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The Commonwealth of Virginia is an American state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The state is geographically shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, home to much of the state's flora and fauna. The capital of the commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The state population is over seven million.[1] The roots of Virginia trace back to the founding of the Virginia Colony in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London as the first permanent New World English colony. Slavery played a significant role in Virginia's early economy and politics. Virginia became one of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and subsequently joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which the state of West Virginia separated. Although traditionally conservative and historically part of the South, modern Virginia is a politically competitive state for both major national parties.[2] Virginia has an economy with several sectors, including agricultural production, such as the Shenandoah Valley, federal agencies in Northern Virginia, such as The Pentagon, and military bases in Hampton Roads, home to the region's main seaport. The growth of the media and technology sectors have made computer chips the state's leading export, with the industry based on the strength of Virginia's public schools and universities.[3] College sports are followed by many across the state. Areas where the state has lagged behind include obesity prevention and environmental protection.[4]
History
Jamestown 2007 marked Virginia's quadricentennial year, celebrating four hundred years since the establishment of the Jamestown Colony. Over the centuries Virginia has been at the front of warfare from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the Cold War and the War on Terrorism. The far-reaching social changes of the mid- to late-20th century were expressed by broad-based celebrations marking contributions of three cultures to the state: Native American, European and African. ColonyThe first people arrived in Virginia about 5,000 years ago, and farming began there by 900. By 1500 the Virginia Algonquians had founded towns in the Tidewater region, which they referred to as Tsenacommacah. The other major groups in the area were the Siouan to the west, and the Iroquois, who included the Nottoway and Meherrin, to the north and south. After 1570, the Algonquians consolidated under Chief Powhatan in response to threats from these other groups on their trade network.[5] In 1607, the native Tidewater population was between 13,000 to 14,000. Powhatan controlled more than thirty smaller tribes and over 150 settlements, which used a common Virginia Algonquian language. In 1583, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Sir Walter Raleigh a charter to explore and plant a colony north of Florida. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent an expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America. The name "Virginia" may have been suggested by Raleigh or Elizabeth, perhaps noting her status as the "Virgin Queen," and may also be related to a native phrase, "Wingandacoa", or name, "Wingina". Initially the name applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina to Maine, plus the island of Bermuda. The London Company was incorporated as a joint stock company by the proprietary Charter of 1606, which granted land rights to this area. The Company financed the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Jamestown, named for King James I, was founded in May 1607 by Captains Christopher Newport and John Smith. In 1609 many colonists died during the "starving time" after the loss of the Third Supply's flagship, the Sea Venture. In 1619 the colony established the House of Burgesses as its elected governance, though in 1624 the colony was transferred from the bankrupt London Company to royal authority as a crown colony. African workers were first imported in 1619, and slavery was codified in 1661.[6] After 1618 the headright system led to more indentured servants from Europe. In this system, settlers received land for each servant they transported. During this early period Virginia's population grew with the introduction of settlers and servants into the burgeoning plantation economy. Colonists appropriated land from Native Americans by force and treaty, including the Treaty of 1677, which made the signatory tribes tributary states. The colonial capital was moved in 1699 to Williamsburg, where the College of William and Mary had been founded in 1693. The House of Burgesses was temporarily dissolved in 1769 by the Royal governor Lord Botetourt, after Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee led speeches on the distresses of the British taxation without representation. In 1773, Henry and Lee formed a committee of correspondence, and in 1774 Virginia sent delegates to the Continental Congress. On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention declared independence from the British Empire and adopted the George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, which influenced the Declaration of Independence. Then on June 29, 1776, the convention enacted a constitution that formally declared Virginia as an independent commonwealth.[5] During the American Revolutionary War, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, fearing Williamsburg's location made it vulnerable to British attack. In 1781, the combined action of Continental and French land and naval forces trapped the British on the Yorktown peninsula, where troops under George Washington and French Comte de Rochambeau defeated British General Cornwallis in the Battle of Yorktown. The British surrender on October 19, 1781 so shifted British public opinion that it led to the end of major hostilities and secured the independence of the colonies. StatehoodVirginians were instrumental in writing the United States Constitution. James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan in 1787 and the Bill of Rights in 1789. Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788. The three-fifths compromise ensured that Virginia initially had the largest bloc in the House of Representatives, which with the Virginia dynasty of presidents gave the commonwealth national importance. In 1790, both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District of Columbia, though in 1847 the Virginian area was retroceded.[7] Virginia is sometimes called "Mother of States" because of its role in being carved into several mid-western states.
The Civil War and aftermathVirginia seceded from the United States on April 17, 1861 after the Battle of Fort Sumter. In June 1861, Virginia joined the rebel Confederate States of America, which chose Richmond as its capital. In 1863 forty-eight counties in the northwest of the state separated to form a new state of West Virginia. During the Civil War, Virginia saw more battles fought than anywhere else, including Bull Run, the Seven Days Battles, Chancellorsville, and the concluding Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. After the capture of Richmond, the capitol was briefly moved to Danville, Virginia. Virginia formally rejoined the United States in 1870, due to the work of the Committee of Nine. During the post-war Reconstruction era, Virginia adopted a constitution which provided for free public schools, and guaranteed political, civil, and voting rights. The populist Readjuster Party ran a biracial coalition until the conservative white Democratic Party gained power after 1883. It passed segregationist Jim Crow laws and in 1902 rewrote the Constitution of Virginia to include a poll tax and other voter registration measures that effectively disfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites. Despite underfunding for segregated schools and services and a lack of political representation, African Americans still created vibrant communities and made progress. Modern timesProtests in Farmville started by Barbara Rose Johns in 1951 led to the lawsuit Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County by Richmond natives Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill. This case was decided with Brown v. Board of Education. However in 1958, under the policy of "massive resistance" spearheaded by the powerful segregationist Senator Harry F. Byrd, the state prohibited desegregated local schools from receiving funding. The Civil Rights Movement gained many participants in the 1960s and achieved the moral force to gain national legislation for protection of suffrage and civil rights for African Americans. In 1964 the United States Supreme Court ordered Prince Edward County and others to integrate schools. From 1969 to 1971, state legislators under Governor Mills Godwin rewrote the constitution, after goals such as the repeal of Jim Crow laws had been achieved. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected as governor in the United States.[5] New economic forces also changed the commonwealth. In 1926, Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church, began restoration of colonial-era buildings in the historic district with financial backing of John D. Rockefeller Jr.. Their work led to the development of Colonial Williamsburg, the state's most popular tourism site. World War II and the Cold War led to massive expansion of national government programs housed in offices in northern Virginia near Washington, including The Pentagon, which was later targeted in the September 11, 2001 attacks. In that attack, one hundred and eighty-five people died. Different violence occurred in 2007 when a disturbed student at Virginia Tech murdered thirty-two and committed suicide. Timeline
Population History
Note: Virginia was one of the 13 original States. Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792, and a small part of Virginia was included in the District of Columbia from 1791 to 1846. West Virginia was separated from Virginia in 1862, becoming a State in 1863 and adding two more counties in 1866. Since then Virginia's boundaries have remained essentially unchanged, with slight modifications as early surveys were reviewed and corrected. Details of the Virginia-Tennessee boundary were not settled until 1901. In 1790 census coverage included all of Virginia's present-day territory; Kentucky was reported separately. The populations for 1800-1840 include the area that was then part of the District of Columbia, and the populations for 1790-1860 exclude the counties entirely or primarily included in what is now West Virginia. Research TipsSee the Virginia Research Guide
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