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402. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
403. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
404. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
405. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
406. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
407. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
408. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
409. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
410. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
411. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
412. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
413. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Richmond City
414. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Richmond County
415. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Surry County
416. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Sussex County
417. Virginia 1810 House of Delegates, Sussex County, Special
418. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Accomack County
419. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Amelia County
420. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Augusta County
421. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Bath County
422. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
423. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Botetourt County
424. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
425. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
426. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County, Special
427. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Essex County
428. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
429. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Frederick County
430. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
431. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Hardy County
432. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
433. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
434. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Montgomery County
435. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Nansemond County
436. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
437. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
438. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
439. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Prince William County
440. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Richmond City
441. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Richmond County
442. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
443. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Southampton County
444. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Sussex County
445. Virginia 1811 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
446. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Augusta County
447. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Bath County
448. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
449. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
450. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
451. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Dinwiddie County
452. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Essex County
453. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
454. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
455. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, James City County
456. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
457. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, King and Queen County
458. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
459. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
460. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Mathews County
461. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
462. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
463. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
464. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
465. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
466. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Prince George County
467. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Richmond City
468. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Richmond County
469. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Southampton County
470. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Sussex County
471. Virginia 1812 House of Delegates, Washington County
472. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Albemarle County
473. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Augusta County
474. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Bath County
475. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
476. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Buckingham County
477. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Buckingham County
478. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Campbell County
479. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Culpeper County
480. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
481. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
482. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
483. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Frederick County
484. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Hardy County
485. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Henrico County
486. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
487. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, King George County
488. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
489. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
490. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Norfolk Borough
491. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
492. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
493. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
494. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
495. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Princess Anne County
496. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Randolph County
497. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Richmond County
498. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Rockbridge County
499. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Southampton County
500. Virginia 1813 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania 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