Founding1607
Jamestown Colony Established
English colonists established the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Despite early struggles with starvation and disease, Jamestown became the foundation for English colonization and eventually developed the House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America.
Why It Matters
Jamestown planted the seeds of representative government in America, and the House of Burgesses established in 1619 created a tradition of self-governance that would lead to the Constitution.