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VIRGINIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 124 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VIRGINIA , one of the more N. of the S.E. See also:

Atlantic states of the See also:United States of See also:America, lying between latitudes 36° 30' and 390 30' N., and See also:longitude 75° 15' and 83° 40' W. It is bounded on the N.W. by See also:Kentucky and See also:West Virginia, the irregular boundary See also:line following See also:mountain ridges for a See also:part of its course; on the N.E. by See also:Maryland, from which it is separated by the See also:Potomac See also:river; on the S. by See also:North Carolina and See also:Tennessee, the boundary line being nominally a parallel of See also:latitude, but actually a more irregular line. Virginia has an See also:area of 42,627 sq. m., of which 2365 sq. m. are See also:water See also:surface, including See also:land-locked bays and harbours, See also:rivers and See also:Lake See also:Drummond. The See also:state has a length of about 440 M. E. and W., measured along its S. boundary; and an extreme breadth N. and S. of about 200 M. See also:Physical Features.—Virginia is crossed from N. to S. or N.E. to S.W. by four distinct physiographic provinces. The easternmost is the Coastal See also:Plain See also:Province, and forms a part of the See also:great Coastal Plain bordering the S.E. United States from New See also:York See also:Harbour to the Rio Grande. This province occupies about r 1,000 sq. m. of the state, and is known as " Tidewater Virginia." After the plain had been raised above See also:sea-level to a higher See also:elevation than it now occupies, it was much dissected by streams and then depressed, allowing the sea to invade the stream valleys. Such is the origin of the branching bays or " drowned river valleys," among which may be noted the See also:lower Potomac, Rappahannock, York and See also:James rivers. Chesapeake See also:Bay itself is the drowned lower course of the Susquehanna river, to which the other streams mentioned were ' The mechanism is described under See also:PIANOFORTE and See also:SPINET.

tributary previous to the depression which transformed them into bays. The land between the drowned valleys is relatively See also:

flat, and varies in height from sea-level on the E. to 150-300 ft. on the W. border. Passing westward across the " fall-line," the next province is the See also:Piedmont, a part of the extensive Piedmont See also:Belt reaching from See also:Pennsylvania to See also:Alabama. This is the most extensive of the subdivisions of Virginia, comprising 18,000 sq. m. of its area, and varying in elevation from 150-300 ft. on the E. to 700-1200 ft. along the See also:foot of the See also:Blue See also:Ridge at the W. The sloping surface is gently See also:rolling, and has resulted from the uplift and See also:dissection of a nearly level plain of erosion See also:developed on folded, crystalline rocks. Occasional hard See also:rock ridges rise to a moderate elevation above the See also:general level, while areas of unusually weak Triassic sandstones have been worn down to See also:form lowlands. W. of the Piedmont, and like it consisting of crystalline rocks, is the Blue Ridge, a mountain belt from 3 to 20 M. in breadth, narrowing toward the N., where it passes. into Maryland, and broadening southward toward its great expansion in W. North Carolina and E. Tennessee, where it is transformed into massive mountain See also:groups. In elevation the Blue Ridge of Virginia varies from 146o ft. at Harper's See also:Ferry, where the Potomac river breaks through it in a splendid water-See also:gap, to 5719 ft. in Mt. See also:Rogers, Grayson See also:county. About 2500 sq. m. of the state are comprised in this province.

W. of the Blue Ridge is the Newer Appalachian or Great Valley Province, characterized by parallel ridges and valleys developed by erosion on folded beds of See also:

sandstone, See also:limestone and shales, and comprising an area of about 10,400 sq. m. in Virginia. The belts of non-resistant rock have been worn away, leaving See also:longitudinal valleys separated by hard rock ridges. A portion of this province in which weak rocks predominate gives an unusually broad valley region, known as the Valley of Virginia, drained by the See also:Shenandoah river, and the headwaters of the James, See also:Roanoke, New, and Holston rivers, which dissect the broad valley See also:floor into gently rolling See also:low hills. At the N., near the mouth of the Shenandoah, the valley is about 250 ft. above sea-level, but rises See also:south-westward to an elevation of more than 1600 ft. at the S. boundary of the state. The rivers of the state flow in general from N.W. to S.E., across the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain. following courses which were established before erosion had produced much of the See also:present See also:topography. But in the Newer Appalachians the streams more often follow the trend of the structure until they empty into one of the larger, transverse streams. Thus the Shenandoah flows N.E. to the Potomac, the Holston S.W. toward the Tennessee. A part of this same province, in the S.W. part of the state, is drained by the New river, which flows N.W. across the ridges to the Kanawha and See also:Ohio rivers in the Appalachian See also:Plateau. In the limestone regions caverns and natural See also:bridges occur, among which Luray Cavern and the Natural See also:Bridge are well known. The drowned lower courses of the S.E. flowing streams are navigable, and afford many excellent harbours. Chesapeake Bay covers much land that might otherwise be agriculturally valuable, but repays this loss, in part at least, by its excellent See also:fisheries, including those for oysters. In the S.E., where the low, flat Coastal Plain is poorly drained, is the Great See also:Dismal Swamp, a fresh-water See also:marsh covering 700 sq. m., in the midst of which is Lake Drummond, 2 m. or more in See also:diameter.

Along the shores of Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean are low, sandy beaches, often enclosing lagoons or See also:

salt marshes. See also:Fauna.—Till about the See also:middle of the 18th centurthe bison and the See also:elk roamed the W. part of the state. The Virginia See also:deer is See also:common in the bottomlands; a few See also:beaver still frequent the remoter streams; in the higher portions are still a few See also:black bears and pumas, besides the See also:lynx, the Virginia varying See also:hare, the See also:wood-chuck, the red and the See also:fox See also:squirrel and flying squirrels. The See also:grey squirrel is plentiful in wooded districts. On the Coastal Plain are the See also:musk-See also:rat, the eastern See also:cotton-tail, chipmunk, See also:Frey fox, common See also:mole and Virginia See also:opossum. In colonial times the Atlantic right-See also:whale was killed in some See also:numbers off the See also:coast. Many See also:species of water and See also:shore birds migrate along the coast, where also others breed, as the royal, common and least terns and black See also:skimmer; practically all the ducks are migrant species, though the wood-See also:duck breeds. See also:Swan, geese and See also:brant See also:winter on the coast. The yellow-crowned See also:night-See also:heron and the little blue heron See also:nest rarely. The See also:turkey-See also:buzzard and the See also:barn-See also:owl are See also:resident. Red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers, See also:orchard orioles, yellow-winged sparrows, the See also:cardinal, the blue See also:grosbeak, the Carolina See also:wren and the mocking-See also:bird are characteristic of the lower elevations. The ruffed See also:grouse and See also:wild turkey are found in the wooded mountainous districts, while the See also:quail (here called " See also:partridge") is a See also:game bird of the open stubble See also:fields.

Of See also:

reptiles, the See also:rattlesnake and copperhead are the only poisonous species, but numerous harmless varieties are common. In the salt marshes of the coast occurs the See also:diamond-backed terrapin. See also:Trout abound in the mountain streams, and black See also:bass in the rivers of the interior. The See also:cat-See also:fish grows to a large See also:size in the sluggish rivers. On the coast, the striped bass, sea-bass, See also:drum, See also:sheepshead, weakfish, bluefish and See also:Spanish See also:mackerel are important as See also:food fishes. There are valuable See also:oyster fisheries in Chesapeake Bay. See also:Flora. The Coastal Plain of Virginia is covered with See also:pine forestswhich See also:merge westward with the hard See also:woods of the Piedmont Belt, where oaks formerly prevailed, but where a second growth of pine now constitutes part of the See also:forest. Even on the Coastal Plain the See also:Jersey and See also:oldfield pines of to-See also:day replace more valuable species of the See also:original growth. The Blue Ridge and Newer Appalachian regions are covered with pine, See also:hemlock, See also:white See also:oak, See also:cherry and yellow See also:poplar; while that portion of these provinces lying in the S.W. part of the state still contains valuable forests of See also:hickory and See also:walnut, besides oak and cherry. On the Coastal Plain the See also:cypress grows in the Dismal Swamp, river See also:birch along the streams, and sweet See also:gum and black gum in swampy woods. Other characteristic See also:plants of the Coastal Plain are the See also:cranberry, wild See also:rice, wild See also:yam, See also:wax See also:myrtle, wistaria, See also:trumpet See also:flower, See also:passion flower, See also:holly and white See also:alder.

