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At the end of the , and there are active groups of other tribes. COLONIAL PERIOD When England began to colonize North America, "Virginia" was the name Queen Elizabeth I Of England (who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married) gave to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America , eventually applying to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Early failures; Gilbert in Newfoundland, Raleigh's Lost Colony The English first attempted to establish a colony in this region at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland And Labrador . Humphrey Gilbert took possession of the region for England in 1583 . The area shifted between British and French possession and did not succeed as a permanent settlement. In 1585 , Walter Raleigh attempted to establish another colony on the Outer Banks of what is now North Carolina on Roanoke Island . The initial expedition of soldiers failed to establish a viable colony because most of their food supplies were destroyed when their ship flooded and because they had poor relations with the natives. One group of soldiers returned to England and promised to come back with supplies. Before the relief expedition returned, the remaining colonists left with Sir Francis Drake who offered to return them to England upon stopping in the ailing colony. The relief expedition returned to find an empty colony. Most returned to England, but fifteen men stayed. In 1587, under John White , Raleigh sent a second expedition of civilians to join the fifteen soldiers and establish a colony on Roanoke Island. This attempt faced many difficulties as well. White left for England to get relief. When he returned, he found the colony mysteriously abandoned. The fate of the " Lost Colony " was never discovered, although speculations abound. Virginia Company: Jamestown and surrounding area Following these two failed attempts, responsibility for England's New World colonization transferred to the Virginia London Company , which became incorporated as a Joint Stock Company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10 , 1606 . England and the Virginia Company hoped to establish a colony in Virginia in order to exploit mineral wealth (which the region did not actually have), to establish a base of support for English privateering against Spanish ships, and to spread Protestantism to the New World in competition with Spain's spread of Catholicism. The company dispatched a group of 144 colonists in three ships: the '' Susan Constant '', '' Godspeed '', and '' Discovery ''. The colonists arrived in Virginia on April 26 , 1607 at Cape Henry , and seeking a more inland location, on May 13 , 1607 founded Jamestown , named in honor of King James I , as part of the Virginia Colony . After several failed leaders, , the customers found the flavor to be favorable. This marked the beginning of Virginia's economic viability. Jamestown began to prosper with a thriving tobacco industry, but internal conflicts and external conflicts with the Indians continued. De La Warr's deputy, Samuel Argall , who had been left in charge of the colony, ran Jamestown as an autocrat. Responding to accusations of Argall's abuses, De La Warr left to return to the colony in 1618 but died en route. George Yeardley took over as Governor Of Virginia in 1619. He reformed the old autocratic system and created a more democratic one. He established the House Of Burgesses , the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, which first met on July 30 , 1619 in the Jamestown church (the current House Of Delegates in the Virginia General Assembly traces its routes to the Burgesses). Also in 1619, the Virginia Company sent 90 women as wives for the colonists to help populate the settlement. The company also sent the first shipment of African Slaves as a cheap labor to expand the growing tobacco industry which was already the colony's primary product. This marked the beginning of America's Infamous History Of Slavery . Jamestown continued to have problems with the natives. In 1622 , about 400 colonists were killed in an Indian Massacre led by Opechancanough , chief of the Pamunkeys. Several entire communities were essentially wiped out, including Henricus and Wolstenholme Towne . At Jamestown, the death and destruction would have been worse had an Indian boy named Chanco not defied orders to kill his employer, Robert Pace, and instead warned him of the attack. Pace alerted the rest of Jamestown allowing for some preparation. Colonists and Indians fought for about a year until a truce was struck. A toast of liquor was proposed. Some of the Jamestown leadership had poisoned the Indians' share of the liquor, which killed about 200 of the natives. Another 50 Indians were killed by hand. Virginia as a royal colony In 1624 , the Virginia Company's charter was revoked and the colony transferred to royal authority as a Crown Colony , but the elected representatives in Jamestown continued to exercise a fair amount of power. Under royal authority, the colony began to expand to the North and West with additional settlements. In 1630 , under the governorship of John Harvey , the first settlement on the York River was founded. In 1632 , the Virginia legislature voted to build a fort to link Jamestown and the York River settlement of Chiskiack and protect the colony from Indian attacks. This fort would become Middle Plantation and later Williamsburg, Virginia . In 1634 , a palisade was built near Middle Plantation. This wall stretched across the peninsula between the York and James rivers and protected the settlements on the water side from Indians. The wall also served to contain cattle. Also in 1634, a new system of local government was created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. Eight shires were designated, each with its own local officers. These shires were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:
