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This article employs previously underutilized tax records to quantify the level of economic distress in Virginia in the 1780s. Historians have offered sharply contrasting interpretations. While some scholars emphasize postwar prosperity, others suggest an economic crisis that may have rivaled the Great Depression. Tax records offer an opportunity to evaluate and reconcile these conflicting narratives. By counting the number of individuals who could not pay their taxes and dividing by the taxable population found in the assessment lists, the insolvency rate produces an indicator comparable to a modern bankruptcy rate. Regional insolvency patterns reveal that historians have tended to generalize from localized phenomena that are unrepresentative of the larger economy. Tax records demonstrate that the critical period was not imagined. Local commodity prices were most important in shaping economic outcomes. Insolvency trends support and contextualize existing interpretations of tax resistance and voting patterns during the ratification debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Sarah Garland Boyd Jones, an African American woman licensed to practice medicine in Richmond, Virginia, who defied conventional expectations of gender and race in late 19th-century Virginia. Topics include politics in postwar Virginia wavered between supporters of white supremacy who enacted draconian laws, such as the Vagrancy Act in 1866; formation of the normal school system; and rise in hiring of black teachers from 415 in 1879 to 1,588 in 1884.

The rapidly growing eighteenth-century port city of Norfolk, Virginia, occupied an unusual position. It was the largest city in a colony known for its rural gentry culture and also a formally incorporated borough in an era when urban corporate independence was increasingly unusual in the British Atlantic. This essay explores Norfolk's corporate political identity and argues that it was crucial to the city's position in a planter-dominated society. The charter helped reconcile the city's need for local authority over trade and urban policing with the planter elite's suspicion of commerce by effectively quarantining the port city outside the planters' political world. As tensions rose within the British Empire during the 1760s, however, the borough's corporate authority became a contentious issue, as planters asserted their civic authority to regulate trade. The planter revolutionaries' suspicion of Norfolk's corporate status led to the showdown between the borough and the new revolutionary government and eventually to the destruction of the city in January 1776. These experiences informed the efforts of Virginia's new state government to craft a unique subsidiary status for municipal government in the 1780s. Norfolk's corporate status is therefore crucial to understanding the republican political economic vision of Virginia's planter class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virginia's cohabitation registers were compiled after the Civil War to legalize the unions that had formed between enslaved couples and to legitimize the children of those couples. They provide valuable demographic information about more than 13,000 couples and their children – well over 50,000 individuals – drawn from 23 counties across the state. The registers can be very useful to historians of slavery and slave families, but when using them it is essential to understand why and how they were created, what exactly they include, and what they omit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the advocacy of Northwestern Virginias for a democracy composed of white men that promoted majority rule by the principle of one white man, one vote while elite slaveholding Viriginians maintained that politics and government worked best when political participation remained moored to property ownership. Topics cited include a political debate on the compatibility of democracy in a slave society.

An analysis using a 2013 survey of 1,004 Virginia residents reveals that one's overall feelings about the federal government are tied closely to assessments of President Obama and Governor McDonnell with pro-Obama and anti-McDonnell respondents notably less critical of Washington. The reverse pattern applies to assessments of the state government. Partisanship and ideology are also factors, with Democrats favoring Washington over Richmond and the Republicans preferring Richmond. The Virginia findings are consistent with national research regarding the key role that partisan identification and assessments of top political figures play in citizen assessments of national and state government authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores Thomas Jefferson's early retirement political activity and binary vision of Federalism/Republicanism within the context of the broader political economic forces of the early nineteenth century. It shows that his notions of unity and legitimacy, so rooted in the life and death struggles of 1790s state building, increasingly no longer were relevant. His participation in a minor affair illuminates this point quite well. In the spring of 1811, Jefferson played a central role in a battle over loyalty, editorial prerogative, and the maintenance of party unity. It began when William Duane, book publisher, editor of the Philadelphia Aurora and long-time power broker within the coalition, sought Jefferson's help in securing funding from Virginia Republicans. Duane was facing a financial meltdown, and he hoped that the “sage of Monticello” might provide him a way out. Jefferson ultimately rejected the request in the name of party harmony, the irony of which is that Duane's “schism” reflected more of the future of the Republican movement than the harmonious nation Jefferson was hoping to preserve. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses film censorship in the Southern U.S. in the post-World War II era, with focus given to the cases of the films "The Burning Cross," which criticized the racist organization Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and "Band of Angels." The author connects censorship to the lack of civil rights enjoyed by Southern African Americans, as films that challenged the Southern hierarchical race system were largely the ones being censored. Other topics addressed include white attitudes towards miscegenation, the Civil Rights movement, and the relationship between the protection of free speech and censorship. Particular consideration is given to the work of Virginia's state censorship board in regards to the two movies.

