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Time Period
16,000 BCE to 1622 CE
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At the time of the great northern glaciers, Native Americans followed the game they hunted to Virginia. Ten thousand years later, as the cold of the Ice Age gave way to a warmer, drier climate, they relied also on foraging and farming. After about 900 CE they settled into villages that united into chiefdoms. In 1607, in pursuit of opportunity in a new world, English settlers intruded into an eastern Virginia chiefdom of thirty-two tribes (15,000 to 20,000 people). Its leader then was Wahunsenacawh, whom the new settlers called by his title, Powhatan.
Time Period
1825 to 1860
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The decades following the presidency of Virginian James Monroe (1817–1825) saw populations shift, the economy expand, and attitudes about slavery harden. More and more families migrated from the soil-depleted Tidewater and Piedmont, while new and diverse peoples in the Shenandoah Valley prospered. The beginnings of the Industrial Revolution encouraged the growth of industry, urban centers, and “internal improvements” (transportation by road, rail, and canal). Those “improvements”––funded by taxes––became a subject of political debate. Slavery was as vehemently attacked by abolitionists as it was defended by proponents.
Time Period
1877 to 1924
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After the Civil War, Virginia remained largely rural, but Virginians embraced economic development and the new technologies that were revolutionizing everyday life. At the same time, however, they resisted political and social change––especially racial and gender equality. Living standards improved and income rose, but the political system became less democratic and society was rigidly segregated by race. “The New South” brought economic renewal but little reform. The Virginia legislature rejected a woman’s right to vote in 1919, and it passed a regressive Racial Integrity Act in 1924.
Time Period
1925 to Today
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A century of foreign wars expanded the presence of both the federal government in Northern Virginia and the military in the Hampton Roads area. Growth in those regions helped transform the state from a rural to a primarily urban one, from a poor to a relatively affluent one, and from a state with few non-natives to one with many. Only painstakingly, however, have minorities gained equality. Since 1960, the population has doubled. The largest employer now is the government, next is agriculture, which adds billions of dollars to the state’s economy.
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Aftermath
"From the political point of view, the murder of John Brown . . . would impart to the Union a creeping fissure that at the
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Before the War
Born into a Virginia family whose members had for generations assumed public leadership roles, Robert E. Lee followed the
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Beginnings of Black Education
Few black Virginians received a formal education until public schools were widely established during Reconstruction. Public
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Brown I and Brown II
In 1950 the NAACP decided that it would no longer file lawsuits seeking equal educational facilities, but only those that
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Conclusion
Throughout the twentieth century and during the past decade, apologists for John Brown have turned out imagery and
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Conclusion - Did the Civil War End at Appomattox?
Lee’s army had become the embodiment of Confederate nationalism, and after its surrender other southern forces soon gave up
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Danville
The most violent episode of the civil rights movement in Virginia occurred in Danville during the summer of 1963—at about the
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Elections from 1789 to 1828
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1789 to 1828. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Elections from 1832 to 1872
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1832 to 1872. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Elections from 1876 to 1920
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1876 to 1920. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Elections from 1924 to 1964
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1924 to 1964. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Elections from 1968 to 2016
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1968 to 2016. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Equal Access to Public Accommodations
Although integrating the nation's schools was the first priority of the civil rights movement, the denial of equal access to
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Fanciful Figures
View illustrations of Virginia Indians as they were imagined by artists.
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Hampton Institute and Booker T. Washington
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was founded in 1868 by General Samuel Armstrong. He was interested in moral
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Interpreting Historical Images
A historical image can be interpreted in a number of ways. Each approach brings a different set of considerations, or frame