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Virginia,
often regarded as the gateway to the South, occupies the middle position
on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. Named for Elizabeth I,
England's "Virgin Queen," the state is also known as the Old Dominion--in
recognition of the decision of Charles II to make the colony a fourth
dominion of his realm, after England, Scotland, and Ireland--and as the
Mother of Presidents, because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents
(George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William
Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson).
Officially called the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state forms a rough
triangle, with North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; Maryland, Chesapeake
Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast and east; and West Virginia
and Kentucky to the northwest and west. Founded in 1607, Jamestown, near
the southeastern corner of the state, represents the first permanent English
settlement in North America. Virginia played a pivotal role in the American
Revolution and the Civil War.
LAND AND RESOURCES
Virginia has five distinctive topographical regions. Moving in from the
Atlantic coast, the Tidewater, or coastal plain, is succeeded by the Piedmont
or Piedmont Plateau, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the ridge and valley region,
and the Cumberland Plateau. The last three are part of the Appalachian
Mountains.
Tidewater Virginia, including the Eastern Shore--the southern tip of the
Delmarva Peninsula separated from the remainder of the state by Chesapeake
Bay--is generally low-lying and sandy, rising to about 90 m (300 ft) as
it meets the Piedmont. Broad estuaries divide the western Tidewater into
a series of peninsulas reaching into the bay.
The rolling hills of Piedmont Virginia extend southwest from Alexandria
in the north. The towns of Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Emporia lie on
the fall line. The region widens from 65 km (40 mi) at the Potomac to
about 260 km (160 mi) at the North Carolina line. The continuous Blue
Ridge of Precambrian rock rises from about 300 m (1,000 ft) at its base
at the western edge of the Piedmont, reaching elevations of 350 m (1,200
ft) in the north to more than 1,700 m (5,500 ft) in the south. Virginia's
highest point, Mount Rogers, is found in the wider southern portion of
the mountains.
The ridge and valley section of the state begins with the limestone-floored
Great Valley and continues to the West Virginia border with a series of
elongated hills and valleys trending northeast-southwest. In the extreme
southwestern portion of Virginia lies a small part of the Cumberland Plateau
of Kentucky at an average elevation of 840 m (2,750 ft).
Soils
Sandy loams dominate the Tidewater, but the Great Valley boasts dark,
fertile limestone derivatives. In the mountains the thin soils are generally
limestone based.
Rivers and Lakes
A series of rivers flowing east from the Blue Ridge drains most of Virginia.
The Potomac follows Virginia's boundary with Maryland. To the south are
the Rappahannock, the York, and the James River, which enters Chesapeake
Bay about 50 km (30 mi) north of the North Carolina line. Flowing north
to join the Potomac, the Shenandoah River drains the northern Great Valley;
the western part of the state lies within the drainage basins of the Ohio
and Tennessee rivers. The Roanoke drains the southwest toward North Carolina.
Virginia's only significant natural body of water, Lake Drummond (50 sq
km/19 sq mi), lies at the center of the Dismal Swamp in the southeastern
corner of the state. Several larger artificial lakes or reservoirs, some
partly in North Carolina, have been created along the course of the Roanoke
River.
Climate
Virginia has a temperate climate; although summers are hot, winters are
mild, and precipitation occurs throughout the year. Elevation is the primary
climatic determinant. July temperatures average 21 deg C (70 deg F) in
the southwestern mountains but 27 deg C (80 deg F) in the southern Tidewater.
In January the statewide average temperature drops to 4 deg C (39 deg
F). The frost-free growing season varies from 140 days in the Appalachian
foothills to 250 days along the Atlantic Ocean and southern Chesapeake
Bay coasts. Annual precipitation ranges from 760 mm (30 in) in the northwest
to 1,400 mm (55 in) in the southeast, with a state average of 1,015 mm
(40 in).
Vegetation and Animal Life
Forests cover two-thirds of Virginia. Trees in the Tidewater are principally
pines; in the western mountains, mostly hardwoods; and in the Piedmont,
a mixture. Cypress trees grow in the Dismal Swamp, and azalea, rhododendron,
and mountain laurel thrive in the western mountains.
Black bears still inhabit the mountains and the Dismal Swamp, and deer
can be found throughout the state. Smaller indigenous animals include
foxes, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and opossums, and game birds such
as turkeys, quail, grouse, doves, and woodcocks are found as well as such
songbirds as robins, sparrows, and cardinals. Migrating ducks and geese
fly across Virginia.