Many of these species spread into the Piedmont Belt. See also:

Rhododendron, mountain See also:laurel and azaleas are common in the mountains. The See also:blackberry, black See also:raspberry, See also:huckleberry, blue-See also:berry, wild See also:ginger and See also:ginseng are widely distributed. See also:Climate.—The climate of Virginia is generally See also:free from extremes of See also:heat and See also:cold. In the Coastal Plain region the temperature is quite See also:stable from day to day, as a result of the equalizing effect of the numerous bays which indent this province. The mean winter temperature is 39.8°, the mean summer temperature 77.2' with a mean See also:annual of 58.6°. Killing frosts do not occur before the middle of See also:October, nor later than the last part of See also:April. in the Piedmont Province temperature conditions are naturally less stable, owing to the distance from the sea and to the greater inequality of surface topography. In autumn and winter sudden temperature changes are experienced, though not frequently. The mean winter temperature ofPthis province is 35.8°: mean summer temperature, 75°; mean annual, 55.9° Killing frosts may occur as See also:early as the first of October and as See also:late as the last of May. The greatest variability in temperature conditions in the state occurs in the Blue Ridge, Newer Appalachian Provinces, where the most rugged and variable topography is likewise found. The mean winter temperature for this See also:section is 33.8°; mean summer temperature, 71.3°; mean annual, 53.2°. See also:Soil.—Marshy soils are found along the lowest portions of the Coastal Plain, and are exceedingly productive wherever reclaimed by draining, as in portions of the Dismal Swamp.

Other portions of the Coastal Plain afford more valuable soils, sandy barns over-lying sandy See also:

clays. On the higher elevations the soil is See also:light and sandy, and such areas remain relatively unproductive. The crystalline rocks of the Piedmont area are covered with residual soils of variable See also:composition and moderate fertility. Passing the high and rugged Blue Ridge, which is infertile except in the intervening valleys of its S.W. expansion, we reach the Newer Appalachians, where fertile limestone soils See also:cover the valley floors. The Valley of Virginia is the most productive part of the state. Forests: The woodland area of Virginia was estimated in 1900 at 23,400 sq. m., or 58 % of the area of the state. The See also:timber area originally comprised three divisions: the mountain regions growing pine and hard woods and hemlock; the Piedmont region producing chiefly oaks with some pine; and the lands below the " Fall Line, which were forested with yellow pine. Most of the pine of the mountain region has been cut, and the yellow pine and hard woods have also largely disappeared. The See also:production of timber has, however, steadily increased. In 1900 the value of the product was $12,137,177, representing chiefly yellow pine. Fisheries.—Oysters are by far the most valuable of the fisheries products, but, of the 400,000 acres of See also:waters within the state suitable for oyster culture, in 1909 only about one-third was used for that purpose. Next in importance were the catches of See also:menhaden, See also:shad, clams, squeteague and alewives; while See also:minor catches were made of crabs, croaker, bluefish, butterfish, catfish, See also:perch and spotted and striped bass.

See also:

Agriculture.—See also:Tobacco was an important See also:crop in the earlier See also:history of the See also:colony, and Virginia continued to be the leading tobacco-producing state of the See also:Union (See also:reporting in 1850 28.4% of the See also:total crop) until after the See also:Civil See also:War, which, with the See also:division of the state, caused it to fall into second See also:place, Kentucky taking the See also:lead ; and in 1900 the crop of North Carolina also was larger. The state's production of tobacco in 1909 was 120,125,000 lb, valued at $10,210,625. The production of See also:Indian See also:corn in 1909 was 47,328,000 bus., valued at $35,023,000; of See also:wheat, 8,848,000 bus., valued at $10,175,000; of oats, 3,800,000 bus., valued at $2,052,000; of See also:rye, 184,000 bus., valued at $155,000; of See also:buckwheat, 378,000bus., valued at $287,000; the See also:hay crop was valued at $8,o6o,000 (606,000 tons). The amount of the cotton crop in 1909 was 10,000 Soo-lb See also:bales. The value of horses in 1910 was $34,561,000 (323,000 See also:head); of mules, $7,020,000 (54,000 head) ; of neat See also:cattle, $20,034,000 (875,000 head) ; of See also:swine, $5,031,000 (774,000 head) ; of See also:sheep, $2,036,000 (522,000 head). Minerals.—The value of all See also:mineral products in 1908 ' was $13,127,395. By far the most valuable single product was bituminous See also:coal ($3,868,524; 4,259,042 tons). The existence of this mineral in the vicinity of See also:Richmond was known as early as 1770, and the See also:mining of it there began in 1775, but it was practically discontinued about the middle of the 19th See also:century. The most important coalfields of the state See also:lie in the Appalachian regions in the S.W. part of the state, though there are also See also:rich deposits in the counties of 1-Ienrico, See also:Chesterfield and Goochland, and in parts of Powhatan and Amelia counties. In the S.E. portion of the Kanawha See also:basin, including Tazewell, See also:Russell, See also:Scott, See also:Buchanan, See also:Wise and See also:Lee counties, occur rich deposits of coal, which are of great value because of their proximity to vast deposits of See also:iron ores. In Tazewell county is the famous Pocahontas See also:bed, which produces one of the most valuable grades of coking and See also:steam coal to be found in the United States. There are remarkably rich deposits of iron ore in the Alleghanies, and the W. foothills of the Blue Ridge, from which most of the iron ore of the state is procured, are lined with See also:brown hematite.

Iron-mining—perhaps the first in the New Woild—was begun in Virginia in 1608, when the Virginia See also:

Company shipped a quantity of ore to See also:England ; and in 1619 the Company established on Falling See also:Creek, a tributary of the James river, a colony of about 150 iron-workers from See also:Warwickshire, See also:Staffordshire and See also:Sussex, who had established there several ore-reducing plants under the general management of See also:John See also:Berkeley of See also:Gloucester, England, when on the 22nd of See also:March 1622 the entire colony, excepting a girl and a boy, were massacred by the See also:Indians. The first blast-See also:furnace in the colony seems to have been owned by See also:Governor See also:Spotswood, and was built and operated at the head of the Rappahannock river about 1715 by a colony of See also:German Protestants. Immediately after the War of See also:Independence Virginia became an important iron-producing state. The See also:industry waned rapidly toward the middle of the 19th century, but was renewed upon the See also:discovery of the high-grade ores in the S.W. part of the state and the development of railway facilities. The product of iron ore in 1908 was 692,223 See also:long tons, valued at $1,465,691. The product of See also:pig-iron in 1908 was 320,458 long tons, valued at $4,578,000: See also:Manganese ore-mining began in Virginia in 1857 in the Shenandoah Valley, and the product increased from about See also:loo tons in that See also:year to about 5000 tons (See also:mined near See also:Warminster, See also:Nelson county) 1868 and 1869. Thereafter Virginia and See also:Georgia supplied most of this mineral produced in the United States, and the greater part of it has been shipped to England. Between 1885 and 1891 the See also:average annual production was about 15,000 tons, the greatest output—20,567 tons—being mined in 1886. After 1891 the product declined rapidly, amounting in 1907 to 800 tons valued at $4800. In the production of pyrite, which is found in Louisa county and is used for the manufacture of sulphuric See also:acid employed in the treatment of wood pulp for See also:paper-making and in the manufacture of superphosphates from phosphate rock, Virginia took first See also:rank in 1902 with an output valued at $501,642, or 641% of the total yield of this mineral in the United States; and this rank was maintained in 1908, when the product was 116,340 long tons, valued at $435,522. Limestone is found in the region west of the Blue Ridge, and has been quarried extensively, the product, used chiefly for See also:flux, being valued in 1908 at $645,385. Virginia was by far the most important state in 1908 in the See also:pro• duction of soapstone, nearly the whole product being taken from a long narrow belt See also:running north-See also:east from Nelson county into See also:Albemarle county; more than 90% of the output was sawed into slabs for See also:laundry and laboratory appliances.

