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Description:

Formed by the Virginia Company, the House of Burgesses was formed to govern the colonies. Over the years, it transformed into the government we have today. Aw, growth.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:07

House of Burgesses

00:09

Any time you start a venture or organize a group, you have to institute some rules.

00:18

Otherwise, your brand spanking new treehouse can quickly devolve into a treehouse of horrors.

00:30

It goes without saying -- but we'll say it anyway --

00:35

that if you're going to start your own country...

00:37

... you're going to want to have rules up the wazoo.

00:41

And you're going to need a governing body to enforce and uphold those rules.

00:47

Because not too many nations have had success with the "free-for-all" approach.

00:53

Once American colonists realized they'd need one of those government thing-a-ma-bobs...

00:59

... the House of Burgesses was formed.

01:03

It was established by a company called The Virginia Company...

01:05

...that had previously been involved with establishing settlements in the New World.

01:12

These guys had their hands in everything.

01:16

The Virginia Company also came up with the "headright" system,

01:20

which was not an early GPS prototype.

01:24

The headright system offered those considering a move to the New World

01:27

50 acres of land if they took the leap.

01:31

Way to wave that carrot in front of their noses.

01:35

Most of the funding for the House of Burgesses

01:37

came from wealthy capitalists...

01:39

...who hoped to double their net worth by investing in New World settlements and goods.

01:47

The burgess was the name given to the elected representatives from each town...

01:52

...but those representatives were usually members of the gentry --

01:57

-- the wealthy investors who had a ton of influence.

02:03

For the most part, the towns were comprised of lower-class farmers....

02:08

...although some of their co-workers were even lower-class.

02:16

The House adapted a form of government called English Common Law...

02:20

... in which representatives were chosen from the large settlements or plantations.

02:27

The House of Burgesses was the first government system of its kind in North America...

02:33

... if you don't count the Indians.

02:35

Why not? No one else did.

02:38

Anyway, the three parties that met to decide all things important were the Governor --

02:43

who was crown appointed, the Councilmen, and the Burgess.

02:50

You could only vote if you were a white male over the age of 17.

02:54

But we're sure that law was totally arbitrary. They probably spun a wheel or something.

03:02

So the colonists' new system was certainly different from back in merry old England,

03:07

but it wasn't actually that different.

03:09

Yeah, England had the whole royalty thing going,

03:12

but their government was actually separate from the constitutional monarchy.

03:23

The early American government's ideals were

03:25

reflected in the formation of its founding documents.

03:28

The House didn't last long though.

03:32

It supported rebellion against the Monarchy back in the mother land;

03:42

Even with their own government, the colonists were still living in what was technically

03:45

a colony of England... ...and for some reason, England wasn't too

03:49

keen on all the "uprising" talk.

03:55

The House of Burgesses may have died, but its famous alumni lived on...

04:00

...among them are many of our founding fathers.

04:05

Sadly, most of them are no longer around to attend the reunion.

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