The Virginia Colony was gripped by a particularly violent series of events in 1676, known as Bacon's Rebellion. A few hundred armed colonists rebelled against the governor, who was himself backed by a few hundred armed English troops. One of the causes of the insurrection was a disagreement over land policies regarding Native Americans. Deaths, of both Englishmen and Native Americans, numbered in the dozens.

One of the major settlements, Middle Plantation, became the capital of the colony in 1699, changing its name to Williamsburg in honor of the English king William III.

During the next 100 years, colonists alternated between sympathetic and unsympathetic governors. The taxes resulting from the French and Indian War (in which Virginians played a significant role) were none too popular in Virginia, and the colonists took measures to oppose them.

The most famous of these was the Stamp Act Congress, organized to protest the passage of the famed British tax on paper and other goods. Through the efforts of Patrick Henry and others, the Americans got the Stamp Act repealed. Virginians also began the boycott of British goods that resulted in the repeal of the Townshend Acts.

Henry was not the only famous member of the House of Burgesses. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, served as a Burgess as well, as did George Washington, leader of the Revolutionary Army.

Virginians called a convention in Williamsburg to discuss the struggle for independence. They began meeting on May 6, 1776, two months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. One thing they decided was that Virginia was to be a commonwealth, a colony independent of Great Britain.

Fighting came to Virginia relatively late in the Revolutionary War. Virginia sent men, money, and ammunition north to Washington's forces. In 1778, George Rogers Clark had led a force of militiamen in a daring campaign to secure the Northwest Territory. The turncoat General Benedict Arnold arrived in Virginia in 1780, capturing Portsmouth and Richmond. But it was in Virginia that the war effectively ended, as American and French armies, assisted by French ships, trapped British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown and accepted his surrender, on Oct. 19, 1781.

With the experiment of the Articles of Confederation proved a failure, Virginians took the lead in the formation of the Constitution. James Madison, in particular, played a prominent role by keeping records of the Constitutional Convention. Madison was also the author of what came to be called the Virginia Plan, which formed much of the basis of the Constitution. He was also the author of 20 of the 85 Federalist Papers, which helped convince New Yorkers to ratify the Constitution. Virginian George Washington was president of the Convention, presiding over events and helping maintain a civil tone during what became at times a very spirited debate.

One of the main debates was over a Bill of Rights (again, mainly written by James Madison). Virginians eventually ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788, with the full understanding that a Bill of Rights to protect Americans' most cherished freedoms would soon follow.

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