Warren: I am confused. What was the body called from 1619 to 1643? After 1643 is the colonial legislature a unicameral and then called the House of Burgesses? Hening, vol. 1, p. 230 mentions in a headnote an act "signed by the Governor, memebrs of hte Council and House of Burgesses, and dates at James City, the first day of April 1642." That would be a year before 1643." That act (also on page 230) says it was passed by the "We the Governor, Council and Burgesses of the Grand Assembly in Virginia...." But, 1 Hening 147 (March 24 1629-30) lists "the names of the Burgesses..." So, there were Burgesses in in 1629-30, but were they not yet "the House of Burgesses"? Paul Finkelman -- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-2499 918-631-3706 (office) 918-631-2194 (fax) [log in to unmask] Brent Tarter wrote: > Va-Hist subscriber Warren Billings asked me to post this to the list, as > he has had some computer difficulty. > > Subject: Another bit of pedantry > Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:32:47 -0600 > From: "Dr. Warren M. Billings" <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > > > Permit me to add another bit of pedantry to the recent postings about > ecclesiastical law and practices in colonial Virginia > > In those discussions, several commentators equate "House of Burgesses" > with "General Assembly." Those were not synonymous terms. The General > Assembly, after 1643, consisted of the governor-general, the Council of > State, and the House of Burgesses, all of whom had to concur before any > bill passed into law. Constitutionally, therefore, the house could not > enact laws ex mero motu. Also, the burgesses could not "enforce" the law > of religion or any other for that matter. The power and obligation for > execution of the statutes in force lay with the colony's magistracy. To > be sure, many of those magistrates sat on the Council or in the House, > but when they enforced the law, they did so in their capacity as General > Court judge or justice of the peace, not as councillor of state or > burgess. > > The General Assembly, as Jon Kukla and others have clearly demonstrated, > began as a unicameral body. Thus, there was no House of Burgesses > between 1619 and 1643, the year Sir William Berkeley encouraged the > assembly to become bicameral. > > Warren M. Billings > > Warren M. Billings > Distinguished Professor > Department of History > University of New Orleans > New Orleans, Louisiana 70148 > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html