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1502. Virginia 1823 U.S. House of Representatives, District 7
1503. Virginia 1823 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
1504. Virginia 1823 U.S. House of Representatives, District 9
1505. Virginia 1824 Common Council, Richmond City, Jefferson Ward
1506. Virginia 1824 Common Council, Richmond City, Madison Ward
1507. Virginia 1824 Common Council, Richmond City, Monroe Ward
1508. Virginia 1824 Constitutional Convention
1509. Virginia 1824 Electoral College
1510. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Accomack County
1511. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Albemarle County
1512. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Amelia County
1513. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Amherst County
1514. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Augusta County
1515. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Berkeley County
1516. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Brooke County
1517. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Brunswick County
1518. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Buckingham County
1519. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Cabell County
1520. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Campbell County
1521. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Caroline County
1522. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Charlotte County
1523. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Chesterfield County
1524. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Culpeper County
1525. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Cumberland County
1526. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Dinwiddie County
1527. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Elizabeth City County
1528. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Essex County
1529. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Fairfax County
1530. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Fauquier County
1531. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Fluvanna County
1532. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Frederick County
1533. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Giles County
1534. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Gloucester County
1535. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Greenbrier County
1536. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Greensville County
1537. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Halifax County
1538. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Hampshire County
1539. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Hanover County
1540. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Harrison County
1541. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Henrico County
1542. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Henry County
1543. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Isle of Wight County
1544. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Jefferson County
1545. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Kanawha County
1546. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, King William County
1547. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Lancaster County
1548. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Lewis County
1549. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Loudoun County
1550. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Louisa County
1551. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Madison County
1552. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Mason County
1553. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Mathews County
1554. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Mecklenburg County
1555. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Morgan County
1556. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Nansemond County
1557. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Nelson County
1558. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, New Kent County
1559. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Norfolk County
1560. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Northampton County
1561. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Northumberland County
1562. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Ohio County
1563. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Orange County
1564. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Patrick County
1565. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Pendleton County
1566. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Petersburg City
1567. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Pittsylvania County
1568. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Pocahontas County
1569. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Powhatan County
1570. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Preston County
1571. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Prince Edward County
1572. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Prince George County
1573. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Prince William County
1574. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Richmond County
1575. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Rockingham County
1576. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Russell County
1577. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Shenandoah County
1578. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Southampton County
1579. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Spotsylvania County
1580. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Stafford County
1581. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Surry County
1582. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Sussex County
1583. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Warwick County
1584. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Washington County
1585. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Westmoreland County
1586. Virginia 1824 House of Delegates, Wythe County
1587. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 1
1588. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 2
1589. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 3
1590. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 4
1591. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 5
1592. Virginia 1824 State Senate, Class 3, District 6
1593. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
1594. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 10
1595. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 11
1596. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 12
1597. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 13
1598. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 14
1599. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 15
1600. Virginia 1825 U.S. House of Representatives, District 16
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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