In 1618, there were internal changes in the Virginia Company that led to
the resignation of Sir Thomas Smith as treasurer, and to the election of
Sir Edwin Sandys as his successor. This roughly corresponded to changes
in company policy toward the administration of the colony and to
intensified efforts to develop Virginia. It led to the abolition of
martial law, to the establishment of individual property ownership, and
greater freedom and participation in matters of government. Virginia
already enjoyed a high degree of religious freedom due, perhaps, to the
fact that a number of company officers were strongly under the influence
of the puritan element within the Church of England. This, together with
the fact that Virginia was not settled purely for religious reasons,
caused less stress to be put on absolute uniformity in church matters.
Sir George Yeardley, recently knighted, returned to Virginia as governor
in April 1619, and was the first spokesman in the colony for the new
policy toward Virginia. In England it had been ably advanced on behalf
of the colony by Sir Edwin Sandys, the Earl of Southampton, and John and
Nicholas Ferrar.
Soon after his arrival, Yeardley issued a call for a representative
legislative assembly which convened at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, and
remained in session until August 4. This was the earliest example of our
present system of representative government in America. The full
intentions behind the moves that led to this historic meeting may never
be known. It seems to have been an attempt to give to the Englishmen in
America those rights and privileges of Englishmen that had been
guaranteed to them in the original company charter, rather than a
planned attempt to establish self-government in the New World on a scale
that might have been in violation of English law and custom at the time.
Whatever the motive, the significance of this meeting in the church at
Jamestown remains the same. This body of duly chosen representatives of
the people has continued in existence and its evolution leads directly
to our State legislatures and to the Congress of the United States.