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The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624), by Capt. John Smith, one of the first histories of Virginia. The written history of Virginia begins with documentation by the first Spanish explorers to reach the area in the 16th century, when it was occupied chiefly by Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan peoples.
The Syms-Eaton Academy, started in 1634, became America's first free public school. Private tutors were often favored among those families who could afford them. [59] For most of the 17th century, a university education for settlers of Virginia required a journey to England or Scotland. [59] Such journeys were undertaken by wealthy young men.
Ten years later, in 1634, by order of King Charles I, the colony was divided into the original eight shires of Virginia, in a fashion similar to that practiced in England. Jamestown was located in James City Shire, soon renamed the "County of James City", better known in modern times as James City County, Virginia, the nation's oldest county.
In any case, in 1624, the Virginia Company lost its charter, and Virginia became a crown colony. In 1634, the English Crown created eight shires which had a total population of approximately 5,000. James City Shire was established and included Jamestown.
The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia , after Elizabeth I , and it stretched from present-day Maine to the Carolinas .
Nonetheless, Britain continued to colonize parts of the Americas in the 19th century, taking control of British Columbia and establishing the colonies of the Falkland Islands and British Honduras. Britain also gained control of several colonies, including Trinidad and British Guiana, following the 1815 defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars.
Lower-class women were brought from England to the colonies to marry the settlers and in exchange they received a fresh start and security. [8] As a result of these population increases, by 1624 Elizabeth City had a population of 349 and by 1629 it had become a large and important settlement. [3]
When Virginia declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain at the Fifth Virginia Convention in 1776 and became the independent Commonwealth of Virginia, the House of Burgesses was transformed into the House of Delegates, which continues to serve as the lower house of the General Assembly. [2]