Colony and Dominion of Virginia
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John Smith's Map of Virginia (1612) |
The
Colony of Virginia was the
English colony in
North America that existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the
American Revolution. The colony became the
Commonwealth of Virginia in 1776, one of the original thirteen states of the
United States.
The name "Virginia" is the oldest designation for English lands in North America. At first, the term applied to the entire coast of North America initially claimed by
France, from the 34th parallel (near
Cape Fear) north to the 48th parallel, thus including all the shorelines of
Acadia, and a large portion of inland
Canada.
Although
Francis I of France had elder claims to this land by
Giovanni da Verrazzano (it was to be named
Francesca), the French chose to settle the lands sighted by
John Cabot and left this land to the English.
The first English settlement was at
Roanoke Island in 1587. Sir
Walter Raleigh brought 150 people to the island of Roanoke (in present-day
North Carolina) to settle. They did well and, as Sir Walter had to take care of some things in England, he left the colony with appointed leaders. When he returned several years later, the colonists had disappeared, but the houses there were intact. In fact, Sir Walter Raleigh never came to the New World. The 1587 colony was led by John White, who returned to England for supplies in 1587 and returned to find the colony abandonded.
A new
charter for the settlement of the coast was granted to the
London Company and
Plymouth Company (the two branches of the
Virginia Company) in 1606. The first settlements were at
Jamestown Settlement in 1607 and at the
Popham Colony.
Of the two, only the Jamestown Settlement took root. In 1609, with the abandonment of the Plymouth Company settlement, the Virginia charter was adjusted to include the territory north of the 34th parallel and south of the 39th parallel, with its original coastal grant extended "from sea to sea". In 1620, the portion of Virginia north of the 39th parallel became known as
New England.
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The 1609 charter for the Virginia colony "from sea to sea" |
In 1624, the Virginia Company's charter was revoked and the colony transferred to royal authority as a
crown colony.
Subsequent charters for the
Maryland Colony in 1632 and the
Carolina Colony in 1665 further reduced the Virginia Colony to coastal borders it held until the
American Revolution.
Until 1763, the colony was bounded on the west by the
Appalachian Mountains, which roughly marked the border with
New France. After 1763, British territory was extended to the
Mississippi River, resulting in extended claims by many of the original coastal colonies. Based on the 1609 "from sea to sea" charter, Virginia laid claim to all new land west of the Appalachians and north of the 36th parallel. This included the present day states of
West Virginia and
Kentucky, as well as all the land of the
Northwest Territory. Most of this land was also claimed by other coastal colonies. Virginia organized the
county of Illinois in 1779 to administer the Northwest Territory. It ceded its claim to the Northwest Territory in 1784. Kentucky was a county of Virginia until it separated and became a state in 1792. West Virginia separated in 1863.
Charles II gave Virginia the title of "Old Dominion" in gratitude of Virginia's loyalty to the crown during the
English Civil War; Virginia maintains "Old Dominion" as its
state nickname. Another nickname is the "Mother of Presidents," since many of the past presidents were born in Virginia, such as
Thomas Jefferson, who also wrote the first draft of the
Declaration of Independence.
*
History of Virginia*
List of colonial governors of Virginia*
Lost Counties, Cities, and Towns of Virginia*
Chesapeake Colonies*
Library of Congress: Evolution of the Virginia Colony, 1610-1630*
Jamestown, Virginia
