The Virginia Long Assembly (also historically referred to ) met in 17 sessions between 1661 and 1676.[1]
Background
editVirginia's governor, William Berkeley had first taken office before the English Civil War in 1642, during which he returned briefly to fight unsuccessfully, for the royalists in 1644. After the paramount leader of the Powhatan tribe, Opechancanough, coordinated many attacks on settlers on Holy Thursday 1644, in which about 500 died, Berkeley had convened the Virginia General Assembly, which sent him back to England where he sought arms and ammunition. Berkeley soon realized that Virginia could expect no help from king nor Parliament during the conflict. Although Berkeley had appointed Richard Kemp acting governor and William Claiborne commander of the militia before sailing to England in June 1644, the conflict had gone badly for the colonists in his absence. Upon returning to Virginia, Berkeley resumed control of the militia, took the field personally and captured many of the native leaders, ultimately securing a peace treaty that the General Assembly ratified in October 1646. This improved his popularity and Berkeley also proved politically adept during what proved to he his first term as governor. However, he had used his royalist contacts to urge Cavaliers with military training to sail to Virginia and use it as a base to fight Oliver Cromwell.[2]
By late 1650, Cromwell's Parliamentary forces had defeated the royalists and executed Charles I. Upon learning of Berkeley's correspondence, the Parliamentary Council of State in England on 14 August 1650 interdicted trade with the colony. Berkeley responded by calling the General Assembly into session and it passed a joint resolution condemning "the pretended Act of Parliament."[2][3]
He was replaced by various governors more acceptable to the Cromwellian government, but with the death of Samuel Mathews, Virginia's burgesses asked Berkeley to return as governor, with certain provisions acceding to the legislature's powers.
After the return of the English monarchy, England engaged in several conflicts with the Dutch Republic, which was a major shipping partner for many merchants in the Virginia colony. Between the First Anglo-Dutch War and the Second Anglo Dutch War (in which a Dutch fleet sailed to Jamestown, the colony's capital, but was repulsed), Britain passed the Navigation Acts, which not only crippled that commerce, but in requiring all the tobacco trade to be conducted through English merchants caused a massive tobacco oversupply in Britain and price drop in the tobacco producing colonies.[4]
Background and composition
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Berkeley refused to call for new elections to the House of Burgesses for nearly 15 years, during which discontent increased because the tobacco boom of the 1650s had turned to bust. Many small planters received very little for their tobacco crop, and could not afford needed farming supplies nor imported foodstuffs. Furthermore, tobacco demands much attention during the growing season, and was well known for depleting the nutrients in the soil. Farming practices such as planting on hillocks also increased runoff, and crop rotation practices began a century latter. Some farmers merely moved to other land when their land became infertile. Others mortgaged their land to large planters or merchants, and lost their farms through foreclosure.
Furthermore, during this period, Britain imposed new taxes, the given rationale being the need to fund the colony's defense. However, farmers on the frontier believed they received little help from Berkeley's policies in this era, and some coveted land cleared by indigenous peoples. While probably the most controversial taxes imposed by this Long Assembly were to support the construction of houses for legislators in Jamestown, the largest tax levy may have been to lobby against the Northern Neck proprietary.
Furthermore, leof the precarious economic situation of many small planters, as well as new taxes imposed either from Britain, or by the legislature in which they were not allowed to vote after 1670, or by local government or ecclesiastical entities in which they likewise had no voting rights. One of the results was Bacon's Rebellion.
Meeting and debate
editHenry Soane was speaker in the Mar 1661 session but died before the Assembly reconvened. Robert Wynne was speaker from March 1662 until October 1674, and died the following year. Augustine Warner was Speaker during the March 1676 session, and his plantations were occupied by the rebels later in the year.
Henry Randolph was the clerk of the House until he died in 1673. Burgesses chose James Minge as his successor in the 1674 session. Minge also served as clerk in the second session of 1676, after the Long Assembly adjourned, and after the suffrage restrictions were temporary lifted. Minge became a burgess in his own right in 1680, representing Charles City County.
List of burgesses, with terms and counties
editReferences
edit- ^ Leonard, Cynthia Miller (1978). The General Assembly of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library. pp. 37–40. ISBN 0-88490-008-8.
- ^ a b Billings pp. 29-30
- ^ Billings 30-31
- ^ Billings, Warren. A Little Parliament. pp. 74–78, 91–102. ISBN 0-88490-202-1.