July 29, 2019

On July 30, 1619, 400 years ago tomorrow, the House of Burgesses met for the first time in Jamestown, the first capital of the English colony of Virginia. The House of Burgesses was the first representative legislative body in colonial America. Governor Sir George Yeardley called the meeting in the choir of the Jamestown Church. The session included two citizens, or burgesses, from each of the 11 boroughs (subdivisions) of Virginia. They discussed such topics as land ownership, taxes, rules for personal conduct, and relations with the local Powhatan Native Americans. An oppressive heatwave cut short the first session on Aug. 4, 1619, but the House later met with the governor and his council to make laws for the colony. This combined lawmaking group was known as the General Assembly. It continues today as the legislative body of the state of Virginia.

The Virginia statesman Patrick Henry argues before the House of Burgesses in 1765. The House met for the first time 400 years ago on July 30, 1619. Credit: Detail of Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses(1851), an oil painting on canvas by Peter Frederick Rothermel (Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation)

In Virginia, 400th anniversary events will take place at Jamestown—themed “Origins of American Democracy”—and at Williamsburg, where the House of Burgesses was reestablished after the city became the colony’s new capital in 1699. The Williamsburg building that hosted the House of Burgesses still stands, and current members of the General Assembly will convene a special session there tomorrow, July 30. Richmond, the state of Virginia’s capital since 1780, is also hosting events to commemorate the first meeting of the House of Burgesses.

The House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Credit: © Ritu Manoj Jethani, Shutterstock

The first act of the House of Burgesses was to approve an official great seal for the Virginia colony. The House also claimed the right to act on all tax laws. In 1621, the House received the authority to make all legislation, but the governor and his council had the right of veto. The House conformed to English law and used the same procedure as the English Parliament.

The House of Burgesses was not completely democratic. But it contributed to the development of representative government in colonial America. When it was temporarily dissolved in 1774, its members met in the first revolutionary convention of Virginia. There they elected delegates to the First Continental Congress. Such members of the House of Burgesses as Patrick Henry and George Washington became important figures during the American Revolution (1775-1783).

May 7, 2013

Grisly proof that the colonists of Jamestown (in what is now Virginia) resorted to cannibalism to survive the terrible winter of 1609-1610 has been unveiled by forensic anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.  Smithsonian scientists displayed the skull and tibia (lower leg bone) of a young girl, nicknamed Jane, that were excavated from a trash-filled corner of historic Jamestown in 2012 by archaeologists with the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. On the skull, they saw telltale cuts and other damage indicating that the girl’s body was crudely butchered to be eaten.

Jamestown as it may have appeared in 1608. The English settlers built a triangular fort to protect themselves from Indians. (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, was founded in 1607 when colonists from England established themselves on an uninhabited peninsula about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. The settlers made themselves secure by building a triangular fort at the site. However, the Jamestown site was swampy and unsuitable for raising crops. The arrival of more colonists during 1608 and 1609 led to steadily worsening relations with the nearby Powhatan Indians. By winter, war had begun and the Powhatan surrounded Jamestown in an effort to starve the colony into submission.

Jamestown’s population dropped from about 250 to 60 during this so-called Starving Time of 1609-1610, as settlers struggled to survive the seige despite insufficient food. Written records describe how the desperate colonists ate horses, cats, dogs, rats, and even shoe leather. Historians have long known of some accounts that hinted at cannibalism by the colonists. But without physical proof, many scholars dismissed the accounts.

Smithsonian forensic anthropologists pointed out that Jane’s skull shows several parallel cuts made by a sharp metal knife on the forehead, cheek and jaw. Archaeologists are familiar with such defleshing marks, as they are typically found on animals that were butchered for meat. The back of Jane’s skull was split open with an ax or cleaver, and a puncture mark indicates a knife blade was used to pry apart the bones of her skull.

The skull damage and depth of the cuts suggest the work of a hesitant and inexperienced butcher, so Smithsonian scientists do not believe Jane was intentionally killed to be eaten. They speculate that she may have been one of many colonists who arrived in 1609 and later died of starvation or disease during the harsh winter siege.

Forensic anthropologists were able to create a reconstruction of what Jane may have looked like. They determined Jane’s age, sex, and ancestry by examining the skeletal remains. Computed tomography (CT) scans of the skull enabled scientists to fill in missing pieces and create a virtual 3-dimensional model. Demographic analysis showed that her teeth and the shape of her skull are characteristic of an English female about 14 years old. The scientists guessed that she may have had fair skin and light eyes based on English portraits from the 1600′s. A sculptor used this information combined with a detailed knowledge of facial anatomy to create a bust of Jane as she likely appeared shortly before her death.

Additional World Book articles:

• Archaeology
• Anthropology
• Colonial life in America
• Rediscovering Jamestown on its 400th anniversary (Special report)