Commonwealth of Virginia
General Assembly ~ 2006 A.D.
House Joint Resolution No. 304 Commending the 400th Anniversary celebration of the 1606 First Virginia Charter.
Presented and laid on Speaker's table 10 Feb 2006 (068453284). Chief Patron: Delegate M. Kirkland Cox - R, 66th District.
House Patrons: BaCote, Byron, Callahan, Cole,
Cosgrove, Crockett-Stark, Dance, Fralin, Hamilton, Hargrove, Howell, W.J.,
Iaquinto, Ingram, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, S.C., Lohr, Marsden, Marshall, D.W., May, McQuigg, Morgan, Nixon, Nutter,
O'Bannon, Oder, Parrish, Peace, Plum, Poisson,
Purkey, Putney, Rapp, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Sherwood, Waddell,
Ward, Ware, R.L., and Wright. (42 Delegates)...plus Senate Patrons: Bell, Howell, McDougle, Norment, Puckett (5 Senators).
WHEREAS, four hundred years ago, England's King James I issued the 1606 First Virginia
Charter on April 10, 1606, creating
the Virginia Company and authorizing eight Englishmen to colonize into "...that part of
America commonly called Virginia..."; and
WHEREAS, Virginia referred to a vast territory often called the Continent of Virginia and lying between 34 and 45 degrees North
Latitude, which today would stretch from
South Carolina to Canada and include all lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast; and
WHEREAS, technically a patent or limited charter, the 1606 First Virginia Charter, which may be thought of as the birth certificate
of American civilization, established the Virginia Company, a unique missionary, exploration, and business venture during the
English Reformation; and
WHEREAS, the 1606 Virginia Charter stated that the Virginia Company, which existed from 1606 to 1624, promoted the spread-
ing of Christianity overseas by "...accepting of
their desires to the furtherance of so noble a work...in propagating of Christian re-
ligion"; and
WHEREAS, the 1606 Virginia Charter extended to North America the common law principles of the Magna Carta, guaranteeing
that all legal residents in Virginia "shall have and enjoy all liberties, franchises and immunities...as if they had been abiding and
born within this our realm of England."; and
WHEREAS, the first permanent settlements of English-speaking people were founded in the New World as a direct result of the 1606
Virginia Charter, including the 1607 settlement at Jamestown, the 1611 Citie of Henricus, and the 1620 settlement at Plymouth; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia Company, adhering to the Reformation precepts of freedom of the press, religion, and speech, initiated Amer-
ica's first representative legislative assembly, which
convenened in the Jamestown Island Church from July 31 to August 4, 1619; and
WHEREAS, the assembly that gathered in 1619 opened with a prayer and an oath, the equivalent of a pledge of allegiance, and enact-
ed the founding of America's first college campus to be along the James River at the 1611 Citie of Henricus; and
WHEREAS, on May 17, 1959, the Virginia State Bar dedicated a plaque at Jamestown honoring that the 1606 Virginia Charter's prin-
ciples have inspired the development of our system of freedom under law, which is at once our dearest possession and proudest
achievement"; and
WHEREAS, in 1994-1995, the Virginia General Assembly and Governor enacted legislation requiring that all public school children
learn about the three Virginia charters of 1606, 1609, and 1612, so that they may better understand the heritage of freedoms they enjoy;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the 400th Anniversary
celebration of the 1606 First Virginia Charter, which may be thought of as the birth certificate of American Civilization; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Chancellor
Steven C. Smith and Henricus Colledge (1619)® as an expression of the General Assembly of Virginia's appreciation for the impor-
tance of the 1606 First Virginia Charter.
Speaker of the House: 24 Feb 2006. Agreed
by voice vote. Sent to
Senate for their vote.
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President of the Senate: 2 Mar 2006. Agreed
by voice vote. [To LIS for presentation copies]
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