![]() In the 1760s the House asserted its sole authority to tax Virginians. In the years leading up to the Revolution, the House was entrenched in the American struggle with the British government. Early in Washington’s career, he was placed on committees to evaluate the petitions of men who had served in the French and Indian War. Much of the House’s business was evaluating petitions from the public for specific interventions. Washington served on the standing committees of Propositions and Grievances, Elections and Privileges, and Religion, as well as being placed on various committees to write bills or negotiate with other groups. The House was presided over by a Speaker and functions were carried out by committees. ![]() Washington, in fact, paid for food and drinks to be provided for voters during at least some of his winning elections. Sometimes raucous events, election days often found voters plied with alcoholic beverages and food by candidates. Votes were cast viva voce, or by voice, the voters standing in front of the crowd to say the name of their chosen candidates out loud to be recorded by the sheriff. Voters and burgesses had to be at least twenty-one years of age.Įach county sent two representatives and elections were held when the governor called them, not at regular intervals. About 140 years later, when Washington was elected, the electorate was made up of male landholders. With its origin in the first meeting of the Virginia General Assembly at Jamestown in July 1619, the House of Burgesses was the first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies. Meeting in Williamsburg with elder statesmen such as John Robinson, Peyton Randolph, and George Wythe, as well as newer burgesses such as George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson, Washington learned to navigate political spheres and began his lessons in statecraft. That year he ran in Fairfax County, winning a seat which he would retain until 1775.ĭuring his tenure, Washington was not an outspoken burgess, nor did he introduce expansive or innovative legislation. After a failed bid for a seat in December 1755, he won election in 1758 and represented Frederick County until 1765. George Washington served in the Virginia House of Burgesses for fifteen years before the American Revolution. ![]()
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