ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

House of Burgesses 4747 Views

Share It!

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

Subjects:

U.S. History / Colonial America: 1600-1754

Tags:

Themes / Politics

Common Core Standards:

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.
Full Transcript