Early writers on Virginia history tended to overemphasize how completely
affairs in Virginia during the Commonwealth and Protectorate periods
were in the hands of the House of Burgesses. Still, the House did assume
to itself many of the powers of government in the period and asserted
its ultimate authority in all other matters. It took this position out
of necessity, and always with the proviso that, should instructions come
from the supreme power in England, it would obey them.
The first Governor under the Commonwealth, Richard Bennett, was
appointed by an act of Assembly on April 30, 1652, his term to last for
one year or until the following meeting of the Assembly, with the
further proviso that the appointment should be in effect "untill the
further pleasures of the states be knowne." Bennett, a planter of
Nansemond County, was a Puritan in his religious outlook and was one of
those who had invited New England to send ministers to Virginia in the
early 1640's. When Parliament decided to conquer the colony in 1651 it
appointed him one of the commissioners for the enterprise. It is
probable that the secret instructions issued to Bennett by the
Parliamentary authorities required him to come to some agreement with
the Burgesses on who should be Governor until a more formal commission
for the office should issue from the supreme power in England. However,
as the years passed, and as instructions from England failed to deal
with Virginia's problems, the House of Burgesses asserted its
prerogative more and more.
On March 31, 1655, Edward Digges was elected Governor by the Assembly to
replace Bennett. Digges was the son of Sir Dudley Digges, Master of the
Rolls under Charles I. He came to Virginia sometime before 1650 and
bought a plantation on the York River, subsequently known as
"Bellfield." The plantation become famous for the quality of the tobacco
grown there, and was also the scene of Digges's efforts at silk
production, in the culture of which he employed three Armenians. When
Digges decided to return to England in 1656, Samuel Mathews was elected
to succeed him. There is some confusion as to whether Governor Mathews
was the man who so bedeviled Sir John Harvey in the 1630's, or his son
of the same name.
When Mathews and the Council attempted to dissolve the Assembly on April
1, 1658, the Burgesses answered that the Governor's action was illegal,
and that they would remain and complete their work. Mathews refused to
concede their point formally, though he declared his willingness to
allow them to continue in fact while the dispute was submitted to the
Lord Protector in England. The Burgesses declared his answer
unsatisfactory. They demanded a specific acknowledgment that the House
remained undissolved. Mathews and the Council finally agreed to revoke
the declaration of dissolution, but still insisted on referring the
dispute to the Lord Protector. The House rejected this answer as well,
asserting that the present power of Virginia resided in the Burgesses,
who were not dissolvable by any power extant in Virginia but themselves.
They directed the High Sheriff of James City County not to execute any
warrant but from the Speaker of the House. In addition, they ordered
Col. William Claiborne, the Secretary of the Council, to surrender the
records of the country into the hands of John Smith, the Speaker of the
Assembly, on the basis of the Burgesses' declaration to hold "supreame
power of this country."
That the House of Burgesses did not mean its actions to be in defiance
of the power that existed in England, however, is shown by its agreement
to proclaim Richard, son of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector when the
Governor sent down, at the March 1659 session, an official letter from
His Highness' Council requiring that it be done. Immediately after
agreeing to proclaim Richard, the Burgesses decided to address the new
Lord Protector for confirmation of the privilege granted to the
Assembly, perhaps under the terms of Bennett's secret instructions, to
elect its own officers. Although the Speaker of the House assured the
Burgesses that the Governor was willing to join them in such a request,
some of the Burgesses expressed a desire to hear the assurance from the
Governor's own lips. Accordingly, he was sent for and, to the
satisfaction of the Burgesses, "acknowledged the supream power of
electing officers to be by the present lawes resident in the Grand
Assembly." He promised to join them in requesting confirmation of these
privileges from His Highness.
The Assembly, at this same session, passed an act electing Mathews
Governor again for two years "and then the Grand Assembly to elect a
Governour as they shall think fitt." The act was to be in force "until
his Highness pleasure be further signified." William Claiborne was
appointed Secretary of State on his acknowledgment that he received the
place from the Assembly, and with the proviso that he should continue
Secretary until the next Assembly or until the Lord Protector's pleasure
should be further signified to the colony.
The Assembly of 1659 marks the high water point of local government in
Virginia. Not only were the Burgesses supreme in matters of general
legislation, compelling the Governor and Secretary to bow to their
sovereign power, but in their home counties affairs were conducted much
as the local justices saw fit. The Assembly of 1659 even authorized free
trade with the Indians by anyone in any goods--even guns and ammunition.
Never before had regulation on a point of such vital interest to the
security of the colony been so utterly abandoned.