Of these, six are considered still extant in essentially their same political form in Virginia as of 2005, although most boundaries have changed in almost 400 years. The first significant attempts at exploring the Trans-Allegheny region occurred under the administration of Governor William Berkeley . Efforts to explore farther into Virginia were hampered in 1644 when about 500 colonists were killed in another Indian massacre led, once again, by Opechancanough. Most of Virginian colonists were loyal to the English monarchy during the English Civil War , but, in 1652 Oliver Cromwell sent a force to remove and replace Gov. Berkeley with governors loyal to the Commonwealth Of England . These governors were moderate Puritans who allowed the local legislature to exercise most controlling authority. Many royalists fled to Virginia after their defeat in the English Civil War. Many of them established would become the most important families in Virginia. After the Restoration , in recognition of Virginia's loyalty to the crown, King Charles II Of England bestowed Virginia with the nickname "The Old Dominion," which it still bears today. Berkeley, who remained popular after his first administration, returned to the governorship at the end of Commonwealth rule. However, Berkeley's second administration was characterized with many problems. Disease, hurricanes, Indian hostilities, and economic difficulties all plagued Virginia at this time. Berkeley established autocratic authority over the colony. To protect this power, he refused to have new legislative elections for 14 years in order to protect a House of Burgesses that supported him. He only agreed to new elections when rebellion became a serious threat. Berkeley finally did face a rebellion in 1676 . Indians had begun attacking encroaching settlers as they expanded to the north and west. Serious fighting broke out when settlers responded to violence with a counter-attack against the wrong tribe, which further extended the violence. Berkeley did not assist the settlers in their fight. Many settlers and historians believe Berkeley's refusal to fight the Indians stemmed from his investments in the fur trade. Large scale fighting would have cut off the Indian suppliers Berkeley's investment relied on. Nathaniel Bacon of Henrico organized his own militia of settlers who retaliated against the Indians. Bacon became very popular as the primary opponent of Berkeley, not only on the issue of Indians, but on other issues as well. Berkeley condemned Bacon as a rebel, but pardoned him after Bacon won a seat in the House of Burgesses and accepted it peacefully. After a lack of reform, Bacon rebelled outright, captured Jamestown, and took control of the colony for several months. The incident became known as Bacon's Rebellion . Berkeley returned himself to power with the help of the English militia. Bacon burned Jamestown before abandoning it and continued his rebellion, but died of disease. Berkeley severely crushed the remaining rebels. In response to Berkeley's harsh repression of the rebels, the English government removed him from office. After the burning of Jamestown, the capital was temporarily moved to Middle Plantation , located on the high ground of the Virginia Peninsula equidistant from the James and York River s. , the College of William and Mary's main building (1702)]] Following a failure at Henricus earlier in the century, under Governor Francis Nicholson , Virginia's first permanent institute of higher learning was founded. In 1691 , with urging and support of the House of Burgesses, Reverend Dr. James Blair , the colony's top religious leader, went back to England and in 1693 , obtained a charter from King William and Queen Mary II Of England . The college was named the College Of William And Mary in honor of the two monarchs. The rebuilt statehouse in Jamestown burned again in 1698 . After that fire, upon suggestion of students of the College of William and Mary, the colonial capital was permanently moved to nearby Middle Plantation again, and the town was renamed Williamsburg , in honor of William of Orange, King William III . Border dispute The colony of Maryland and Virginia had a long series of border disputes of which one continues to this day. The dispute revolved around the boundary that King Charles I granted the charter to George Calvert the baron of Maryland in 1632 . It granted him feudal rights of the region between lat. 40°N and the Potomac River which Virginia claimed. The disputes over the area were mostly resolved in 1930 . However Maryland and Virginia still dispute the usage of the Potomac and water rights. Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition; Shenandoah Valley Alexander Spotswood became acting Royal Governor of Virginia in 1710 , by which time pressure on the colony to expand had become more acute than ever. In 1716 , Governor Spotswood led expedition of westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. They reached a rock-covered place between several peaks along the top ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Swift Run Gap (elevation 2,365 feet) on September 5 , 1716. There, they drank the special toasts to King George II and to Governor Spotswood. Upon descending into a portion of the Shenandoah Valley on the east side of Massanutten Mountain , they reached a point near the current town of Elkton , where they celebrated their arrival on the banks of the Shenandoah River . {Link without Title} After the journey, Spotswood was believed to have given each member of the expedition a pin made of Gold and shaped like a Horseshoe . The members of Governor Spotswood's expedition soon became popularly known as the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." Although it is a frequently recounted and fictionalized event, the Knights Of The Golden Horseshoe Expedition , despite the descriptions of the fertile valley land beyond the mountain range, the news apparently didn't do much in the short-term to open the Shenandoah Valley for development from the east. At a practical level, the mountain range was a formidable barrier. Instead, most of the early settlers came up the Valley from the north, many of German and Scottish decent. Groups of Mennonites migrated from Pennsylvania , and settled in the general area of present-day Rockingham County and Harrisonburg , where their descendants may still be found today. Social Order Historian Douglas Southall Freeman has explained the social structure of the 1740s:
Established Church In the 1740s the established Anglican Church had about 70 parish priests around the colony. There was no bishop, and indeed, there was fierce political opposition to having a bishop in the colony. The Anglican priests were supervised directly by the Bishop Of London . The County Court gave tax money to the local vestry, comprised of prominent layman. The vestry provided the priest a glebe of 200 or 300 acres, a house, and perhaps some livestock. The vestry paid him an annual salary of 16,000 lbs. of tobacco, plus 20 shillings for every wedding and funeral. While not poor, the priests' living was modest and their opportunities for improvement were slim. Some ethnic groups, especially the German Lutheran s and Scottish Presbyterian funded their own ministers. A majority of families had no religious affiliation whatever. By the 1760s Baptist missionaries were drawing Virginians, especially farmers, into a new, much more democratic religion. Many slaves attended Baptist services. Historians have debated the implications of the religious rivalries for the American Revolution. The Baptist farmers did introduce a new equalitarian ethic that largely displaced the semi-aristocratic ethic of the Anglican planters. However, both groups supported the Revolution. George Washington , for example, was active in his vestry. REVOLUTION: VIRGINIA DECLARES INDEPENDENCE Antecedents Revolutionary sentiments first began appearing in Virginia shortly after the French And Indian War ended in 1763. The very same year, the British and Virginian governments clashed in the case of Parson's Cause . The Virginia legislature had passed the Two-Penny Act to stop clerical salaries from inflating. King George III vetoed the measure, and clergy sued for back salaries. Patrick Henry first came to prominence by arguing in the case against the veto, which he declared tyrannical. The British government had accumulated a great deal of debt through spending on its wars. To help payoff this debt, Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. The General Assembly opposed the passage of the Sugar Act on the grounds of No Taxation Without Representation . Patrick Henry opposed the Stamp Act in the Burgesses with a famous speech advising George III that "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell.." and the king "may profit by their example." The legislature passed the " Virginia Resolves " opposing the tax. Governor Francis Fauquier responded by dismissing the assembly. Opposition continued after the resolves. The Northampton County court overturned the Stamp Act February 8, 1766. Various political groups, including the Sons Of Liberty met and issued protests against the act. Most notably, Richard Bland published a pamphlet entitled ''An Enquiry into the Rights of Ike British Colonies''. This document would set one of the basic political principles of the Revolution by stating that Virginia was a part of the British Empire, not the Kingdom of England, so it only owed allegiance to the Crown, not Parliament. The Stamp Act was repealed, but additional taxation from the Revenue Act and the 1769 attempt to transport Bostonian rioters to London for trial incited more protest from Virginia. The Assembly met to