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602. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
603. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Southampton County
604. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
605. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Stafford County
606. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Surry County
607. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Sussex County
608. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Washington County
609. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
610. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, York County
611. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 1
612. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 2
613. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 3
614. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 4
615. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 5
616. Virginia 1813 State Senate, Class 4, District 6
617. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Bath County
618. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
619. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
620. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Charles City County
621. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
622. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
623. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Essex County
624. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
625. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
626. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Gloucester County
627. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
628. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, King and Queen County
629. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
630. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
631. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
632. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
633. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
634. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
635. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, Southampton County
636. Virginia 1814 House of Delegates, York County
637. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 1
638. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 2
639. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 3
640. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 4
641. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 5
642. Virginia 1814 State Senate, Class 1, District 6
643. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Albemarle County
644. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Bath County
645. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
646. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Culpeper County
647. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
648. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
649. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Essex County
650. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
651. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
652. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Frederick County
653. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Gloucester County
654. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
655. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Harrison County
656. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Henrico County
657. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
658. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
659. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
660. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Prince William County
661. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Richmond City
662. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Richmond County
663. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Southampton County
664. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Spottsylvania County
665. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, Sussex County
666. Virginia 1815 House of Delegates, York County
667. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 1
668. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 2
669. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 3
670. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 4
671. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 5
672. Virginia 1815 State Senate, Class 2, District 6
673. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Bath County
674. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Botetourt County
675. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
676. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Caroline County
677. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Charlotte County
678. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
679. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
680. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Essex County
681. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
682. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Frederick County
683. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Henrico County
684. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
685. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, King George County
686. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, King William County
687. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
688. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
689. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
690. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
691. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Petersburg City
692. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
693. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
694. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Richmond City
695. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Richmond County
696. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Sussex County
697. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
698. Virginia 1816 House of Delegates, York County
699. Virginia 1816 State Senate, Class 3, District 1
700. Virginia 1816 State Senate, Class 3, District 2
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The Commonwealth of Virginia rebelled from England and created its own constitution in 1776 as an independent state. This document was written primarily by James Mason and was basically a bill of rights rather than a detailed framework of government. When Virginia joined first other colonies, under the Articles of Confederation, and then the United States, under our present Constitution, its government functioned much as it had as a colony. It had a legislature, but that body and the county courts were dominated by an elite of what one historian has called "Gentlemen Freeholders." This colonial gentry was made up of men who had a good deal of land and twenty or more slaves. Yet the right to vote was much more widely enjoyed than in England. Although governors were appointed by the imperial government before the Revolution, there were popular elections for the House of Burgesses.
Thus colonial Virginians (at least, many of the white landholding men) were used to elections, and these were several-day events that were quite public and rather intensely social. From 1776 until 1850, the government of Virginia continued to function on its original principles, and the Virginia constitution was not significantly changed. Thomas Jefferson early had called for a revision of the constitution of the commonwealth. His most extensive analysis was in “Notes on the State of Virginia,” published in the 1780s. Most historians are also familiar with a well-known letter written just a year before his death when constitutional reform was being debated.
The Old Dominion (as Virginia was often called) during the period of the elections being presented here had a governor and his counsel elected by the legislature. The legislature was bicameral, and both houses were popularly elected by the freeholders—essentially white men who held a respectable amount of land or, after the legislature changed the law in 1785, lived in town and owned a house.
In the 1820s the movement for reform grew. There were a number of demands to democratize the government, by electing the governor popularly, for example, or by building a hierarchy of republics from the local level up (Jefferson’s favorite idea). Even so, the famous collection of prominent Virginian statesmen, including ex-presidents, senators, congressmen and even the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, made very little change in the suffrage, admitting only "householders." The governor's council was eliminated, but the number of elective offices was not expanded. The unequal system of representation in the legislature was addressed by a compromise giving more seats to the west—mostly the Shenandoah Valley—without creating a rational plan for the future.
During this period, Virginians could vote for their legislators, congressmen, and electors in the presidential elections. They voted yearly in the spring for legislators, every two years for their members of Congress, and every four years for presidential electors. At first they voted for the electors themselves, because they were not willing to say whom they might vote for. The freeholders voted at the polling place closest to their home—a polling place that was often a court house but sometimes a local store. These Virginians voted viva voce, so we have poll books in some counties for some elections to supplement the statistics taken mostly from newspapers.
Bibliography
- Dabney, Virginius.
Virginia: The New Dominion (1971) - Heinemann, Ronald L., John G. Kolp, Anthony S. Parent Jr., and William G. Shade,
Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: A History of Virginia, 1607-2007 (2007). - Salmon, Emily J., and Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr., eds.
The Hornbook of Virginia history: A Ready-Reference Guide to the Old Dominion's People, Places, and Past 4th edition. (1994) - Official State of Virginia Site
- Library of Virginia
- Virginia Historical Society