Virginia History Guide

At the time of the English colonization of Virginia, Native American people were living in what now is Virginia. Native American tribes in Virginia included the Cherokee, Chesepian, Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Meherrin, Monacan, Nansemond, Nottoway, Pamunkey, Powhatan, Rappahannock, Saponi and others. In the middle of the 16th century the Spanish were the first outsiders to actually explore Virginia; all of their attempts to settle the area eventually failed due to Indian reprisals and inadequate supplies.

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 explored the Atlantic coast of North America. Raleigh, or possibly the Queen herself, named the area "Virginia" after Queen Elizabeth, known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married.

John Rolfe of Jamestown began planting tobacco in 1612. He developed a method that enabled tobacco to be exported, allowing it to become the leading industry in Virginia. The House of Burgesses was established in 1619 as the colony's elected governance. During this early period Virginia's population grew with the introduction of settlers and servants into the burgeoning plantation economy. Settlements and plantation farms soon spread beyond Jamestown; in 1619, 90 women arrived from England, all destined to help populate those settlements as wives for the male colonists. That same year a few African servants arrived; they were put to work in the tobacco fields, thus marking the beginning of America's slavery years.

Upset with this expansion, the Powhatan Indians wanted their ancestral lands back. On "Good Friday," March 22, 1622, they suddenly began coordinated (surprise) attacks on all of the settlements; almost 400 colonists (men, women and children) were killed in an event now remembered as the Indian Massacre of 1622.

In 1774, Lord Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses, but delegates met together secretly. They established the First Continental Congress. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Richmond. Patrick Henry gave his famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death!" Virginia's George Washington was chosen as head of the Continental Army. The following year Virginia adopted its first constitution.

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.

At the end of the Revolutionary War, the states joined together, under the Articles of Confederation - a de facto form of government. As the United States Constitution was being drafted, a "Bill of Rights" was proposed. And because of that, a group led by George Mason and Patrick Henry opposed ratification of that new Constitution. The opposition was based on fears of ending - the then legal importation of African slaves - an economic institution upon which the small farmers and plantation owners depended. Regardless, Virginia narrowly ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788, and became the tenth state to join the Union.

George Washington served as the first president of the United States. Eventually eight presidents would come from Virginia. In 1830, Virginia adopted a new constitution providing better representation for all counties in the state. Other needed reforms encouraged another constitution in 1851. It gave all white men the right to vote and required an election for many state government officials by popular vote. As other southern states withdrew from the Union in 1860, Virginia chose to wait for a compromise that would prevent war. Virginia joined the Confederate States of America as the Civil War began in 1861. Some of the counties stayed loyal to the Union and established their own government in northwestern Virginia. These counties became the state of West Virginia in 1863.

World War II brought new industries to Virginia in 1941. Many government workers of Washington D.C. chose to live in the suburbs of Virginia. A large population increase during the 1950s required several new schools to be built. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Virginia passed laws that closed any school ordered to integrate. Many of the schools closed. Not until the late 1960s, did integration completely occur within the state.

Today, the service sector provides one-third of all jobs in Virginia, generating as much income as the manufacturing and retail industries combined in 1999 and accounting for 23% of gross state product. (The largest component of the service sector is business services, which includes computer and data processing services.)

Virginia has a large number of manufacturing industries, including transportation equipment, food processing, electronic and other electrical equipment, chemicals, textiles and apparel, lumber and wood products, and furniture.

Agriculture remains an important sector, and the state ranks among the top ten in a variety of agricultural products, including tomatoes, tobacco, peanuts, apples, summer potatoes, sweet potatoes, snap beans, and turkeys and broilers. Virginia also has a large dairy industry.

Virginia is one of the top ten coal producers in the U.S. Coal accounts for roughly 70% of Virginia's mineral value; crushed stone, sand and gravel, lime, and kyanite are also mined.

Virginia Famous People

• Arthur Ashe (1943 - 1993) Famous tennis player; born in Richmond.
• Warren Beatty (1937 - ) Director, actor, producer, writer; born in Richmond.
• Admiral Richard E. Byrd (1888 - 1957) Explorer and first man to fly over North and South poles; born in Winchester.
• Roy Clark (1933 - ) Country music artist; born in Meherrin.
• Ella Fitzgerald (1917 - 1996) Jazz singer; born in Newport News.
• William Henry Harrison (1773 - 1841) Ninth president of the U.S.; born in Berkeley.
• Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826) Third president of the U.S.; born in Albermarle County.
• Meriwether Lewis (1774 - 1809) and William Clark (1770 - 1838)  Led a famous expedition to the Pacific ocean; both born in Virginia.
• James Madison (1751 - 1836) Fourth president of the U.S.; born in Orange County.
• James Monroe (1758 - 1831) Fifth president of the U.S.; born in Westmoreland County.
• Edgar Allen Poe (1809 - 1849) Author of works such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher; lived in Richmond.
• Zachary Taylor (1784 - 1850) 12th president of the U.S.; born in Orange County.
• John Tyler (1790 - 1862) Tenth president of the U.S.; born in Charles City County.
• Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) African-American educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute; born on a small farm in the Virginia backcountry.
• George Washington (1732 - 1799) First president of the U.S.; born in Westmoreland county.
• James E. West (1931 - ) Inventor of the Foil Electret Microphone; born in Prince Edward County.
• Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924) 28th president of the U.S.; born in Stauton.