consider resolutions condemning on the transport of the rioters, but Governor Botetourt , while sympathetic, dissolved the legislature. The Burgesses reconvened in Raleigh Tavern and made an agreement to ban British imports. Britain gave up the attempt to extradite the prisoners and lifted all taxes except the tax on tea in 1770. In 1773, because of a renewed attempt to extradite Americans to Britain, Richard Henry Lee , Thomas Jefferson , Patrick Henry , George Mason , and others created a Committee Of Correspondence to deal with problems with Britain. Unlike other such committees of correspondence, this one was an official part of the legislature. Following the closure of the port in Boston and several other offenses, the Burgesses approved June 1 , 1774 as a day of "Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer" in a show of solidarity with Massachusetts. The Governor, Lord Dunmore , dismissed the legislature. The first Virginia Convention was held August 1-6 to respond to the growing crisis. The convention approved a boycott of British goods, expressed solidarity with Massachusetts, and elected delegates to the Continental Congress where Virginian Peyton Randolph was selected as president of the Congress. On November 7, the Yorktown Tea Party threw two half-chests of British tea into the river to enforce the boycott. On April 20, 1775, a day after the Battle Of Lexington And Concord , Dunmore ordered royal marines to remove the gunpowder from the Williamsburg Magazine to a British ship. Patrick Henry led a group of Virginia militia from Hanover in response to Dunmore's order. Carter Braxton negiotiated a resolution to the Gunpowder Incident by transferring royal funds as payment for the powder. The incident exacerbated Dunmore's declining popularity. He fled the Governor's Palace to the British ship ''Fowey'' at Yorktown. On November 7, Dunmore issued a proclamation declaring Virginia was in a state of rebellion and that any slave fighting for the British would be freed. By this time, George Washington had been appointed head of the American forces by the Continental Congress and Virginia was under the political leadership of a Committee of Safety formed by the Third Virginia Convention in the governor's absence. On December 9, 1775, Virginia militia moved on the governor's forces at the Battle Of Great Bridge . The British had held a fort that guarded the land route to Norfolk . The British feared the militia, who had no cannon to for a siege, would receive reinforcements, so they abandoned the fort and attacked. The militia won the 30 minute battle. Dunmore responded by bombarding Norfolk with his ships on January 1, 1776. The Fifth Virginia Convention met on May 6 and declared Virginia a free and independent state on May 15, 1776. The convention instructed its delegates to introduce a resolution for independence at the Continental Congress. Richard Henry Lee introduced the measure on June 7. While the Congress debated, the Virginia Convention adopted George Mason's Bill Of Rights (June 12) and a constitution (June 29) which established an independent Commonwealth . Congress approved Lee's proposal on July 2 and approved Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence on July 4 . Independence The constitution of the Fifth Virginia Convention created a system of government for the state that would last for 54 years. The constitution provided for a chief magistrate, a bicameral legislature with both the House Of Delegates and the Senate . The legislature elected a governor each year (picking Patrick Henry to be the first) and a council of eight for executive functions. In October, the legislature appointed Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton , and George Wythe to adopt the existing body of Virginia law to the new constitution. After the Battle of Great Bridge, little military conflict took place on Virginia soil for the first part of the American Revolutionary War . Nevertheless, Virginia sent forces to help in the fighting to the North and South, including Daniel Morgan and his company of marksmen who fought in early battles in the north. Charlottesville served as a prison camp for the Convention Army , HEssian and British soldiers captured at Saratoga. Virginia also sent forces to the frontier in the Northwest, George Rogers Clark led forces in this area and captured the fort at Kaskaskia and won the Battle Of Vincennes , capturing the royal governor, Henry Hamilton . Clark maintained control of the Northwest territories throughout the war. The British brought the war back to Virginia in May, 1779 when George Collier landed troops at Hampton Roads and used Portsmouth (after destroying the naval yard) as a base of attack. The move was part of an attempted blockade of trade with the West Indies . The British abandoned the plan when reinforcements from General Henry Clinton failed to arrive to support Collier. Fearing the vulnerability of Williamsburg, then- Governor Thomas Jefferson moved the capital farther inland to Richmond in 1780. That October, the British made another attempt at invading Virginia. British General Alexander Leslie entered the Cheasapeake with 3,000 troops and used Portsmouth as a base; however, after the British defeat at the Battle Of King's Mountain , Leslie moved to join Cornwallis farther south. In December, Benedict Arnold , who had betrayed the Revolution and become a general for the British, attacked Richmond with 1,000 soldiers and burned part of the city. Arnold moved his base of operations to Portsmouth and joined with General William Phillips . George Washington sent the French and marched to the Tidewater Region . Lafayette, uniting with von Steuben, now had 5,000 troops and followed Cornwallis. Under orders from Gen. Henry Clinton , Cornwallis moved down the Virginia Peninsula towards the Chesapeake Bay were Clinton planned to extract part of the army for a siege of New York City . Cornwallis passed through Williamsburg and near Jamestown. 