Virginia was one of the first colonies in North America in the 1600s and became a state of the United States of America in 1788. Virginia is often called the Mother of Presidents or Birthplace of Presidents because eight U.S. Presidents have been born in Virgina. Four of the first five presidents, George Washington (1st), Thomas Jefferson (3rd), James Madison (4th), James Monroe (5th), were Virginians. William Henry Harrison (9th), John Tyler(10th), Zachary Taylor (12th), and Woodrow Wilson (28th) were also US Presidents from Virginia. Many of their Virginia homes such as Monticello and Mount Vernon are popular tourist destinations.[1]
History
Before Europeans arrived, there were three main groups of American Indians living in the area now covered by Virginia. These were the Algonquian, Iroquoian (including Cherokee, Meherrin and Nottoway) and the Siouan Indians.[2]
Spanish explorers visited parts of what is now Virginia in 1560 and again in 1570 when Jesuit missionaries attempted to set up a mission. Within a year, instead of converting the Indians to Christianity, they had been killed by the Indians.[3]
Sir Walter Raleigh led an English exploration party in 1584. A group of men from England invested in a Joint Stock Company called "The Virginia Company" to find gold and other treasures. The company was granted lands in 1606 from what is now North Carolina to New York, all under the name of "Virginia" after Queen Elizabeth I (known as the "Virgin Queen" as she never married). It established the first permanent settlement for England known as Jamestown.[4]
Virginia declared independence from Britain in 1776 and became one of the original thirteen states of the United States.
References
- ↑ http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?featureID=94
- ↑ http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/vahistory/tribes.html accessed 10 March 2007
- ↑ Spanish Martyrs for Virginia by Matthew M. Anger (30 August 2003), accessed 10 March 2007
- ↑ Jamestown Settlement, accessed 10 March 2007