Virginia Declaration of Independence

Virginia was the richest and most popular British colony in the present United States of America and was then occupied by rich farmers. These farmers held sway in matters of the state and played a significant part in the quest for independence and the subsequent development of the popularly known democratic and republican system for United States. Virginia was declared a free state on May 6, 1776.

On 10th and 15th May 1776, a resolution by J Adams that had a strong preface, called for removal of “every power under the crown”, and called the Congress to put in place a new state government that would be under the authority of the people. Subsequently, The Lee Resolution (The Resolution for Independence) was passed by congress on July 2, 1776. This was a document, whose action was to declare independence of United States of America. The document was formally approved on July 4, 1776 (Library of Congress).

Henry Lee drafted the resolution after receiving instructions from the then President of Virginia Edmund Pendleton and the Virginia Convention. It is assumed that majority of the declaration was adopted from the Virginia Convention verbatim. The declaration had three parts that included declaring independence, it proposed a plan to ensure and sustain America foreign relations and the final part was to come up with a plan that the confederation would consider (Bill of Rights Institute).

The resolution by Lee was debated in Congress on May 8 1776, with the delegates concluded that independence was inevitable. They, however, requested for deferment in order to allow some states like Ney Jersey, New York and Maryland that had instructions precluding them from voting for independence, time to negotiate agreements with potential European allies. The decision on independence was put off for time being. The Congress appointed a five-man committee that included Thomas Jefferson of Virginia to draft the declaration on independence.

Jefferson, who had written the for Virginia’s new constitution days before this task. He had modelled the prologue of the constitution from the declaration of rights that charged the then king of attempting to the Protestant religion and the laws.  For drat to the Congress, he used this preamble added more grievances. As opposed to the Virginia preamble that started with ”Whereas” clause, Jefferson proposed a better preamble that reiterated the need for independence. He added that the grievances had big impact far beyond and not only within United States of America and Britain.

In addition, Jefferson used the words that referred to sacred truths, echoing Mason George. He expresses ideas that were widely held by colonialists. The phrases in the second paragraph concluded with a claim of the power of the citizens to remove and put in place a new one, a government they deemed to be infringing on their rights. This referred to Americans’ freedom to revolt.

The draft of declaration put the blame of slave trade on the king. It stated that a leader that has a character that can be a definition of a tyrant is unfit to rule over people who should in fact be free. He then in the last paragraph of this draft declared that the states are now free and independent.

While adopting the Jefferson draft, changes were made to it by Congress, changes that included but not limited to references that condemned slave trade. The declaration is held in regards by majority of people to be the foundation of freedom in United States; many past leaders have referred to it.

Originally, the House of Burgesses acted like an agency, but it later expanded its powers and prerogatives and became the face of colonial government in Virginia. The House of Burgesses became a court, through which matters ranging from conflict resolution on tenancy to denization of the likes of George Hacke and naturalization of John Custis was performed. It was an integral part of governance of Virginia.

The differences between House of Burgesses and other houses

Prior to the introduction of Burgesses, colonialists used people who had military personalities to run the colony. Just after the first seating, House of Burgesses asked the Virginia Company for powers to have a say over the laws. They wanted to have powers not over the laws the company makes but just those the company gave them.  The House of Burgesses had the powers of the court, unlike other houses.

In the course of time, the Burgesses gained more power. The governor could not pass laws without them having a say in writing about the proposed laws. The House of Burgesses worked hard to gain recognition of the king as a part of the Virginia government. In addition to calling to have their own assembly, they also wanted representation in the elections. The colonists wanted to petition the king to recognize this general assembly in order to make it official (Kreimeyer 11).

                                                                 Works Cited

Bill of Rights Institute: Declaration of Independence 1776 https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/declaration-of-independence/  Accessed September 2018

Library of Congress: Declaration of independence: Right to Institute New Government https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html.  Accessed 12 September 2018.

Nathanael Kreimeyer, ”The Virginia House of Burgesses’ Struggle for Power from 1619-1689”, The Beginning of the Virginia House of Burgesses