George Washington was elected to Virginia’s House of Burgesses in 1758, becoming active in colonial politics. Washington was a moderate and initially took a measured but critical approach to English policies. After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and King George’s harsh response, delegates from twelve colonies met at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, with Washington as one of Virginia’s seven representatives. When delegates reconvened in May 1775, the American colonies were at war with England following the Battles of Lexington and Concord and found a capable leader in George Washington.

In 1619, the Colony of Virginia created a General Assembly, which included 22 men called burgesses. These men had been elected by Virginia’s eligible voters, making the House of Burgesses the first representative legislature in British America. In the years leading to the American Revolution, as Parliament introduced more burdensome legislation, the House of Burgesses was at the forefront of colonial opposition and had an outsized influence on the founding of our great nation.