The product of See also:

talc and soapstone in 1908 was 19,616 See also:short tons, valued at $458,252. The value of mineral waters produced in 1908 was $207,115. The state has many mineral springs occurring in connexion with faults in the Appalachian See also:chain of mountains; in 1908, 46 were reported, making the state third among the states of the United States in number of springs, and of these several have been in high medical repute. At 18 of these resorts are situated, some of which have at times had considerable social See also:vogue. White See also:Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier county, impregnated with sulphur, with therapeutic application in See also:jaundice, See also:dyspepsia, &c.; See also:Alleghany Springs, in See also:Montgomery county, calcareous and earthy, purgative and diuretic; Rawley Springs in See also:Rockingham county, Sweet Chalybeate Springs in Alleghany county, and Rockbridge See also:Alum Springs in Rockbridge county, classed as iron springs and reputed of value as tonics, and the thermal springs, Healing Springs (88° F.) and Hot Springs (r to F.), both in See also:Bath county are noted medicinal springs. The value of metals produced in 1908 was as follows: See also:gold (which is found in a belt that extends from the Potomac river to See also:Halifax county and varies from 15 to 25 in. in width), $3600 (174 See also:fine oz. tro-'); See also:copper, $3312 (25,087 lb); and lead, $1092 (13 short tons). Minerals produced in small quantities include See also:gypsum, millstones, salt and sandstone, and among those found but not produced (in 1902) in commercial quantities may be mentioned allanite, alum, See also:arsenic, See also:bismuth, carbonate, See also:felspar, See also:kaolin, See also:marble, See also:plumbago, See also:quartz, See also:serpentine and See also:tin. See also:Asbestos was formerly mined in the western and south-western parts of the state. See also:Barytes is mined near See also:Lynchburg; the value of the output in 1907 was $32,833, since which date the output has decreased. Manufactures.—Virginia's manufacturing establishments increased very rapidly in number and in the value of their products during the last two decades of the 19th century. The number of all establishments increased from 5710 in 188o to 8248 in 1900; the See also:capital invested from $26,968,990 to $103,670,988, the averagenumber of wage-earners from 40,184 to 72,702, the total See also:wages from $7,425,261 to $22,445,720, and the value of products from $51,770, 992 to $132,172,910. The number of factories, increased from 3186 in 1900 to 3187 in 1905, the capital invested from $92,299,589 to $147,989,182, the average number of wage-earners from 66,223 to 80;285, the total wages from $20,269,026 to $27,943,053, and the value of products from $108,644,150 to $148,856,525.

The manufacture of all forms of tobacco is the most important industry; the value of its products in 1905 was $16,768,204. Since 188o there has been a rapid development in textile manufacture, for which the water See also:

power of the Piedmont region is used. A See also:peculiar industry is the grading, roasting, cleaning and shelling of peanuts. Transportation and See also:Commerce.—Four large railway systems practically originate in the state and radiate to the S. and W.: the See also:Southern railway, with its See also:main line traversing the state in the direction of its greatest length leaving See also:Washington to run south-west through See also:Alexandria, See also:Charlottesville, Lynchburg and. See also:Danville to the North Carolina line, with connexions to Richmond'and a line to See also:Norfolk on the east; the Atlantic Coast line with its main lines running S. from Richmond and Norfolk; the Seaboard See also:Air line, having its main lines also running to the S. from Richmond and Norfolk; the Norfolk & Western See also:crossing the state from east to west in the southern part with Norfolk its eastern See also:terminus, passing through Lynchburg and leaving the state at the south-western corner at See also:Bristol, and the Chesapeake & Ohio crossing the state from east to west farther north than the Norfolk & Western from See also:Newport See also:News on the coast through Richmond to the West Virginia line. Of more See also:recent construction is the Virginian railway, a project of H. H. Rogers, opened for See also:traffic in 1909, which connects the coal region of West Virginia with Norfolk, crossing the southern part of the state from E. to W., and is designed chiefly for heavy See also:freight traffic. The N. W. part of the state is entered by the ,See also:Baltimore & Ohio, which has a line down the Shenandoah Valley to See also:Lexington. Connexion between Richmond and Washington is by a union line (Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac and Washington Southern See also:railways) operated jointly by the Southern, Atlantic Coast line, Seaboard Air line, Chesapeake & Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore & Ohio railways. In 1850 there were 384 M. of railway in Virginia; in 188o; 1839 in., and in 1890 it had nearly doubled, having increased to 3,359'54 m., a gain coincident with the newly awakened See also:industrial activity of the Southern States and an era of railway See also:building throughout this section.

The railway mileage in 1900 was 3,789.58, and in See also:

January 1909 it was 4,348'53. See also:Hampton Roads at the mouth of the James river, which forms the harbour for the leading ports of the state, Norfolk and Newport News, affords one of the best anchorages of the Atlantic coast. It gives shelter not only to vessels plying to its adjoining ports but serves as a harbour of See also:refuge for See also:shipping See also:bound up or down the Atlantic coast, and is frequently used for the assembling of See also:naval fleets. There is a large See also:foreign See also:trade and a See also:regular steamship service to See also:Boston, See also:Providence, New York, See also:Philadelphia and See also:Savannah from Norfolk, and there is a considerable traffic on Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock, York, James and See also:Elizabeth rivers. Fredericksburg at the head of See also:navigation on the Rappahannock and West Point on the York have traffic of commercial importance in See also:lumber and timber, oysters and See also:farm produce, cotton and tobacco especially being shipped in coastwise vessels from West Point. See also:Petersburg and Richmond on the James are connected with regular steamship lines with Norfolk, Richmond's water trade being chiefly in coal, off, logs and fertilizer. Steamboats plying on Chesapeake Bay connect Alexandria with Norfolk. From the Elizabeth river on which Norfolk is situated lead the Albemarle & Chesapeake See also:Canal and the Dismal Swamp Canal, which connect with the waters of Albemarle See also:Sound. Traffic through these canals consists chiefly of forest products, logs, lumber and shingles. See also:Population.—The population of Virginia in 1890 was 1,655,980; in 1900, 1,854,184; and in 1910, 2,061,612..2 Of the total population in 1900, 1,173,787 were native whites, 19,461 were foreign-See also:born, 660,722 (or 35.7% of the total population) were negroes, 3S4 were Indians, 243 were See also:Chinese and to were See also:Japanese. The state was fifth among the states and Territories in the number of See also:negro inhabitants, but showed a marked decrease in the ratio of negroes to the total population in the See also:decade from 1890 to 1900, the percentage of the total population in 1890 having been 38'4 .Of the inhabitants born in the United States 53,235 were natives of North Carolina, 12,504 were natives of Maryland, and 10,273 were natives of Pennsylvania. Of the foreign-born 4504 were i See also:Statistics for 1890 represent the value of all manufactures; those for 1900 (from this point) and 1905 show values under the factory See also:system, excluding neighbourhood See also:industries and See also:hand trades.

