutary Neglect
- Transatlantic Slave Trade
- Triangular Trade
- Taxation Without Representation — Overview and History
American Revolution
- Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
- Proclamation of 1763
- Sugar Act (1764) — Guide
- Stamp Act (1765) — Guide
- Sons of Liberty
- Leedstown Resolves (February 27, 1766)
- Townshend Acts (1767—1768)
- Committees of Correspondence
- Tea Act (1773)
- Intolerable Acts (1774)
- Virginia — Delegates to the First Continental Congress (1774)
- First Continental Congress (1774)
- Continental Association (1774)
American Revolutionary War
1775
- Virginia Gunpowder Incident (April 21, 1775–May 4, 1775)
- Second Continental Congress (1775—1781)
- Olive Branch Petition (July 8, 1775)
- Battle of Kemp’s Landing (November 15, 1775)
- Battle of Great Bridge (December 9, 1775)
- Burning of Norfolk (January 1, 1776)