Resources
In the southwest, Virginia has large deposits of bituminous coal and small
quantities of petroleum and natural gas. Other commercial minerals include
sand and gravel, limestone (mostly in the ridge and valley region), zinc,
clays, lead, and soapstone (for talc). Groundwater resources are adequate
in all sections of the state, often supplemented in the Tidewater by artesian
wells.
PEOPLE
The resident population of Virginia (1990 census) is 6,187,358. More than
half of Virginia's inhabitants live in the crescent shaped urban corridor
that stretches from Arlington and Alexandria in the north, through Fredericksburg,
the state capital Richmond, and Petersburg, to Newport News, Hampton,
Portsmouth, and Norfolk. The cities of Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and
Roanoke lie to the west. The rapid influx of people to northern Virginia
gave the state a growth rate from 1970 to 1980 of nearly 15%. Between
1980 and 1990 the growth rate was nearly 16%.
The black population in Virginia grew by about 15% from 1980 to 1990 and
remained about 18% of the population as a whole. There were much larger
growth rates among the Hispanics, Asian, and American Indian populations.
Hispanics numbered 160,288 in 1990, and the Asian population was 159,053.
There were also 15,282 native Americans. The Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal,
and Presbyterian religious denominations together have the largest numbers
of adherents.
Education
Although the first free school in the United States--the Syms Free School
in Hampton--was founded in 1634 and the College of William and Mary, in
Williamsburg, dates from 1693, Virginia made no provision for public education
until the Literary Fund was established in 1810 to assist poor children.
The state constitution first provided for schools in 1869. Thomas Jefferson
founded the University of Virginia in 1819 (see Virginia, state universities
and colleges of). Private institutions of higher education in the state
include Randolph-Macon College, Washington and Lee University, and the
University of Richmond. There is also the Virginia State Community College
system.
Culture
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, located in Richmond, is the principal
state-funded cultural facility in the state, presenting drama and music
as well as art exhibits. Also in Richmond are the private Valentine Museum
and the Museum of the Confederacy and adjacent Jefferson Davis's home,
the so-called White House of the Confederacy. Norfolk boasts the Chrysler
Museum; Newport News has the Mariners' Museum.
In addition to its many music and dance companies, Virginia has a number
of orchestras. The Barter Theatre in Abingdon has won national recognition,
as has the federally funded Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts,
part of the National Park System. Many local public libraries and bookmobiles
can draw on the resources of the Virginia State Library in Richmond.
Historical Sites and Recreational Areas
Virginia is famous for its historic homes--particularly George Washington's
at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson's at Monticello; for the carefully
restored colonial settlements of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown;
and for its many Civil War battlefields, including those at Chancellorsville,
Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Manassas, Petersburg, and the Wilderness.
Appomattox Court House is the site of Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender to
Ulysses S. Grant on Apr. 9, 1865.
Virginia has state park and recreation areas as well as several sites
administered by the National Park Service, including Shenandoah National
Park and Assateague Island National Seashore. National forests within
the state cover 6,488 sq km (2,505 sq mi). Millions visit the state's
beaches in summer and its mountain ski resorts in winter.
Communications
The Virginia Gazette, founded in 1736 by William Parks, was the colony's
first newspaper; the Alexandria Gazette was begun in 1784. Among Virginia's
leading newspapers today are the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot. The state also has numerous radio and television broadcasting
facilities as well as many cable television systems.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
The single most important source of income in Virginia is its government
sector. Virginia has extensive military installations, and many Virginia
residents work for the federal government in Washington D.C. Manufacturing,
services, and trade are also important sectors of the state's economy.
Coal and timber are valuable resource industries. The millions of tourists
who visit the state also contribute economically.
Agriculture
Important crops grown in Virginia are tobacco, hay, corn, soybeans and
apples. Tobacco accounts for more farm income than any other crop, but
more than half of the state's farm income comes from cattle and poultry
raising and dairy farming. Virginia's Shenandoah Valley is one of the
nation's major apple-growing regions, and Rockingham County is a leading
U.S. producer of turkeys.
Forestry and Fishing
Nearly two-thirds of Virginia's land area is forested, and about every
county has some commercial forestland and supports a wood products industry.