2 According to previous censuses the population was as follows: (1790), 747,610; (1800), 880,200; (181o), 974,600; (1820), 1,065,366; (183o), 1,211,405; (1840), 1,239,797;. (1850), 1,421,661; (186a), 1,596,318; (1870), 1,225,163; (1880), 1,512,565. Germans, 3534 were natives of See also:

Ireland and 3425 of England. Of the total population 52,264 were of foreign parentage (i.e. either one or both parents were foreign-born) and 9769 were of German, 8235 of Irish and 4792 of See also:English parentage, both on the See also:father's and on the See also:mother's See also:side. Out of the total of 793,546 members of religious denominations in 1906, more than See also:half, 415,987, were See also:Baptists; the Methodists numbered 200,771; and there were 39,628 Presbyterians, 28,700 See also:Roman Catholics, 28,487 See also:Protestant Episcopalians, 26,248 Disciples of See also:Christ, and 15,010 See also:Lutherans. Virginia in 1900 had 46.2 inhabitants to the square mile. The See also:principal cities of the state are: Richmond (the capital), Norfolk, Petersburg, Roanoke, Newport News, Lynchburg, See also:Portsmouth and Danville. See also:Government.—Virginia has had six state constitutions: the first was adopted in 1776, the second in 1830, the third in 1851, the See also:fourth in 1864, the fifth in 1869, and the See also:sixth, the present, in 1902. Amendments to the present constitution may be proposed in either See also:house of the General See also:Assembly, and if they pass both houses of that and the succeeding General Assembly by a See also:majority of the members elected to each house and are subsequently approved by a majority of the See also:people who See also:vote on the question at the next general See also:election they become a part of the constitution. A majority of the members in each house of the General Assembly may at any See also:time propose a See also:convention to revise the constitution and, if at the next succeeding election a majority of the people voting on the question approve, the General Assembly must provide for the election of delegates. To be entitled to vote one must be a male See also:citizen of the United States and twenty-one years of See also:age; have been a resident of the state for two years, of the county, See also:city, or See also:town for one year, and of the election See also:precinct for See also:thirty days next preceding the election; have paid, at least six months before the election, all state See also:poll taxes assessed against him for three years next preceding the election, unless he is a See also:veteran of the Civil War; and have registered after the See also:adoption of the constitution (1902). For See also:registration See also:prior to 1904 one of four additional qualifications was required: service in the See also:army or See also:navy of the United States, of the See also:Con-federate States, or of some state of the United States or of the Confederate States; See also:direct descent from one who so served; ownership of See also:property upon which state taxes amounting to at least one See also:dollar were paid in the preceding year; or ability to read the constitution or at least to show an understanding of it.

And to qualify for registration after 1904 one must have paid all state poll taxes assessed against him for the three years immediately preceding his application, unless he is a veteran of the Civil War; and unless physically unable he must " make application in his own See also:

handwriting, without aid, See also:suggestion or memorandum, in the presence of the registration See also:officers, stating therein his name, age, date and place of See also:birth, See also:residence and occupation at the time and for two years next preceding, whether he has previously voted, and, if so, the state, county and precinct in which he voted last "; and must See also:answer questions See also:relating to his qualifications. Executive.—The governor, See also:lieutenant-governor, See also:attorney-general, secretary of the See also:commonwealth, treasurer, See also:superintendent of public instruction and See also:commissioner of agriculture are elected for a See also:term of four years, every fourth year from 1905, and each new See also:administration begins on the 1st of See also:February. The governor must be at least thirty years of age, a resident of the state for five years next pre-ceding his election; and, if of foreign birth, a citizen of the United States for ten years. He appoints numerous officers with the concurrence of the See also:Senate, has the usual power of vetoing legislative bills, and has authority to inspect the records of officers, or to employ See also:accountants to do so, and to suspend, during a See also:recess of the General Assembly, any executive officer at the seat of government except the lieutenant governor; he must, however, See also:report to the General Assembly at its next session the cause of any suspension and that See also:body determines whether the suspended officer shall be restored or removed. Legislature.—The General Assembly consists of a Senate and a House of Delegates. The Constitution provides that the number of senators shall not be more than See also:forty nor less than thirty-three, and that the number of delegates shall not be more than one See also:hundred nor less than ninety. Senators and delegates are elected by single districts (into which the state is apportioned once every ten years, according to population), the senators for a term of four years, the delegates for a term of two years. The only qualifications forsenators and delegates are those required of an elector and residence in their districts; there are, however, a few disqualifications, such as holding certain offices in the state or a salaried Federal See also:office. The General Assembly meets regularly at Richmond on the second Wednesday in January of each even-numbered year, and the governor must See also:call an extra session on the application of two-thirds of the members of both houses, and may call one whenever he thinks the interests of the state require it. The length of a regular session is limited to sixty days unless three-fifths of the members of each house concur in extending it, and no See also:extension may exceed thirty days. Senators and delegates are paid $500 each for each regular session and $250 for each extra session. Any See also:bill may originate in either house, but a bill of See also:special, private or See also:local See also:interest must be referred to a See also:standing See also:committee of five members appointed by the Senate and seven members appointed by the House of Delegates, before it is referred to the committee of the house in which it originated.

The governor's See also:

veto power extends to items in See also:appropriation bills, and to overcome his veto, whether of a whole bill or an See also:item of an appropriation bill, a two-thirds vote in each house of the members present is required, and such two-thirds must include in each house a majority of the members elected to that house. When-ever the governor approves of the general purpose of a bill, but disapproves of some portion or portions, he may return the bill with his recommendations for See also:amendment, and when it comes back to him, he may, whether his recommendations have been adopted or not, treat it as if it were before him for the first time. Judiciary.—The administration of See also:justice is vested principally in a supreme See also:court of appeals, See also:circuit courts, city courts and courts of a justice of the See also:peace. The supreme court of appeals consists of five See also:judges, but any three of them may hold a court. They are chosen for a term of twelve years by a See also:joint vote of the Senate and the House of Delegates. The court sits at Richmond, See also:Staunton and Wytheville. The concurrence of at least three judges is necessary to the decision of a See also:case involving the constitutionality of a See also:law. Whenever the See also:docket of this court is crowded, or there is a case upon it in which it is improper for a majority of the judges to sit, the General Assembly may provide for a special court of appeals, to be composed of not more than five nor less than three judges of the circuit courts and city courts, in cities having a population of ic,000 or more. The state is divided into thirty judicial circuits and in each of these a circuit See also:judge is chosen for a term of eight years by a joint vote of the Senate and the House of Delegates. The 'See also:jurisdiction of the circuit courts was extended by the present Constitution to include that which, under the preceding Constituticn, was vested in county courts, and the principal restriction is that they shall not have original jurisdiction in civil cases for the recovery of See also:personal property amounting to less than $20. Similar to the circuit court is the See also:corporation court in each city having a population of Io,000 or more; the judge of each of these corporation courts is chosen for a term of eight years by a joint vote of the Senate and the House of Delegates, and he may hold a circuit as well as a corporation court. Circuit courts and corporation courts appoint the commissioners in See also:chancery.

