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202. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Essex County
203. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
204. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Frederick County
205. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
206. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
207. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
208. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
209. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
210. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Pittsylvania County
211. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
212. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
213. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
214. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Richmond City
215. Virginia 1802 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County, Special
216. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Accomack County
217. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Augusta County
218. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Bath County
219. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
220. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
221. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
222. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Dinwiddie County
223. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
224. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Essex County
225. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
226. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Frederick County
227. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
228. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Hanover County
229. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Hardy County
230. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Henrico County
231. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
232. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
233. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
234. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, New Kent County
235. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
236. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
237. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
238. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Pittsylvania County
239. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
240. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
241. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County, Special
242. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
243. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Richmond City
244. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
245. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Rockingham County
246. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Shenandoah County
247. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
248. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Sussex County
249. Virginia 1803 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
250. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Amelia County
251. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Bath County
252. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
253. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
254. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
255. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Essex County
256. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
257. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Frederick County
258. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
259. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
260. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
261. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Monroe County
262. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
263. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
264. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
265. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
266. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Randolph County
267. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Richmond City
268. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Richmond County
269. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
270. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
271. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Sussex County
272. Virginia 1804 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
273. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Amelia County
274. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Augusta County
275. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Bath County
276. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
277. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
278. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
279. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Dinwiddie County
280. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Essex County
281. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
282. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Frederick County, Special
283. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Greensville County
284. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
285. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
286. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
287. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
288. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Nansemond County
289. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
290. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
291. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
292. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
293. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
294. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Richmond County
295. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
296. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Sussex County
297. Virginia 1805 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
298. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Bath County
299. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
300. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
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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
House of Delegates
House of Delegates: the lower house of the General Assembly in Maryland and Virginia. Please also see House of Representatives.
Oxford English Dictionary
1787 - 1825: Maryland, Virginia
Office Scope: State
Role Scope: County / City / Borough