800 of Lafayette's troops under Gen. Wayne were caught by the much larger, 5,000 soldier, main body of Cornwallis's forces and the two fought at the minor Battle Of Green Spring on July 6 , 1781 . Wayne ordered a charge against Cornwallis in order to feign greater strength and stop the British advance. Causalities were light with the Americans losing 140 and the British 75, but the ploy allowed the Americans to escape. , 1797)]] Cornwallis moved his troops across the James to Portsmouth to await Clinton's orders. Clinton decided that a position on the peninsula must be held and that Yorktown would be a valuable naval base. Cornwallis received orders to move his troops to Yorktown and begin construction of fortifications and a naval yard. The Americans had initially expected Cornwallis to move either to New York or the Carolinas and started to make arrangements to move from Virginia. Once they discovered the fortifications at Yorktown, the Americans began to place themselves around the city. Gen. Washington saw the opportunity for a major victory. He moved a portion of his troops, along with Rochambeau 's French troops, from New York to Virginia. The plan hinged on French reinforcements of 3,200 troops and a large naval force under the Admiral De Grasse . On September 5 , Admiral de Grasse defeated British navy at the Battle Of The Virginia Capes . The defeat ensured French dominance of the water around Yorktown, thereby preventing Cornwallis from receiving troops or supplies and removing the possibility of evacuation. Between October 6 and 17 the American forces laid siege to Yorktown. Out gunned and completely trapped, Cornwallis decided to surrender. Papers for surrender were officially signed on October 19. As a result of the defeat, the British Prime Minister, Lord North , resigned and the British government offered peace in April, 1782 . The Treaty Of Paris Of 1783 officially ended the war. STATEHOOD Making the Constitution By the end of the Revolutionary War, the new American states had joined together under the Articles Of Confederation . The Confederation granted very little power to the federal government. Virginia helped begin the move to stronger union by meeting with representatives from Maryland to discuss trade and navigation issues in 1785. The two states invited other to the Annapolis Convention , held in September 1786, to discuss these issues. Washington, Madison, and Alexander Hamilton all saw the talks as an opportunity for stronger union. The Annapolis Convention agreed to meet again in Philadelphia for a Constitutional Convention . At the Convention, Edmund Randolph promoted the Virginia Plan designed by Madison. This plan called for a strong national government with a bicameral legislature, where representatives were allocated proportionally based on population. Some of the ideas of the plan were adopted, but smaller states did not like having proportional representation, so compromise was struck and each state received two Senators in the upper house. The Virginia delegates also pushed for a Bill Of Rights . Most agreed to sign the United States Constitution on the promise that a bill of rights would be quickly, but George Mason and Randolph refused to sign. Madison wrote several of the Federalist Papers and took other measures to push for ratification of the Constitution. Mason and Patrick Henry led the political opposition. Many in the Piedmont Region and southwest Virginia opposed ratification because of fears over tariffs and since importation of slaves were still allowed. Virginia narrowly ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788, and became the tenth state to enter the Union. Changing borders After declaring independence, Virginia's borders shifted a great deal. In 1779, Virginia extended its southern border with North Carolina westward. In 1784 and 1785, Virginia negiotiated its northern border with Pennsylvania. Virginia and Pennsylvania also had disputes along the Virginia-Pennsylvania border areas throughout the colonial period. After the areas in dispute became part of the newly-formed United States, the new states of Virginia and Pennsylvania (each one of the first thirteen states which formed the union) soon reached an agreement, and most of Yohogania County , claimed by both, became part of Pennsylvania in the 1780s under terms agreed of the state legislatures of both Virginia and Pennsylvania. A small remaining portion left in Virginia was too small to form a county, and