Much of the lumber harvested each year goes into making furniture. Virginia
ranks among the leading U. S. fishing states. Major species caught include
oysters, clams, crabs, menhaden, and alewives. Sport fishing is also popular
in Virginia.
Mining
Coal and stone are the most important minerals mined in Virginia. The
state's coalfields are found mainly in the Appalachian mountains area.
Limestone is found in Virginia's western valleys. Other stones produced
are granite, basalt, sandstone, and slate. Sand and gravel and cement
are also produced as are kyanite and vermiculite.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing industries started to develop in Virginia during the 1840s
but suffered a severe setback during the Civil War. Steady expansion since
the late 19th century accelerated after World War II. Virginia's major
industrial products include tobacco products, chemicals, foods, electrical
equipment, nonelectrical machinery, transportation equipment, rubber and
plastic products, printing and publishing, textiles, and furniture. Important
manufacturing centers in the state are Richmond, Hopewell, Norfolk, Newport
News, Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Martinsville.
Transportation
Virginia's state-operated highways, among the most extensive in the country,
include long sections of interstate highways 81 and 95, two of the nation's
most heavily traveled north-south arteries. Among the state's scenic roadways
are the Blue Ridge Parkway, Colonial National Historical Parkway, and
George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Railroad development occurred early in Virginia, and today there are a
number of freight rail lines operating in the state. Amtrak provides passenger
service to several cities. Hampton Roads is one of the nation's leading
ports. Major airports in the state are Dulles International Airport and
Washington National Airport.
Energy
Major sources of electric power in Virginia are coal-fired and nuclear
power plants. Most of the coal-fired plants are located in the western
part of the state. Virginia Electric and Power Company (Vepco) owns the
nuclear power facilities. Other energy sources are hydroelectricity, oil-fired
power plants, and gas.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Virginia's original constitution, adopted in 1776, was superseded by updated
documents in 1830, 1851, 1870, 1902, and 1971. The governor serves a 4-year
term and cannot hold office twice in succession. The governor administers
the state through an appointed cabinet, consisting of the heads of departments
of education, administration, commerce and trade, education, finance,
health and human resources, public safety, natural resources, and transportation.
The state general assembly--which can trace its roots to the colonial
House of Burgesses, founded in 1619 and the oldest representative legislature
in the country--consists of a senate, with 40 members serving 4-year terms,
and a house of delegates, with 100 members serving 2-year terms. Virginia's
judicial system ascends from juvenile and domestic relations courts, and
general district courts, through the circuit courts to a supreme court;
the legislature fills the latter with 7 judges who serve 12-year terms.
Virginia has 95 counties and 41 independent cities. Smaller towns remain
part of their counties, and the inhabitants are responsible to the county
as well as to the town.
In U.S. presidential elections Virginia voted for the Democratic candidate
from 1932 through 1948. Since 1952, with the exception of 1964, Virginia's
electoral votes have been cast for the Republican candidate. In the early
1990s, however, the state's U.S. congressional delegation was predominantly
Democratic. In 1981 a Democrat was elected governor, ending a 12-year
Republican hold on that office. Republicans regained the office in 1994.
HISTORY
First settled as early as 10,000 years ago, Virginia was inhabited by
Indian tribes belonging to three different language families at the beginning
of the 17th century. Along the coast lived the Powhatan, of the Algonquian
family; the Piedmont was occupied by tribes of the Siouan family; and
the Iroquoian family was represented principally by the Susquehanna at
the northern end of Chesapeake Bay, by the Cherokee in the southwest,
and by the Nottoway in the southeast.
First European Settlements
The European history of Virginia began in 1570 with a short-lived Spanish
mission probably located on the York River. In 1584, Sir Humphrey Gilbert
obtained a grant from Queen Elizabeth to colonize all of North America
not occupied by the Spanish or French. The first expedition to the vast
new territory, named Virginia in honor of the queen, was sent out the
same year by Sir Walter Raleigh and arrived at Roanoke Island (see Roanoke
Colony) in 1585. More settlers came 2 years later, but by 1591--their
supplies having been interrupted by England's war with Spain--all the
colonists had died or disappeared.
