The Library of Virginia
 

Political Life in Virginia.

January 10, 2000 - November 13, 2000

Political life in Virginia has undergone many changes since the founding of Jamestown in 1607. The changes have often involved debates about who could vote and who could not. The enlargement of the franchise—the right to vote—from  an exclusive group of landowners to all Virginians over the age of 18 reflects other changes that have affected the lives  of Virginians since the founding of the colony. Being excluded from voting has not always meant being without a voice in politics, and Virginians who lacked the vote often influenced the course of politics in other ways. They made speeches, wrote pamphlets, published books, took part in parades, petitioned the General Assembly, and even engaged in riots. "A full vote, a free ballot and a fair count" examines key events and issues in Virginia's political history and charts the gradual enlargement of the franchise.

Colonial Virginia

American Revolution

Democratizing the Old Dominion

Civil War and Reconstruction

Twentieth Century

Virginia Political Leaders

TimeLine

1607
Jamestown founded
1619
General Assembly established
1624
Virginia becomes a royal colony
1676
Bacon's Rebellion
1776
Virginia Constitution Adopted
1787
United States Constitution adopted
1851
Universal white male suffrage in Virginia
1867
African American men vote in Virginia
1870
Fifteenth Amendment
1888
John Mercer Langston Elected to Congress from Virginia
1902
Virginia Constitution
1920
Nineteenth Amendment
1923
First women elected to Virginia General Assembly
1964
Twenty-fourth Amendment
1965
Voting Rights Act
1967
William Ferguson Reid elected to Virginia General Assembly
1969
Linwood Holton first Republican elected to statewide office
1971
Twenty-sixth Amendment
1985
L. Douglas Wilder elected lieutenant governor
1985
Mary Sue Terry elected attorney general
1989
L. Douglas Wilder first elected African American Governor in United States
1999
Republicans win majorities in General Assembly
   

 

Related Resources

Using Virginia Governor's Records, 1776-1998

Governor's Letters Received Database