The article discusses the history and decline of the 20th century organization known as the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government (CCG). According to the article, the CCG was established in 1958 as a commission designed to assist the governor of Virginia, J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., in the defense of states' rights. The article discusses the leadership of CCG chairman David J. Mays. It analyzes reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case "Brown v. Board of Education" in 1954 concerning racial desegregation of public schools, the membership of the CCG, and the civil rights movement in U.S. southern states in the mid-20th century. The article also discusses resistance to U.S. civil rights legislation during the 1960s by then Virginia U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd.

The essay discusses the political aspects of the desegregation of public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia from the 1950s through the 1970s. Topics discussed include the firing of progressive English teacher Thomas Burwell (T. B.) Robinson Jr., the county's public school superintendents, and an increase in the political power of Blacks in the county during the 1970s.

This article explores the ways that Richmond City's municipal authorities applied Virginia's pass-code laws governing free African American residency between 1850 and 1860. In Virginia, a free African American had to have a pass – a legal document attesting to one's free status – but that pass had to be renewed every three years, and it had to be approved by the city or county in which the free African American currently resided. Legally, undocumented free blacks included persons who did not have a pass, ones who may have had a pass but failed to carry one on their person, or African Americans with expired passes. Without such attestation, free blacks in antebellum Virginia were subject to incarceration and had to reimburse the city for all attendant fees. If they could not pay the fees, the court hired them out to the highest bidder. While historians have spent considerable time debating the legal status of free African Americans, they have not focused on how municipal authorities, particularly in rapidly industrialising southern cities, used pass codes not only as a way to maintain social control over free African Americans, but also increasingly as a means to provide cheap and accessible unfree labour to local businesses and industries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the way in which U.S. President George Washington informed the character of Virginian identity in the 19th-century through an examination of Virginians' opposition to U.S. government efforts to have Washington's remains moved from Mount Vernon, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., in 1832. The author explains how the debate over this controversy was connected to an increase in sectionalism within Virginia as well as the support for states' rights and pro-slavery arguments. Other topics discussed include Virginia's property rights, universal male suffrage, and free black citizens.

Though the term gerrymander was coined following Massachusetts' state senate districting in 1812, many scholars have posited that it was actually Patrick Henry who first practiced this art, by designing an unnatural district that would ensure his rival James Madison's defeat in Virginia's first congressional elections in early 1789. Historians have ample evidence to buttress such claims, for numerous Founding Fathers bitterly complained that Henry was going out of his way to design a district for Madison's defeat. Through hard and smart campaigning, however, Madison managed to defeat his opponent, James Monroe-thus marking the only congressional election in American history pitting two future presidents against each other. This article closely examines Virginia's 1788 congressional districting and finds that, contrary to the accepted wisdom, ingenious and artificial combinations were not used to design Madison's district, for it was composed of a compact group of whole counties entirely within the Piedmont region, and bounded on all sides by natural geographic features; Madison's true problem was not the district's formulation, but that he lived in an area that was predominantly Anti- Federalist. In fact, Virginia's entire 1788 districting scheme shows no marks of partisan purpose, for it was both politically fair and one of the most geographically logical plans in all of American history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how the U.S. slave trade affected U.S. politics. The author notes antislavery movements during the U.S. Revolutionary War and the passage of slave emancipation legislation in some northern states. Slave-owners in Virginia supported the abolition of the importation of slaves from Africa but promoted the expansion of the slave trade in the U.S. by selling off surplus slaves to other states and lobbying for slaves to be allowed in southwestern territories acquired by the U.S. Slavery became an important factor in the economy of southern states, leading to a reduction in Virginian political power. Efforts to limit slavery by former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln would lead southern states to secede from the Union.

