Browse Items (38 total)

The Battle of Great Bridge, fought in December 1775, was Virginia’s first large-scale battle in the American Revolution. The Virginia militia fought against British regular troops and Loyalist militia that included a unit of Black soldiers. The…

Virginia's Fifth Revolutionary Convention met at the Capitol in Williamsburg from May 6 to July 5, 1776, and declared independence from Great Britain. The delegates also voted to prepare a constitution for Virginia as well as a statement of rights.…

Virginia's General Assembly first met in July–August 1619. At that time twenty-two burgesses representing eleven settlements assembled in Jamestown with the royal governor and his councilors, or advisors. They approved legislation related to tobacco…

After the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775, Lord Dunmore and his fleet abandoned the city of Norfolk. Patriot soldiers from North Carolina and Virginia took control of the city. They refused to provide food and supplies to the British…

The Revolutionary War erupted with battles at Lexington and Concord and at Bunker Hill in 1775, but throughout the following year many colonists continued to believe reconciliation with Great Britain was possible. Some members of the Continental…

The last of Virginia's Revolutionary Conventions met from early May through July 5, 1776, to establish a new government for the independent Commonwealth of Virginia. In this session, the delegates unanimously passed the Virginia Declaration of Rights…

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was the most prolific writer of pro-independence tracts during the Revolutionary War. He wrote for average Americans, so his works—notably Common Sense and The American Crisis—reached thousands of readers and convinced many…

Women served in many capacities during the American Revolution. Thousands of women traveled with their husbands when they served in the Continental Army. Known as "camp followers," they marched with the supply wagons, set up camps nearby. These women…

Virginia has had three capitals since the English settlers first organized the colony's government. The first capital was located at Jamestown until 1699, when the House of Burgesses passed a resolution moving it to Williamsburg. In 1779, the General…

The American Revolution was not only fought along the eastern seabord between the Continental Army and patriot militia and the British troops and their loyalist militia allies. An equally fierce battle raged in the Appalachian mountains between the…