A
Williamsburg, la capitale coloniale de l'état de Virginie, en pleine guerre
révolutionnaire, Matthew Howard, jeune politicien, se dévoue à la cause de
la Vie, la Liberté et la poursuite du Bonheur.
The English settlement of the Virginia Colony which was established at Jamestown in 1607. Prompted by the Virginia Company, colonial governor Sir George Yeardley helped facilitate elections of representatives, called "burgesses", to this new legislative body that would come from eleven Virginia boroughs adjacent to the James River, along with eleven additional burgesses.
The first meeting of the House of Burgesses occurred on July 30, 1619 at Jamestown. It was the first such assembly in the Americas. In 1624, the Virginia Company lost its charter, and Virginia became a royal colony. The House of Burgesses continued to meet, but its influence was severely restricted.
The seat of the House of Burgesses was moved to Middle Plantation, soon renamed Williamsburg in honor of King William III. The Burgesses met there in two consecutive Capitol buildings (the first use of the word in the British Colonies).
Despite limitations on its actions, the assembly listed within its later ranks such notables as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and would assume a major leadership role in the movement toward independence.
Henry was elected to the House of Burgesses (the legislative body of the Virginia colony) in 1765. That same year, he proposed the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions. The freshman representative waited for an opportunity where the mostly conservative members of the House were away (only 24% was considered sufficient for a quorum). In this atmosphere, he succeeded, through much debate and persuasion, in getting his proposal passed.
En 1769 l'assemblée de Virginie qui, malgré les manières affables et la politique conciliante du gouverneur, lord Botetourt, vote des résolutions contestant une fois de plus le droit du Parlement d'imposer des taxes aux colonies. La Chambre virginienne est dissoute ; les députés, à l'instigation de Washington et de Mason, signent aussitôt en réunion privée les statuts d'une association intercoloniale contre l'emploi de marchandises anglaises. Les assemblées des autres colonies suivirent l'exemple que venaient donner celles du Massachusetts et de la Virginie
En December 1779, when they moved the capital city to Richmond for safety reasons during the American Revolutionary War. The present Capitol at Colonial Williamsburg reproduces the earlier of the two lost buildings.
As Henry stood in Saint John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, he ended his speech with his most famous words:
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
John Adams et Jefferson ne se sont pas parlés pendant des années à cause de leurs différends très marqués à propos des événements en France. Jefferson écrit «l’arbre de la liberté doit être arrosé de temps en temps par le sang des patriotes et des tyrans», tandis que Adams pensait que les Français étaient moins des patriotes que «trente millions d’assoiffés». Jefferson trouvait la Révolution en France «remarquable», tandis que Adams craignait «sa démocratie débridée et instable», et pour lui ses chefs, comme «Danton, Robespierre et Marat», n’étaient que des «furies».