Three justices of the peace are elected in each magisterial See also:

district for a term of four years. There are also justices of the peace (elected) and See also:police justices (appointed) in cities, and in various minor cases a justice's court has original jurisdiction, either exclusive or concurrent with the circuit and corporation courts. In each city having a population of 70,000 or more a special justice of the peace, known as a civil justice, is elected by a joint vote of the Senate and the House of Delegates for a term of four years. Local Government.—Each county is divided into magisterial districts, varying in number from three to eleven. Each district elects a supervisor for a term of four years, and the district supervisors constitute a county See also:board of supervisors, which represents the county as a corporation, manages the county property and county business, levies the county taxes, audits the accounts of the county, and recommends for See also:appointment by the circuit court a county surveyor and a county superintendent of the poor. Each county also elects a treasurer, a See also:sheriff, an attorney and one or more commissioners of the See also:revenue, each for a term of four years, and a clerk, who is clerk of the circuit court, for a term of eight years. The See also:coroner is appointed by the circuit court for a term of two years. Each magisterial district elects, besides a supervisor and justices of the peace, a See also:constable and an overseer of the poor, each for a term of four years. The Constitution provides that all " communities " with a population less than 5000, incorporated after its adoption, shall be known as towns, and that those with a population of 5000 or more shall be known as cities. In each city incorporated after its adoption, the Constitution requires the election in each of a See also:mayor, a treasurer and a sergeant, each for a term of four years, and the election or appointment of a commissioner of the revenue for an equal term; that in cities having a population of 10,000 or more the See also:council shall be composed of two branches; that the mayor shall have a veto on all acts of the council and on items of appropriation, ordinances or resolutions, which can be overridden only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each See also:branch; and that no city shall incur a bonded indebtedness exceeding 18% of the assessed value of its real See also:estate. See also:Miscellaneous See also:Laws.—A married woman may See also:manage her See also:separate property as if she were single, except that she cannot by her See also:sole Association of Virginia and the Virginia See also:Home and Industrial School See also:act deprive her See also:husband of his See also:courtesy in her real estate. A widow for girls are each under a board of trustees appointed by the General is entitled to a See also:dower in one-third of the real estate of which her Assembly, and each is authorized to establish houses of correction, husband was seized at any time during See also:coverture If the husband reformatories and industrial See also:schools.

A general supervision of all See also:

dies intestate, leaving no descendants and no paternal or maternal state, county, municipal and private charities and corrections is kindred, the whole of his estate goes to his widow absolutely. If vested by a law enacted in 1908 in a board of charities and correcthe husband dies intestate, leaving a widow and issue, either by her tions consisting of five members appointed by the governor with or by a former See also:marriage, the widow is entitled to at least one-third the concurrence of the Senate. of his personal estate; if he leaves no issue by her, she is entitled See also:Education.—The public free school system is administered by a to so much of his personal estate as was acquired by him by virtue state board of education, a superintendent of public instruction, of his marriage with her prior to the 4th of April 1877; if he leaves division superintendents, and district and county school boards. no issue whatever, she is entitled to one-half of his personal estate. The state board of education consists of the governor; the attorney-A widower is entitled by courtesy to a See also:life interest in all his wife's general; the superintendent of public instruction, who is ex officio real estate: if she dies intestate, he is entitled to all her personal its See also:president; three experienced educators chosen quadrennially estate; if she dies intestate, leaving no descendants and no paternal by the Senate from members of the faculties of the University of or maternal kindred, he is entitled to her whole estate absolutely. Virginia, the Virginia Military See also:Institute, the Virginia See also:Polytechnic The causes for an See also:absolute See also:divorce are See also:adultery; impotency; Institute, the State See also:Female Normal School at Farmville, the School See also:desertion for three years; a See also:sentence to confinement in the penis for the See also:Deaf and See also:Blind, and the See also:College of See also:William and See also:Mary; tentiary; a conviction of an infamous offence before marriage and two division superintendents, one from a county and one from unknown to the other; or, if one of the parties is charged with an a city, chosen biennially by the other members of the board. This offence punishable with See also:death or confinement in the See also:penitentiary, board prescribes the duties of the superintendent of public instrucand has been a fugitive from justice for two years; pregnancy of tion and decides appeals from his decisions; keeps the state divided the wife before marriage unknown to the husband, or the wife's into school divisions, comprising not less than one county or city being a prostitute before marriage unknown to the husband. One each; appoints quadrennially, with the concurrence of the Senate, party must be a resident of the state for one year preceding the one superintendent for each school division and prescribes his commencement of a suit for a divorce. When a divorce is obtained See also:powers and duties; selects textbooks; provides for examination because of adultery, permission of the guilty party to marry again of teachers; and appoints school inspectors. In each county an is in the discretion of the court. Marriages between whites and electoral board, consisting of the attorney for the Commonwealth, negroes and bigamous marriages are void. The See also:homestead of a the division superintendent and one member appointed by the householder or head of a See also:family to the value of $200o and properly judge of the circuit court, appoints a board of three school trustees recorded is exempt from See also:levy, seizure, garnishment or forced See also:sale, for each district, one each year. The division superintendent except for See also:purchase See also:money, for services of a labouring See also:person or and the school trustees of the several districts constitute a county mechanic, for liabilities incurred by a public officer, fiduciary or school board.

The elementary schools are maintained from the attorney for money collected, for taxes, for See also:

rent or for legal fees proceeds of the state school funds, consisting of interest on the of a public officer. If the owner is a married See also:man his homestead See also:literary fund, a portion of the state poll tax, a property tax not less cannot be sold except by the joint See also:deed of himself and his wife; than one See also:mill nor more than five See also:mills on the dollar, and special neither can it be mortgaged without his wife's consent except for appropriations; county funds, consisting principally of a property purchase money or for the erection or repair of buildings upon it. tax; and district funds, consisting principally of a property tax The exemption continues after his death so long as there is an and a See also:dog tax. A law enacted in 1908 encourages the establish-unmarried widow or an unmarried minor See also:child. The family library, See also:meat of departments of agriculture, domestic See also:economy and See also:manual family pictures, school books, a seat or See also:pew in a house of See also:worship, training in at least one high school in each congressional district. a See also:lot in a See also:burial ground, necessary wearing See also:apparel, a limited amount A law enacted in 1910 provides a fund for special aid from the of See also:furniture and See also:household utensils, some of a See also:farmer's domestic state to rural graded schools with at least two rooms. With state animals and agricultural implements, and the wages of a labouring aid normal training departments are maintained in several of the nian who is a householder are exempt from levy or See also:distress. A law high schools in counties which adopt the provisions of the See also:statute. enacted in 19o8 forbids the employment of See also:children under fourteen All children between the ages of eight and twelve years are required years of age in any factory, workshop, See also:mercantile See also:establishment, to attend a public school at least twelve See also:weeks in a year (six weeks or mine within the state, except that orphans or other children consecutively) unless excused on See also:account of weakness of mind or dependent upon their own labour for support or upon whom invalid body, unless the child can read and write and is attending a private parents are dependent may be so employed after they are twelve school, or unless the child lives more than two See also:miles from the years of age, and that a See also:parent may See also:work his or her own children in nearest school and more than one mile from an established public his or her own factory, workshop, mercantile establishment or mine. school See also:wagon route. The State Female Normal School, at Farm- Charitable and Penal Institutions.—Virginia has four hospitals ville, is governed by a board consisting of the state superintendent for the insane: the Eastern State See also:Hospital (1773), at See also:Williams- and thirteen trustees appointed by the governor with the con-See also:burg; the South-Western State Hospital (1887), at See also:Marion; the currence of the Senate for a term of four years. The Virginia Western State Hospital (1828), with an epileptic colony, at Staun- Normal and Industrial Institute, at Petersburg, is governed by a ton; and the Central State Hospital (1870; for negroes), at See also:Peters- board of visitors consisting of the superintendent of public instrucburg. For the care of the deaf and blind there is the Virginia tion and four other members appointed by the governor with the School for Deaf and Blind (1839), at Staunton, and the Virginia concurrence of the Senate for four years. In 1908 the General School for Coloured Deaf and Blind Children (1908), at Newport Assembly made an appropriation for establishing two state normal News. The State Penitentiary is at Richmond. The See also:Prison and industrial schools for See also:women, one at Harrisonburg and the Association of Virginia with an Industrial School (1890) at Laurel other at Fredericksburg, both under a board of trustees consisting Station, the Negro Reformatory Association of Virginia with a of the superintendent of public instruction and ten other meinbers Manual Labour School (1897) at Broadneck Farm, See also:Hanover, and appointed by the governor with the concurrence of the Senate. the Virginia Home and Industrial School for white girls (1910) at The Virginia Agricultural and See also:Mechanical College and Polytechnic Bon Air take care of juvenile offenders; these are all owned and Institute, at Blacksburg, is governed by a board consisting of the controlled by self-perpetuating boards of trustees, but are supported state superintendent and eight visitors appointed by the governor by the state, receiving an See also:allowance per capita.

