The Birthplace of American Democracy?
sites/1619/news/the-birthplace-of-american-democracy1.pdfIn August 1619, two milestone events happened in Jamestown, the first permanent colony in English North America. The first event, a five-day session concluding on August 4, was the first meeting of a representative governing body in English North America. This governing assembly did not truly represent all the women and men in the colony (it only represented propertied white men). Yet, to millions of tourists and general observers of American history, Jamestown remains popularly known as the birthplace of American democracy. Four hundred years later, Americans, particularly Virginians, are commemorating 1619 as a Jamestown-centered origin story: the beginning of American democratic freedom.
