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Politics & Government

Both the ideals that define America and the foundations of its government were given expression and developed in Virginia. The belief in human rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were stated by George Mason and Thomas Jefferson. James Madison crafted the nation’s Constitution. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were four of the nation’s first five presidents. John Marshall developed the Supreme Court into an equal branch of the federal government. Virginia continued to be at the center of many political debates resulting in changes to the entire nation. Explore the way politics and government have shaped the Commonwealth and its people.

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16,000 BCE to 1622 CE
A Land of Opportunity: Creating Virginia
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1623 to 1763
A Distant Dominion
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1764 to 1824
From British Colony to American State
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1825 to 1860
Challenge of a New Century
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1861 to 1876
Civil War and Reconstruction
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1877 to 1924
Virginia in the New South
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1925 to Today
Dynamic Dominion

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