For each state with the concurrence of the Senate. The Virginia Military Institute, hospital for the insane there is a special board of See also:

directors consisting at Lexington, is governed by a board of visitors consisting of the of three members appointed by the governor with the concurrence See also:adjutant general, the superintendent of public instruction and nine of the Senate, one every two years, and over them all is the corn- other members appointed by the governor with the concurrence of missioner of state hospitals for the insane, who is appointed by the the Senate. The University of Virginia (q.v.), at Charlottesville, governor with the concurrence of the Senate for a term of four was founded in 1817 and opened in 1825. The College of William vears. The members of the special boards under the chairmanship and Mary (1693), at See also:Williamsburg, became a state institution in of the commissioner constitute a general board for all the hospitals, 1906 and is likewise governed under a board appointed by the and the superintendent of each hospital is appointed by the general governor. Other institutions of higher learning which are not board. Each school for the deaf and blind is managed by a board under state See also:control are: Washington and Lee University (non-of visitors appointed by the governor with the concurrence of the sectarian, 1749), at Lexington; See also:Hampden-See also:Sidney College (Presby-Senate. About five-sixths of the convicts are negroes. Some of terian,}1776), at Hampden-Sidney; Richmond College (Baptist, them are employed on a state farm at Lassiter, Goochland county, 1832), at Richmond; See also:Randolph-See also:Macon College (Methodist Episcoon which there is a See also:tuberculosis hospital, and some of them on the See also:pal, 1832), at See also:Ashland; Emory and See also:Henry College (Methodist public roads; in 1909 there were 350 men at the state farm, 14 Episcopal, 1838), at Emory; Roanoke College (Lutheran, 1853), road camps with about 63o men, and 1273 men and 96 women in at See also:Salem; See also:Bridgewater College (German Baptist, 1879), at Bridge-the penitentiary at Richmond. When a prisoner has served one- water; Fredericksburg College (Presbyterian, 1893), at Fredericks-half of his term and his conduct has been See also:good for two years burg; Virginia Union University (Baptist, 1899), at Richmond; (if he has been confined for that See also:period) the board of directors may and Virginia See also:Christian College (Christian, 1903), at Lynchburg. See also:parole him for the See also:remainder of his term, provided there is See also:Finance.—Revenue for state, county and municipal purposes is satisfactory assurance that he will not he dependent on public derived principally from taxes on real estate, tangible personal charity. The Prison Association of Virginia, the Negro Reformatory property, incomes in excess of $1000, See also:wills and administrations, deeds, See also:seals, lawsuits, See also:banks, See also:trust and See also:security companies, See also:insurance companies, See also:express companies, railway and canal corporations, sleeping-See also:car, parlour-car and dining-car companies, See also:telegraph and See also:telephone companies, See also:franchise taxes, poll taxes, an See also:inheritance tax and taxes on various business and professional licences.

The. tax laws require that property shall be assessed at its full value by commissioners of the revenue elected by counties and cities. The revenue is collected by county and city treasurers, clerks of courts, and the state corporation See also:

commission, consisting of three members appointed by the governor with the concurrence of the General Assembly in joint session. The total receipts in the fiscal year 1908-1909 amounted to $5,536,510 and the total disbursements to $5,796,980. By the 1st of January 1861 Virginia had incurred a See also:debt amounting to nearly $39,000,000, principally in aid of See also:internal improvements. She was unable to pay the interest on this during the Civil War, and in March 1871 the principal together with the overdue interest amounted to about $47,000,000. The General Assembly passed an act at that time for refunding two-thirds of it, claiming that the other third should be paid by West Virginia. But the See also:advocates of a " forcible readjustment " of the debt carried the election in 1879 with the aid of the negro vote, and after prolonged negotiations in 1892 a See also:settlement was effected under which a debt amounting to about $28,000,000 was again refunded. In 1908 this had been reduced to about $24,000,000. The sinking fund consists of See also:damages recovered against defaulting revenue collectors, railway stock and appropriations from time to time by the legislature. History.—Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America. From. 1583 to 1588 attempts had been made by See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Raleigh and others to establish colonies on the coast of what is now North Carolina.

The only result was the naming of the See also:

country Virginia in See also:honour of See also:Queen Elizabeth. But glowing accounts were brought back by the early adventurers, and in 1606 an expedition was sent out by the See also:London Company, which was chartered with rights of trade and settlement between 340 and 41° N. See also:lat. It landed, at a place which was called See also:Jamestown, on the 13th of May 1607, and resulted in the establishment of many plantations along the James river. The purpose of the company was to build up a profitable commercial and agricultural community; but the hostility of the natives, unfavourable See also:climatic conditions and the See also:character of the colonists delayed the growth of the new community. John See also:Smith became the head of the government in See also:September 1608, compelled the colonists to submit to law and See also:order, built a See also:church and prepared for more extensive agricultural and fishing operations. In 16og the London Company was reorganized, other colonists were sent out and the boundaries of the new country were fixed, according to which Virginia was to extend from a point 200 M. south of Old Point Comfort, at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, to another point 200 in. north, " west and northwest to the South Sea." The government of the country was in the hands of the London Company, which in turn committed administrative and local affairs to a governor and council who were to reside in the colony. Before the arrival of the " government " and their shiploads of settlers the original colony was reduced to the direst straits. See also:Captain See also:Christopher Newport (d. 1618), Sir See also:Thomas See also:Gates and Sir See also:George See also:Somers, the new authorities, reached Jamestown at last with 150 men, but finding things in such a deplorable state all agreed (See also:June to, 1610) to give up the effort to found a colony on the James and set See also:sail for See also:Newfoundland. At the mouth of the river they met See also:Lord See also:Delaware, however, who brought other colonists and plentiful supplies; and they returned, set up a trading See also:post at what is now Hampton and undertook to bring the hostile natives to subjection. In 1611, 65o additional colonists landed, the James and Appomattox rivers were explored and " plantations " were established at Henrico and New Bermuda. In 1617 Virginia See also:fell into the hands of a rigid Puritan, Captain See also:Samuel Argall.

The colonists were compelled on See also:

pain of death to accept the See also:doctrine of the trinity, respect the authority of the See also:Bible and attend church. This rigid regime was superseded in 1619 by a milder system under Sir George Yeardley (d. 1627). Twelve hundred new colonists arrived in 1619. At the same time negro slaves and many "indentured " servants were imported as labourers. At the beginning Virginia colonists had held their land and improvements in common. But in 1616 the land was See also:par-celled out and the settlers were scattered along the shores of the James and Appomattox rivers many miles inland. Twenty thousand pounds of tobacco were exported in 1619. The community had now become self-supporting, and the year that witnessed these changes witnessed also the first representative assembly in North America, the Virginia House of Burgesses, a See also:meeting of planters sent from the plantations to assist the governor in reforming and remaking the laws of the colony. In 1621 a constitution was granted whereby the London Company appointed the governor and a council, and the people were to choose annually from their counties, towns, hundreds and plantations delegates to the House of Burgesses. The popular assembly, like the English House of See also:Commons, granted supplies and originated laws, and the governor and Council enjoyed the right of revision and veto as did the See also:king and the House of Lords at home. The Council sat also as a supreme court to See also:review the county courts.

