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An Ordinance and Constitution of the Virgina Company in England


24 July 1621


context

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The first specific instance of genuine self-government in the English colonies was the meeting of the first House of Burgesses in Virginia in 1619. It convened in "James City" on July 30, 1619 and was dissolved on August 4, 1619. Twenty-two men were present, representing eleven geographic constituencies, together with the governor, Sir George Yeardley. They met at the church, organized themselves into an effective legislative body, and passed acts to regulate Indian trade, to govern personal conduct, to encourage silk production and a storage minimum of corn for each person, to discourage enticement of tenants and servants away from their masters, to establish a public "magazine," or warehouse, for tobacco, and other like measures aflecting the daily life of the settlers.

The precedent set by the establishment of a self- governing assembly in colonial Virginia was one of the most important and enduring political actions in American history. The instructions from the council in England authorizing the meeting are missing, but historians believe that the instructions reissued in 1621 were based upon the original instructions sent in 1619.