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General Court Of Virginia (colonial)
The General Court was the first and highest court of colonial Virginia, and the highest criminal court in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1814-1852. Colonial era As early as 1619, the Governor and Council of the colony of Virginia performed judicial duties as the Council Court. The government began to refer to this as the Quarter Court (after the council's quarterly meetings) in 1626.Chitwood. p. 35. By 1659, the councillors had trouble holding court on a quarterly schedule and reduced it to three times, then twice per year. and by 1662 legal documents called it the General Court. Location While Jamestown was the colonial capital, the court usually met there in various locations, including three state houses (all of which burned down), the governor's house and local taverns. After the capital moved to Williamsburg, the government built a state house and devoted one half of the building to the General Court's use.Chitwood. p. 38. Composition The General Court was supposed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Governor's Council
The Governor's Council (also known as the "Council of State" or simply "the Council") was the upper house of the colonial legislature (the House of Burgesses was the other house) in the Colony of Virginia from 1607 until the American Revolution in 1776. Consisting of 12 men who, after the 1630s were appointed by the British Sovereign, the Governor's Council also served as an advisory body to the Virginia Royal Governor and as the highest judicial body in the colony. Organization The Council consisted of no more than 12 men who served lifetime appointments to advise the governor and were, together with the governor, the highest court in the colony. Thus this body served as a legislative, executive, and judicial body. Modeled after the British House of Lords, the Governor's Council went through a definite evolution as the Virginia colony grew. During much of the colonial period, the governor was absentee and the lieutenant governor was the beneficiary of the council's advice. When ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Of England
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I. The republic's existence was declared through "An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth", adopted by the Rump Parliament on 19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested primarily in the Parliament and a Council of State. During the period, fighting continued, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, between the parliamentary forces and those opposed to them, in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish war of 1650–1652. In 1653, after dissolution of the Rump Parliament, the Army Council adopted the Instrument of Government which made Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of a united "Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland", inaugurating the period now usually known as the Protecto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established in 1619, became a bicameral institution. From 1642 to 1776, the House of Burgesses was an instrument of government alongside the royally-appointed colonial governor and the upper-house Council of State in the General House. When the Virginia colony declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain at the Fifth Virginia Convention in 1776 and became the independent Commonwealth of Virginia, the House of Burgesses became the House of Delegates, which continues to serve as the lower house of the General Assembly. Title ''Burgess'' originally referred to a freeman of a borough, a self-governing town or settlement in England. Early years The Colony of Virginia was founded by a joint-stock company, the Virginia Company, as a pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Of Virginia
The government of Virginia combines the executive, legislative and judicial branches of authority in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The current governor of Virginia is Glenn Youngkin. The State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785. Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution of Virginia. It is Virginia's seventh constitution. Under the Constitution, the government is composed of three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. Executive branch The statewide elected officials are governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. All three officers are separately elected four-year terms in years following presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc.) and take office in January of the following year. Virginia is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (the others are Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey). Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