This system remained unchanged until the revolution of 1776. But in 1624 the king took the place and exercised the authority of the London Company. Before 1622 there was a population of more than 4000 in Virginia, and the many tribes cf Indians who were still the proprietors of the soil over a greater portion of the country naturally became jealous, and on the 22nd of March of that year fell upon the whites and slew 350 persons. Sickness and See also:

famine once again visited the colony, and the population was reduced by nearly one-half. These losses were repaired, however; the tobacco industry See also:grew in importance, and the settlers built their cabins far in the interior of See also:lowland Virginia. This rapid growth was scarcely retarded by a second Indian attack, in April 1641, which resulted in the death of about 350 settlers. By 1648 the population had increased to 15,000. Virginia was neither See also:cavalier nor See also:roundhead, but both. Sir William Berkeley had been the governor since 1641, and though he was loyal enough to the See also:crown, it was without difficulty that his authority was overthrown in March 1652 and that of See also:Cromwell proclaimed in its See also:stead. See also:Richard See also:Bennett, a Puritan from Maryland, now ruled the province. Bennett and his Puritan successors, See also:Edward See also:Digges and Samuel See also:Mathews, made no serious See also:change in the administration of the colony except to extend greatly the elective franchise. But this policy was reversed in 1660, when Berkeley was restored to power.

The return of Berkeley was the beginning of a reaction which concentrated authority, both in the House of Burgesses and in the Council, in the hands of the older families, and thus created a privileged class. The governor, supported by the great families, retained the same House of Burgesses for sixteen years lest a new one might not be submissive. The increasing See also:

mass of the population dwelt along the western border or on the less fertile ridges which make up the See also:major part of the land even in See also:tide-water Virginia. These poorer people—who were not, however, " poor whites "—developed an abiding hostility towards the See also:oligarchy. They desired a freer land-See also:grant system, See also:protection against the inroads of the Indians along the border, and frequent sessions of an assembly to be chosen by all the freeholders. But a new See also:code of laws outlawed many of these people as dissenters, and in 1676 a burdensome tax was laid by the unrepresentative assembly. The Indians had again attacked the border farmers, and the governor had refused assistance, being willing, it was generally believed, that the border population should suffer while he and his adherents enjoyed a lucrative See also:fur trade with the Indians. Under these circumstances, Nathaniel See also:Bacon (1647-1676), whose grandfather was a See also:cousin of See also:Francis Bacon, took up the cause of the borderers and severely punished the Indians at the See also:battle of Bloody Run. But Berkeley meanwhile had outlawed Bacon, whose forces now marched on the capital demanding recognition as the authorized army of See also:defence. This was refused, and civil war began, in which the governor was defeated and Jamestown was burned. But Bacon fell a victim to See also:malaria and died in October in Gloucester county. Berkeley closed the conflict with wholesale executions and confiscations.

Censured by the king, he sailed to England to make his defence, but died in London in 1677 without having seen See also:

Charles. Virginia remained in the hands of the reactionary party and was governed by. men whose See also:primary purpose was to " make their fortunes " at the expense of the colonials. Even the See also:accession of William and Mary scarcely affected the fortunes of the " fifth See also:kingdom," though Middle See also:Plantation, a See also:hamlet not far from Jamestown, became Williamsburg and the capital of the province in 1691, and the See also:clergy received a head, though not a See also:bishop, in the person of James See also:Blair (1656-1743), an able Scottish churchman, who as See also:commissary of the bishop of London became a See also:counter-poise to the arbitrary See also:governors, and who as founder and head of the College of William and Mary (established at Williams-burg in 1693) did valiant service for Virginia. Under the stimulus of Blair's activity See also:religion and education prospered as never before. The powers and duties of the See also:vestry were defined, the position of the See also:parish See also:priest was fixed and his See also:salary was regularly provided for at the public expense, and pedagogues were brought over from See also:Scotland. By 1700 the population of Virginia had reached 70,000, of whom 20,000 were negro slaves. The great majority of whites were small farmers whose See also:condition was anything but desirable and who constantly encroached upon the Indian lands in the Rappahannock region or penetrated the forests south of the James, several thousand having reached North Carolina. Between 1707 and 1740 many Scottish immigrants, traders, teachers and tobacco-growers settled along the upper Rappahannock, and, uniting with the borderers in general, they offered strong resistance to the older planters on the James and the York. Tobacco-growing was the one vocation of Virginia, and many of the planters were able to spend their winters in London or See also:Glasgow and to send their sons and daughters to the See also:finishing schools of the mother country. Negro See also:slavery grew so rapidly during the first half of the eighteenth century that the blacks outnumbered the whites in 1740. The See also:master of slaves set the See also:fashion. Handsome houses were built along the banks of the sluggish rivers, and numerous slaves were employed.

There was as great a social distance between the planters and their families on the one side and the masses of people in Virginia on the other as that which separated the nobles from the See also:

yeomanry in See also:Europe; and there was still another chasm between the small farmers and the negroes. In 1716 an expedition of Governor See also:Alexander Spotswood over the mountains advertised to the See also:world the rich back-country, now known as the Valley of Virginia; a See also:migration thither from Pennsylvania and from Europe followed which revolutionized the province. The majority of blacks over whites soon gave way before the influx of white immigrants, and in 1956 there was a population of 292,000, of whom only 120,000 were negroes, and the small farmer class had grown' so rapidly that the old tide-water See also:aristocracy was in danger of being overwhelmed. The " West " had now appeared in See also:American history. This first West, made up of the older small farmers, of the Scottish settlers, of the Germans from the See also:Palatinate and the Scottish-Irish, far outnumbering the people of the old counties, demanded the creation of new counties and proportionate See also:representation in the Burgesses. They did not at first succeed, but when the Seven Years' War came on they proved their See also:worth by fighting the battles of the community against the Indians and the See also:French. When the war was over the See also:prestige of the up-country had been greatly enhanced, and its people soon found eastern leaders in the persons of Richard Henry Lee and See also:Patrick Henry. In 1763-1765 an investigation of the finances of the colony, forced by the up-country party, showed widespread corruption, and resulted in the .collapse of the tide-water oligarchy, which had been in power since 1660. In the meantime the Presbyterians, who had been officially recognized in Virginia under the See also:Toleration Act in 1699, and had been guaranteed religious See also:autonomy in the Valley by Governor See also:Gooch in 1738, had sent missionaries into the border counties of eastern Virginia. The Baptists about the same time entered the colony both from the north and the south and established scores of churches. The new denominations vigorously attacked the methods andimmunities of the established church, whose clergy had grown lukewarm in zeal and lax in morals. When the clergy, refusing to acknowledge the authority of the Burgesses in reducing their stipends, and, appealing to the king against the Assembly, entered the courts to recover damages from the vestries, Patrick Henry at Hanover court in 1763 easily convinced the See also:jury and the people that the old church was well-nigh worthless.

From this time the old order was doomed, for the up-country, the dissenters and the reformers had combined against it. But the passage of the See also:

Stamp Act hastened the See also:catastrophe and gave the leaders of the new See also:combination, notably Henry, an opportunity to humiliate the See also:British See also:ministry, whom ndt even the tide-water party could defend. The See also:repeal of the Stamp Act, followed as it was by the See also:Townshend See also:scheme of indirect See also:taxation, displeased Virginia quite as much as had the former more direct system of taxation. When the Burgesses undertook in May 1769 to declare in vigorous resolutions that the right and power of taxation, direct and indirect, rested with the local assembly, the governor hastily dissolved them, but only to find the same men assembling in the Raleigh See also:tavern in Williamsburg and issuing forth their resolutions in See also:defiance of executive authority. Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, with Thomas See also:Jefferson, a new up-country See also:leader of great ability, were the leaders. In 1774 Lord See also:Dunmore, the governor, led an army to the Ohio river to break an Indian See also:coalition which had been formed to check the rapid expansion of Virginia over what is now Kentucky and West Virginia. The up-country again furnished the troops and did the fighting at Point Pleasant (q.v.), where on the loth of October the power of the Indians was completely broken. But the. struggle with England had reached a crisis, and Virginia supported with zeal the revolutionary See also:movement and took the lead in the See also:Continental Congresses which directed the succeeding war (see UNITED STATES). In 1775 "Patrick Henry organized a See also:regiment of See also:militia and compelled the governor to seek safety on board an English man-of-war in Chesapeake Bay. The war now assumed continental proportions, and the Virginia leaders decided in May 1776 that a See also:declaration of independence was necessary to secure foreign assistance: When the Continental See also:Congress issued the famous Declaration Virginia had already assembled in convention to draft a new Constitution. Although Henry, Lee and Jefferson exercised great power, they were unable to secure a Constitution which embodied the demands of their party: universal See also:suffrage, proportional representation and religious freedom. A draft for such a Constitution was submitted by Jefferson, but the Conservatives rejected it.