was annexed to another Virginia county, Ohio County . Most significantly, Virginia relinquished its claims to the Northwest Territory in 1784. This vast area, consisting of much of the modern Midwest and Great Lakes region, was frontier land at the time. Several of the states claimed the territory, but all eventually agreed to let the federal government take control under the Northwest Ordinance . Virginia did not relinquish all land, it preserved the Virginia Military District , an area of land set aside to reward veterans of the Revolutionary War. In 1790 both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District Of Columbia , but in an Act of the U.S. Congress dated July 9 , 1846 , the area south of the Potomac that had been ceded by Virginia Was Retroceded To Virginia effective 1847 , and is now Arlington County and part of the City Of Alexandria . VIRGINIA : 1789-1848 See Also: History of the United States (1789–1849) As the new nation of the United States Of America experienced growing pains and began to speak of Manifest Destiny , Virginia, too, found its role in the young republic to be changing and challenging. Beginning with the Louisiana Purchase , many of the Virginians whose grandparents had created the Virginia Establishment began to expand westward. Famous Virginian-born Americans affected not only the destiny of the state of Virginia, but the rapidly developing American Old West . Beginning in the 1750s , the Ohio Company Of Virginia was created to survey and settle its new lands. Following the French And Indian War , westward settlement by Virginians was limited to more southern portions of the Old West . Virginians Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were influential in their Famous Expedition to explore the Missouri River and possible connections to the Pacific Ocean. Notable names such as Stephen F. Austin , Edwin Waller , class="copylinks">Haden Harrison Edwards Were Famous Texan Pioneers From Virginia. Even Eventual Civil War General [[Robert E. Lee distnguished himself as a military leader in Texas during the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War . SECESSION CRISIS, 1818-1861 CIVIL WAR 1861-65 See Also: American Civil War Virginia began a convention about secession on moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight. The first major battle of the Civil War occurred on July 21 , 1861 . Union forces attempted to take control of the railroad junction at Manassas for use as a supply line, but the Confederate Army had moved its forces by train to meet the Union. The Confederates won the First Battle Of Manassas (known as "Bull Run"in Northern naming convention) and the year went on without a major fight. The first and last significant battles were held in Virginia. The first being the Battle Of Manassas and the last being Battle Of Appomattox Courthouse . During the American Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America. The White House Of The Confederacy , located a few blocks north of the State Capital, was home to the family of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In April of 1865, Richmond was burned by a retreating Confederate Army and was returned to Northern control. Virginia was administered as the " First Military District " during the Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) under General John Schofield . The state formally rejoined the Union on January 26 , 1870 . Industrialization Various textile production was present prior to 1861 but nothing of great signifigance. A center of iron production during the civil war was located in Richmond at Tredegar Iron Works . Tredegar was run partially by slave labor, and it produced most of the artillery for the war, making Richmond an important point to defend. West Virginia split Virginia was one of the last states to join the Confederacy largely because the lack of support in the North-Western region due to the lack of slavery in this region. After it did join an upheaval in the region soon followed. After a successful revolt the area became known as the State Of Kanawha and later West Virginia . Virginia is one of the states that Seceded from the Union to become the Confederacy during the Civil War . When it did, some counties were separated as Kanawha (later renamed West Virginia ), an act which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1870 . With the formation of West Virginia, Virginia no longer shared a border with Pennsylvania. However, even the Virginia-West Virginia border was subject to some fluctuation, with two Virginia counties electing to join West Virginia in 1866. Even in the 20th century, there were still some disputes about the precise location of the border in some of the northern mountain reaches of Virginia between Loudoun County and Jefferson County, West Virginia . In 1991, both state legislatures appropriated money for a boundary commission to look into 15 miles of the border area. {Link without Title} ''See also article History Of West Virginia '' RECONSTRUCTION: 1865-1877 Virginia remained under military control until 1869, since the commander General John M. Schofield refused to authorize a vote on the constitution drafted by a Radical convention. President Grant called