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302. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Fluvanna County
303. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
304. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
305. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Mason County
306. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
307. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
308. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
309. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
310. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Richmond County
311. Virginia 1806 House of Delegates, Sussex County
312. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Amelia County
313. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Bath County
314. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
315. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
316. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
317. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Essex County
318. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
319. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Frederick County
320. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Hanover County
321. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
322. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
323. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
324. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
325. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Mason County
326. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
327. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
328. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Ohio County
329. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Pittsylvania County
330. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
331. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
332. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Richmond City
333. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Richmond County
334. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
335. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
336. Virginia 1807 House of Delegates, Sussex County
337. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Amelia County
338. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Augusta County
339. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Bath County
340. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
341. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Brooke County
342. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Caroline County, Special
343. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Dinwiddie County
344. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Essex County
345. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Essex County, Special
346. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Greensville County
347. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Hanover County
348. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Henrico County
349. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
350. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
351. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
352. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Mason County
353. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
354. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Ohio County
355. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
356. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
357. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Richmond City
358. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Richmond County
359. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Sussex County
360. Virginia 1808 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
361. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Albemarle County
362. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Amelia County
363. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Augusta County
364. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Bath County
365. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Bedford County
366. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
367. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Botetourt County
368. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
369. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
370. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
371. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Essex County
372. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
373. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
374. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Frederick County
375. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Goochland County
376. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
377. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Hardy County
378. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Henrico County
379. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
380. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
381. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
382. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
383. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Lunenburg County
384. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Monongalia County
385. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Monroe County
386. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Nansemond County
387. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
388. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
389. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
390. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
391. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
392. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Prince William County
393. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
394. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Richmond City
395. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Richmond County
396. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
397. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Rockingham County
398. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Shenandoah County
399. Virginia 1809 House of Delegates, Sussex County
400. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Augusta 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