The system which was adopted allowed the older counties, which must be conciliated, a large majority of the representatives in the new Assembly, on the theory that the preponderance of property (slavery) in that section required this as security against the rising See also:

democracy. In place of the for!ner governor, there was to be an executive chosen annually by the Assembly; the old Council was to be followed by a similar body elected by the Assembly; and the judges were likewise to be the creatures of the legislature. The Assembly was divided into two bodies, a Senate and a House of Delegates. The legislature would be all-powerful, and yet representation was so distributed that about"one-third of the voters living in the tide-water region would return nearly two-thirds of the members of the legislature. The franchise, though not universal, was generously bestowed; it was a very liberal See also:freehold system. The recruiting ground for the American army in Virginia was the up-country among the Scottish-Irish and the Germans who had long fought the older section of the colony. In 1779 Norfolk was again attacked, and great damage was also done to the neighbouring towns. In January 1781 See also:Benedict See also:Arnold captured Richmond and compelled governor and legislature to flee beyond the Blue Ridge mountains, where one session of the Assembly was held. The last See also:campaign of the war closed at See also:Yorktown on the 19th of October 1781. Virginia leaders, including Henry, were the first to urge the formation of a. See also:national government with adequate powers to supersede the lame confederacy. In 1787, under the See also:presidency of Washington, the National Convention sat in Philadelphia, with the result that the present Federal Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification during 1787-1789. In Virginia the tide-water leaders urged adoption, while the up-country men, following Henry, opposed; but after a long and a See also:bitter struggle, in the summer of 1788 the new See also:instrument was accepted, the low-country winning by a majority of ten votes, partly through the See also:influence of James See also:Madison.

Thus the eastern men, who had reluctantly supported the War of Independence, now became the sponsors for the national government, and Washington was compelled to rely on the party of slavery, not only in Virginia but in the whole South, in order to administer the affairs of the nation. In 1784, Virginia, after some hesitation, ceded to the Federal government the north-west territory, which it held under the See also:

charter of 1609; in 1792 another large See also:strip of the territory of Virginia became an See also:independent state under the name of Kentucky. But the people of these cessions, especially of Kentucky, were closely allied to the great up-country party of Virginia, and altogether they formed the basis of the Jeffersonian democracy, which from 1794 opposed the See also:chief See also:measures of the Washington administration, and which on the passage of the See also:Alien and See also:Sedition laws in 1798 precipitated the first great constitutional crisis in Federal politics by the adoption in the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures of the resolutions, known by the names of those states, strongly asserting the right and See also:duty of the states to See also:arrest the course of the national government whenever in their opinions that course had become unconstitutional. Jefferson was the author of the Kentucky resolutions, and his friend Madison prepared those passed by the Virginia Assembly. But these leaders restrained their followers sharply whenever the suggestion of See also:secession was made, and the question of what was meant by arresting the course of Federal legislation was See also:left in doubt. The election of 1800 rendered unnecessary all further agitation by putting Jefferson in the President's See also:chair. The up-country party in Virginia, with their See also:allies along the frontiers of the other states, was now in power, and the See also:radical of 1776 shaped the policy of the nation during the next twenty-five years. Virginia held the position of leadership in Congress, controlled the See also:cabinet and supplied many justices of the Supreme Court. Virginia played a leading rile in the War of 1812, and up to 1835 her influence in the new Western and North-Western states was overwhelming. But the steady growth of slavery in the East and of a virile democracy in the West neutralized this influence and compelled the assembling of the constitutional convention of 1829, whose purpose was to revise the fundamental law in such a way as to give the more populous counties of the West their legitimate See also:weight in the legislature. The result was failure, for the democracy of small farmers which would-have taxed slavery out of existence was denied proportionate representation. The slave insurrection under Nat See also:Turner (q.v.) in 1831 led to a second abortive effort, this time by the legislature, to do away with the fateful institution.

The failure of these popular movements led to a See also:

sharp reaction in Virginia, as in the whole South, in favour of slavery. From 1835 to 1861 many leading Virginians defended slavery as a blessing and as part of a divinely established order. In 185o a third Convention undertook to amend the Constitution, and now that the West yielded its bitter hostility to slavery, representation was so arranged that the more populous section was enabled to control the House while the East still held the Senate; the election of judges was confided to the people; and the suffrage was broadened. Although the West was not pleased, the leaders of the slave-holding counties threatened. secession. In the national elections of 186o Virginia returned a majority of unionist See also:electors as against the secession candidates, See also:Breckinridge and See also:Lane, many of the large planters voting for the continuance of the Union, and many of the smaller slave-owners supporting the secessionists. The governor called an extrasession of the legislature soon after the Federal election, and this in turn called a Convention to meet on the 13th of February 1861. The majority of this body consisted of Unionists, but the Convention passed the See also:ordinance of secession when the Federal government (April 17) called upon the state to See also:supply its See also:quota of armed men to suppress " insurrection " in the lower Southern states. An affiance was made with the provisional government of the Confederate States, on April 25, without waiting for the vote of the people on the ordinance. The Convention called out Io,000 troops and appointed See also:Colonel See also:Robert E. Lee of the United States army as See also:commander-in-chief. On the 23rd of May the people of the eastern counties almost unanimously voted approval of the acts of the Convention, and the western counties took steps to form the state of West Virginia (q.v.). Richmond soon became the capital of the Confederacy.

The Civil War was already begun, and Virginia was of See also:

necessity the battle-ground. Of the six great impacts made upon the Confederacy, four were upon Virginian soil: the first See also:Manassas campaign (1861), the See also:Peninsular battles (1862), second Manassas (1862), Fredericksburg, See also:Chancellorsville (1862-63) and the great See also:Wilderness-Petersburg See also:series of attacks (1864-65). About 50,000 men were killed in Virginia, and probably See also:Ioo,000 died of wounds and disease. The principal battles were: the first Manassas, or See also:Bull Run (See also:July 21, 1861); those around Richmond (June 26-July 2, 1861); second Manassas (See also:August 29-30); Fredericksburg (See also:December 12, 1862); Mechanicsville (May 2 and 3, 1863); the Wilderness (May. 5 and 6); See also:Spottsylvania (May 8); North See also:Anna and See also:Bethesda church (May 29-30); Cold Harbor (June 3) ; the battles around Petersburg (June 15, July 30 and See also:November I, 1864); and Five Forks (April I) and Appomattox (April 8-9. 1865). With the surrender of the Confederate army under General Lee to Grant at Appomattox the task of reconstruction began. President See also:Lincoln offered a very liberal See also:plan of re-establishing the civil authority over the counties east of the Alleghany mountains, and Governor Francis H. Pierpont set up in Richmond a government, based upon the Lincoln plan and supported by President See also:Johnson, which continued till the 2nd of March 1867, when the famous reconstruction order converting the state into Military District No. I was issued. General John M. See also:Schofield was put in See also:charge, and under his authority a constitutional Convention was summoned which bestowed the suffrage upon the former slaves, who, led by a small See also:group of whites, who had come into the state with the invading armies, ratified the 14th and 15th amendments to the Federal Constitution and governed the community until 1869.

Then the secessionists and Union men of 1861 united and regained control. Virginia was readmitted to the Union on the 26th of January 1870. The Constitution of the reconstruction years was unchanged until 1902, when the present fundamental law was adopted. In national elections the state has supported the Democratic party, except in 186o, when its vote was See also:

cast for John See also:Bell, the See also:candidate of the Constitutional Union party.

End of Article: VIRGINIA

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