House of Burgesses

E48686

The House of Burgesses was the first elected representative legislative assembly in colonial North America, serving as the lower house of Virginia’s colonial legislature.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf colonial legislative assembly
lower house
representative body
alsoKnownAs House of Burgesses
surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
appliesToTerritorialJurisdiction Colony and Dominion of Virginia
surface form: "English colony of Virginia"
authorityDerivedFrom charter of the Virginia Company of London
royal charter after Virginia became a royal colony
colonialPower Kingdom of England
Kingdom of Great Britain
composedOf elected burgesses
country Colony and Dominion of Virginia
surface form: "Colony of Virginia"
dissolved 1776
followedBy Virginia House of Delegates
follows governor and council rule without elected assembly
governmentType colonial representative government
hasCapital Jamestown
Williamsburg
hasJurisdiction Colony and Dominion of Virginia
surface form: "Virginia colony"
historicalEra American Revolutionary era
surface form: "American Revolutionary period"

Colonial America
inception 1619
languageUsed English
legislativeBodyFor Colony and Dominion of Virginia
surface form: "Colony of Virginia"
legislativeProcess bicameral with Governor's Council as upper house
locatedIn Jamestown
surface form: "Jamestown, Virginia"

Williamsburg
surface form: "Williamsburg, Virginia"
meetsIn Capitol building in Williamsburg (later sessions)
Jamestown Settlement living-history museum
surface form: "Jamestown statehouse (early sessions)"
notableMember George Mason
George Washington
Patrick Henry
Peyton Randolph
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
numberOfMembers varied by number of Virginia counties and boroughs
parentOrganization Virginia General Assembly
partOf Virginia General Assembly
regulates colonial taxation in Virginia
local laws and ordinances in Virginia
replacedBy Virginia House of Delegates
significance first elected representative legislative assembly in English North America
model for later colonial assemblies
precursor to republican self-government in the United States
significantEvent adoption of resolutions against the Stamp Act in 1765
dissolution by royal governors during pre-Revolutionary crises
first meeting in Jamestown in July 1619
support for Committees of Correspondence
votingSystem limited franchise for free white male landowners

Referenced by (17)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

House of Burgesses alsoKnownAs House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Francis Fauquier associatedWith House of Burgesses
Shadwell, Virginia Colony governedBy House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "House of Burgesses (Virginia Colony)"
this entity surface form: "House of Burgesses, Colony of Virginia"
Jamestown governingBodyInColonialPeriod House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "House of Burgesses of Virginia"
American colonial assemblies hasPart House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Colonial Assembly of North Carolina hasPart House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "House of Burgesses of North Carolina"
George Mason memberOf House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
George memberOf House of Burgesses
subject surface form: "George Washington"
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Patrick Henry memberOf House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Peyton Randolph memberOf House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Richard Henry Lee memberOf House of Burgesses
this entity surface form: "Virginia House of Burgesses"
Virginia General Assembly precededBy House of Burgesses
Virginia Convention replaced House of Burgesses

Please wait…