There were 892 European colonists living in Virginia. The population included 670 able-bodied men, 119 women, 39 “serviceable boys,” and 57 children.

In April, 1619, Governor George Yeardley arrived in Virginia from England and announced that the Virginia Company had voted to abolish martial law and create a legislative assembly, known as the General Assembly — the first legislative assembly in the American colonies.

The General Assembly first met on July 30, 1619, in the church at Jamestown. Present were Governor Yeardley, Council, and 22 burgesses representing 11 plantations 

Burgesses were elected representatives. Only white men who owned a specific amount of property were eligible to vote for Burgesses.

In 1643, the General Assembly became a bicameral body, establishing the democratically-elected House of Burgesses as its lower house, while the royally-appointed Council of State served as the upper house of the legislature.

The State of Virginia had one representative in the House of Burgesses for every 40. In the 1790 Census the reported population of Virginia had risen to 747,000 and the state was assigned 10 representatives or one for every 74,700.

Today, Virginia has a population of 8 million and has an ever average district of 785,454. If Virginia was represented as well today as they were in 1792, the state would have 110 Congressional Districts instead of just 11.

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