After a few other false starts, on Dec. 20, 1606, the London Company,
established by Shakespeare's patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of Southampton,
sent out three ships--Susan Constant, Discovery, and Goodspeed--carrying
143 adventurers, most of them, according to the 18th-century Virginia
writer William Byrd, "reprobates of good families." The ships landed on
Apr. 26, 1607, and the settlement of Jamestown, named in honor of the
king, was established May 14, 1607.
Early Trials
The colony, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, suffered
from poor leadership, famine, disease, disputes with the Indians, and
failure to find a marketable product.
Capt. John Smith returned to England in 1609, and conditions grew so severe
during the following winter that the colonists decided to abandon their
settlement. As they set sail in June 1610, Lord De La Warr arrived with
reinforcements and supplies.
In 1614, John Rolfe, who introduced tobacco into Virginia, married Pocahontas,
daughter of the chief Powhatan, a union that led to a period of peace
with the Indians. Under the leadership of Sir Thomas Dale and Sir George
Yeardley, De La Warr's successors as governor, the colony began to prosper.
The House of Burgesses was founded in 1619. That same year saw the importation
of the first slaves to labor in the tobacco fields. In 1622 a new chief,
Opechancanough, Powhatan's successor, organized a sudden attack that left
347 settlers--more than one-third of the whites--dead.
Growth of the Colony
The English crown took control of the colony in 1624, and by 1635 the
population was 5,000. Although Indian raids continued, settlements were
established along the rivers of the lower Tidewater. Jamestown, never
a satisfactory site for a town, soon lost its preeminence to Williamsburg,
to which the capital was shifted in 1699. Depressed tobacco prices, Indian
uprisings, and the refusal of Gov. Sir William Berkeley to call new elections
to the House of Burgesses led in 1676 to the short-lived but serious Bacon's
Rebellion.
During the early 1700s, English settlers, encouraged by Gov. Alexander
Spotswood, migrated from the coastal towns westward across the Piedmont,
where they met Scots-Irish and German immigrants moving southward from
Pennsylvania through the Great Valley. The westward movement helped focus
attention on the conflicting land claims of Virginia and France, and Gov.
Robert Dinwiddie dispatched George Washington to expel the French from
Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh. Washington's mission failed, as did the
disastrous expedition of Gen. Edward Braddock in 1755, but the French
and Indian War (1754-63) eventually resolved the matter in favor of the
British.
The American Revolution
British success against France did little to aid Virginia, however, because
the western lands subsequently were closed to further settlement by the
Proclamation of 1763. Friction with Britain increased, especially over
the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. After the Boston Tea Party, Virginia's
governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the House of Burgesses to prevent its
use as an antigovernment forum, but the members reassembled in Raleigh
Tavern to call for a convention of all the colonies.
The First Continental Congress, as the convention was called, met in Philadelphia
on Sept. 5, 1774, with Peyton Randolph (see Randolph family) of Virginia
presiding. A later state meeting that convened in Richmond to approve
the actions of the congress received a motion from Patrick Henry to call
up the militia. The governor seized the available arms and retreated to
a British warship. At the Second Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee
(see Lee family) of Virginia moved "to declare the United Colonies free
and independent states," and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of
Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776. The congress appointed Washington
commander in chief of the Continental Army; it also passed a bill of rights
and a preliminary constitution, both composed by George Mason.
Virginia's chief military contribution to the American Revolution was
to be the provision of men and supplies to the army, although a small
force under George Rogers Clark secured the Northwest Territory in 1778-79.
In 1781, Benedict Arnold laid waste to Richmond, but in May of that year
Gen. Charles Cornwallis entered the state from the south for an unsuccessful
campaign against the marquis de Lafayette, which ended with the British
surrender at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781 (see Yorktown Campaign).
Early Years of the Republic
After the revolution Virginia dominated the early years of the republic,
with Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe as presidents and John
Marshall shaping the U.S. Supreme Court. Madison was also instrumental
in replacing the loose Articles of Confederation with the present Constitution
of the United States--although other Virginians, including Edmund Pendleton,
Patrick Henry, and Edmund Randolph, opposed the change. Later Madison
drafted (1798) the Virginia Resolution supporting state rights, while
Jefferson produced the similar Kentucky Resolution (see Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions).
Other southern states surpassed Virginia in cotton production, but the
Tidewater continued to provide slaves for the rest of the South. Abolitionist
sentiment was strong in the state, however, particularly in the west,
and after the revolt in 1831 led by Nat Turner, the Virginia House of
Delegates almost voted to abolish slavery.
