Virginia

= VIRGINIA =
 *  GEOGRAPHY: **
 * Virginia is bordered by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south, Kentucky and West Virginia to the west, West Virginia and Maryland to the north, and Maryland and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It is located at 37° 46' 4" N / 78° 12' 20" W.
 * Virginia’s major rivers are the James River, Rappahannock River, Potomac River and the Shenandoah River. The major bodies of water Virginia are the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, John H. Kerr Reservoir, John W. Flannagan Reservoir. The major lakes in Virginia are Lake Moomaw, Pound Lake and Philpott Lake. The Highest mountain in Virginia is Mt. Rogers which stands 5,729 feet above sea level. The largest harbors in Virginia include: East Haven and Freemason Harbor in Norfolk City. Hampton Roads Harbor in Hampton City, and Holiday Harbor in Portsman City.
 * Virginia has a mild climate and receives about 40 inches of rain each year, making it an ideal growing location for many kinds of crops. The Commonwealth is large and endowed with regions of vast natural resources from the mountains of the west to the sandy soil of the east.


 *  History: **
 * Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 by a group of English investors and English settlers they had recruited. The Company was called the Virginia Company. They sent a group of colonists to Jamestown, Virginia with plans to build a colony. Many of the settlers had come with very specific trades and expectations to get rich quickly and no real knowledge of how to survive in the situation.
 * The goal of the colonists and the company was economic. But back in England, writers and ministers were distributing information calling Virginia paradise. In 1624 the Powhantans, which were the Native Americans at the time living on the land killed nearly 1/3 of the colony therefore causing the colonists to surrender their charter giving the British the power to rule. Due to the new ruling of the British, Virginia was now mostly white Anglicans.


 *  ECONOMICS: **
 * Before the English arrived, Native Americans planted seeds and harvested crops. The grain, beans, and vegetables grown in Virginia were intended for trade and taxes as well as food for the farmers who grew them. When the Europeans arrived, the first Virginians were more than simple subsistence farmers who raise just enough food to feed the family, and not for commercial sale. Once Jamestown was settled the Native American villages in Virginia did not consume all the agricultural products produced by that village. The Virginia colonists were raising tobacco for export rather than food for subsistence. For the first 5 or more years, the colonists depended upon the resupply shipments from England plus trade with the local Indians for a substantial portion of their food supply.
 * The English did not immediately enslave the Native Americans when they arrived at Jamestown. It was not until 1619 when Dutch ships brought the first slaves in. Tobacco was a labor-intensive crop. Each slave or indentured servant working on a tobacco plantation may have processed 10,000 plants a year. The slave trade lasted almost 200 years, until the importation of slaves was officially prohibited in 1808 by Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution.


 *  SOCIAL: **
 * In the colony of Virginia, English was primarily spoken. Another aspect of England that was a part of Virginia was that it was a land, which was considered a ‘haven’ for the Anglican or The Church of England followers. When the colonists first settled in Jamestown, they didn’t bring any women along with them.

 **POLITICAL:**
 * Starting in 1619 the General Assembly was composed of the colonial governor, the Council of State, and burgesses elected from towns, hundreds, or other "particular plantations." The appointed members of the Council of State served as the "upper" house, and the elected members served as the "lower" House of Burgesses. Laws had to be approved by the governor-general, the Council of State, and the House of Burgesses after 1643 before becoming official.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Virginia Company refers to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America. The London Company also known as the Charter of the Virginia Company of London was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England. Virginia was initially a private company or corporate colony from 1607 to 1624. King James I revoked the Virginia Company's charter in 1624 and Virginia became a royal colony.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">TERMS:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Triangle Trade: The Triangle Trade was a three way trade between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. First ships from New England would bring crops such as cotton and sugar to Europe, which there the Europeans would make finished products such as rum and clothing. Then either from Europe or America, traders would bring guns, rum, and so on to West Africa. There, the traders would receive slaves in return. The last part of the Triangle Trade was carry the slaves to the Caribbean for sale.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Salutary Neglect: In the 1700's Great Britain formed this policy which keep Britain from interfering with the politics and economy of the American colonies as long as they stayed obedient to Great Britain.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mercantilism: This policy is an economic theory which a colony displays nationalism by primarly helping the mothercountry finacially. By doing that the mother country takes the raw products of it's colonies and processes them. Then selling the finished products for more.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Great Awakening: The Great Awakening occured in the 1730's and 1740's. During this time period throughout American Colonies there was a religious revival.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Cash Crops: A cash crop is a crop that is grown and then sold for a profit. One of Virginia's main cash crops was Tobacco.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿ **FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR:** <span style="font-family: Helvetica,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In 1754, the Virginia colony sent reinforcements to a fort that colonists were building at the Forks of the Ohio, to protect it from the French. However, before the Virginians arrived, the French captured the fort and renamed it Fort Duquesne, one of several they planned along the Ohio River to connect "New France" in Canada with their holdings in Louisiana
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The average Virginian without a massive land grant shared the hunger for land, and was willing to fight Native Americans, the French, or even Pennsylvanians to obtain cheap land. The Quaker-led assembly in Pennsylvania lacked the avarice and willingness to fight for land. The Virginians saw an opportunity to gain control over the Ohio territory, and had no qualms about citing the colonial charters as the basis for their land claims or raising an army to fight for that land. The cost of the war and of controlling the newly acquired territories was high. The British looked to the colonies to help pay those costs. That began the long spiral of events that led to the Revolution.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;"> **REVOLUTION:** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An important part about the history and roots of Virginia were the individuals from there. They were crucial to the formation of our government and helped lay the foundation of our country. Three very important figures of America’s history that originated from Virginia were Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison. One of James Madison greatest accomplishments was that he was one of the main creators of the U.S. constitution. Thomas Jefferson was one of the leaders of the Revolution as well as the author of the Declaration of Independence. George Washington was the commander and chief of the Continental Army.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Virginia supported independence.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In Virginia the battle of the Great Bridge occurred in 1775 and was one of the earlier battles of the Revolution. The battle at Petersburg, Virginia is another early and important battle. Last but not least, the Battle of Yorktown was one of the most important and clearly the most decisive battles of the Revolution.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Virginia ratified the first U.S. constitution in 1788 though we later on accepted the second written constitution.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Citation: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> 2000. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Cayton, Andrew, et al. "The Jamestown Colony." America; Pathways to the Present.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">"Virginia." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. []