The article offers information on the system of local government in Virginia. It explores the model environment that the system create and describes the way the system contributes to interloacal disparities. Information on the articulation of an affirmative account related to both regional government and voluntary interlocal bargaining is offered.

The article presents information related to legal reform and social practices in Virginia. A project of legal reform began that culminated in the convening of a constitutional convention in October 1850, referred to as the Reform Convention. In February 1846, the Virginia legislature appointed two attorneys, Conway Robinson and John Mercer Patton, to undertake a project to revise the state's thirty-year-old civil code. Robinson and Patton brought substantial experience to the codification project.

The article features John Mercer Langston, the first black congressman from Virginia who founded the Howard University. It states that Langston was a highly educated community organizer who sought the unification of a divided country after Civil War. It notes that Langston, like Barack Obama, is also an African American who achieved numerous accomplishments for his race.

Virginia is accepted as one of the leading examples of performance-based reform among US states. This article reports on some of the key factors that have helped to ensure that these reforms have established performance as a basis for both budget ritual and budget practice. Virginia's strong record of implementation is explained as the result of a consistent legislative basis for reform, effective reform leadership by a core agency, the integration of results-oriented activities into all facets of the financial management process, a focus on high levels of citizen engagement, and an emphasis on ensuring that performance management systems are tailored to be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an essay about the creation of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. Touchstone of Virginia's constitutionalism; Creation of a constitutional doctrine to be used in the defense of civil liberties; Importance of the reiteration of ultimate principles; Assurance on the value of a ratification instrument to assert the role of Virginia in creating the Constitution.

Examines the origin, nature and impact of African American legislative politics in Virginia from 1970 to 1988. Background and political attributes of Virginia's Black state legislators; Information on the Virginia General Assembly; Character of African American legislative participation.

Traces the legislative activities of George Mason IV in behalf of religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia in the 1770s. Contributions to the drafting of Article XVI of the Virginia Declaration of Rights; Initiatives raised in late 1776 and 1779; Involvement in the disestablishment struggle of the mid-1780s.

Focuses on the involvement of former Virginia Governor James Monroe in a case of slave resistance in Southampton County in 1799. Judges' views on slavery during the 1800s; Violation committed by buying and selling non-Virginian slaves within Virginia; Efforts of Monroe to uphold rights of slaves; Motives for helping slaves.

Attempts to close the gap between women's history and political history in antebellum Virginia. Affinity between women and the Whig party; Expression of partisanship; Democratic commentators; Political campaigns; Analysis of political issues; Theory of women's civic duty; Attendance of campaign events.

Examines the characteristics of black leaders identified by the Virginia Freedmen's Bureau as capable of holding office during the Reconstruction period in 1867. Criticisms against the bureau's alleged bias toward white men; Order by the bureau's assistant commissioner Brevet Brigadier General Orlando Brown to bureau officers to prepare a list of qualified freedmen residing in the state; More.

The article provides information on the founding of a military school by president Thomas Jefferson in West Point, Virginia. According to the author, the motive behind the creation of the military academy is to emphasize science instead of classics and to provide trained engineers for the new nation. He added that Jefferson suggested to Republicanize the army and bring it into accord with the political philosophy of the administration to secure the Republic against a monarchist faction. He emphasized that the academy is an integral part of Jefferson's effort to Republicanize the army.

Features an interview with George Allen, governor of the state of Virginia. Plan of a radical overhaul in Virginia's government; Family background; Authorship and role on the formulation of the Williamsburg Resolve of November 1994; Perceptions on the possible devolution of power to the states.

Focuses on a study which explored the possible linkages between the election of L. Douglas Wilder to the governorship of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the New South phenomenon. Transformation on Virginia; Trends in the country; Information on five selected state level indicators utilized on the study conducted.