for a vote in 1869 that included a vote on the Constitution, a separate one on its disfranchisement clause that would have stripped the vote from most former rebels, and a separate vote for state officials. The Radicals nominated Henry H. Wells , a former general and provisional governor who was close to Schofield. The leader of the Democrats was William Mahone , a Democrat who said it was time for a New Departure . That is, Democrats had to accept the results of the war, including Civil Rights and the vote for Freedmen. He denounced the Baltimore And Ohio Railroad railroad as too powerful, and called for new Virginia-based railroads that would lead the state to prosperity. He won over many moderate pro-business Republicans. Mahone's candidate for governor Gilbert C. Walker was elected and the disfranchisement clause defeated. The new Underwood Constitution was approved by a vote of 210,585 to 9,136, while the disfranchisement clauses were rejected by votes of 124,715 to 83,458 and 124,360 to 84,410 respectively. The state did not experience the corruption and race conflict that characterized the Reconstruction period in other southern states, yet white Virginians generally came to share the bitterness so typical of the southern attitudes. Virginia was thus the only southern state not to have a civilian Radical government. NEW SOUTH 1877-1913 The Readjuster Party was a political faction formed in Virginia in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following Reconstruction. The so-called Readjusters aspired "to break the power of wealth and established privilege" and to promote public education. The Readjusters were led by Harrison H. Riddleberger of Woodstock , an attorney, and William Mahone , a former Confederate general who was president of several railroads. Mahone was a controlling force in Virginia politics from around 1870 until 1883, when the Readjusters lost control to the "Conservative Democrats." A division among Virginia politicians occurred in the 1870's, when those who supported a reduction of Virginia's pre-war debt ("Readjusters") opposed those who felt Virginia should repay its entire debt plus interest ("Funders"). Virginia's pre-war debt was primarily for infrastructure improvements overseen by the Virginia Board Of Public Works , largely in canals, roads, and railroads. Prior to 1861, the State had purchased a total of $48,000,000 worth of stock in turnpike, toll bridge, canal, and water and rail transportation enterprises. Many these improvements were heavily damaged or destroyed during the Civil War by Union forces. Much of those remaining were located in the portion of the state which became West Virginia and much of the debt was held by "northerners", making the issue of debt repayment complex. After his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1877 Mahone became the leader of the "Readjusters", forming a coalition of conservative Democrats , as a Republican s, and African-American s seeking a reduction in Virginia's prewar debt, and an appropriate allocation made to the former portion of the state which constituted the new State Of West Virginia . For several decades thereafter, the two states disputed the new state's share of the Virginian government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915 , when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939 . The Readjuster Party promised to "readjust" the state debt, repeal the Poll Tax and increase funding for School s and other public facilities. The Readjuster Party was successful in electing its candidate, William E. Cameron as governor, and he served from 1882-1886. Mahone served as a Senator in the U.S. Congress from 1881 to 1887. However, in Congress, he became primarily aligned with the Republican Party, as did fellow Readjuster Harrison H. Riddleberger, who served in the U.S. Senate from 1883-1889. Both Mahone and Riddleberger were replaced in the U.S. Senate by Democrats. Readjusters effective control of Virginia politics lasted until 1883, when they lost majority control in the state legislature, followed by the election of Democrat Fitzhugh Lee as governor in 1885 . Mahone stayed active in politics, but lost his bid for reelection as U.S. Senator, and as well as another bid for Governor (as a Republican). Riddleberger died in 1890, Mahone in 1895. After the Readjuster Party disappeared, Virginia's Democratic Party was to rule the state's politics for the next 80 years. WAR, DEPRESSION AND WAR, 1913-1950 The Pentagon was finished in 1943 . MASSIVE RESISTANCE AND MODERNIZATION, 1950-1975 See Massive Resistance . POSTMODERN STATE, 1975-2006 The expansion of government programs in recent decades in the areas near Washington, has profoundly affected the economy of Northern Virginia . and subsequent growth of defense projects has also facilitated a local Information Technology industry. On January 13 , 1990 , Douglas Wilder became the first African American to be elected as Governor of a US state since Reconstruction when he was elected Governor of Virginia. Virginia was targeted in the September 11, 2001 Attacks , as American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington County . SEE ALSO
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