The Civil War
Conflict between the North and the South over slavery and tariffs grew
during the first half of the 19th century, climaxed by John Brown's raid
at Harpers Ferry in 1859 and by the election of Abraham Lincoln to the
presidency in 1860. Virginia did not, however, join the Confederacy until
Apr. 25, 1861, after Lincoln's call for troops. The capital of the Confederacy
was moved to Richmond; thus Virginia soon became the major battleground
of the war.
The fighting started at Bull Run, or Manassas, on July 21, 1861 (see Bull
Run, Battles of). The following year Gen. George B. McClellan attempted
to come up the peninsula to Richmond but was repulsed by Gen. Robert E.
Lee (see Peninsular Campaign). Also in 1862, Lee turned back General John
Pope at the second Battle of Bull Run (August 29-30) but was himself blocked
by McClellan at Antietam.
Lee defeated the Union forces at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and again
at Chancellorsville the following May. Other battles took place at Petersburg
(see Petersburg campaign) and in the Shenandoah valley. By the time Lee
surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, the state was devastated.
Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
West Virginia had separated itself from Virginia in 1863, and the remainder
of the state was readmitted to the Union in 1870. The radical Republicans
who ran Virginia during Reconstruction were promptly expelled from power
by more conservative elements. Except for a brief period in 1881, when
the so-called Readjusters, led by Gen. William Mahone, rose to power,
conservatives have been in control ever since, with the Democrats holding
sway from 1885 to 1969. Harry F. Byrd became governor in 1926, and although
he moved on to the U.S. Senate in 1933, he continued to dominate state
politics until the early 1960s.
Recent Trends
The 1950s brought Virginia into conflict with the federal government over
integration. Segregation eventually yielded, however, to a new political
order. A milestone occurred in 1989, when Virginia elected L. Douglas
Wilder governor-- becoming the first U.S. state to elect a black to the
top state office. The 1994 U.S. Senate race was the subject of much media
attention. Incumbent Charles Robb, a former governor and the son-in-law
of former president Lyndon Johnson, narrowly defeated the controversial
Republican candidate Oliver North, who in the 1980s had been involved
in the Iran-contra affair.
Virginia's economy is now dominated by various service industries, accounting
for about 75 percent of the gross state product. Manufacturing remains
important, and Virginia has maintained its importance in transportation,
with the port of Hampton Roads and vital highway and rail networks. Also,
two of Washington's major airports are in Virginia.
Samuel T. Emory
Bibliography: Ashe, Dora, ed., Four Hundred Years of Virginia, 1584-1984:
An Anthology (1985); Ayers, E. L., and Willis, J. C., eds., The Edge of
the South (1991); Billings, Warren M., ed., The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth
Century: A Documentary History of Virginia, 1606-1689 (1975); Buni, Andrew,
The Negro in Virginia Politics, 1902-1965 (1967); Dabney, Virginius, Virginia:
The New Dominion (1971; repr. 1983); DeLorme Staff, Virginia Atlas and
Gazetteer (1989); Dowdey, Clifford, The Virginia Dynasties (1969) and
The Golden Age (1970); Encyclopedia of Virginia (1993); Farmer, Charles,
In the Absence of Towns (1993); Federal Writers' Project, Virginia: A
Guide to the Old Dominion (1940; repr. 1980); Fishwick, Marshall W., The
Virginia Tradition (1956); Gottmann, Jean, Virginia in Our Century (1969);
Moger, Allen W., Virginia: Bourbonism to Byrd, 1870-1925 (1968); Morgan,
Edmund S., American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial
Virginia (1975); Morris, Thomas R., and Sabato, Larry, eds., Virginia
Government and Politics: Readings and Comments, 3d rev. ed. (1990); Morton,
Richard L., Colonial Virginia, 2 vols. (1960); Noel-Hume, Ivor, Here Lies
Virginia: An Archaeologist's View of Colonial Life and History (1963);
Rubin, Louis D., Virginia: A Bicentennial History (1977; repr. 1984);
Sutton, Robert P., Revolution to Secession (1989); Tate, Thad W., et al.,
Colonial Virginia: A History (1986); Vaughan, Alden T., American Genesis:
Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia (1975; repr. 1987).
(c) 1996 Grolier, Inc.
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