Virginia: Where the American Experiment Took Root

In the months leading up to July 1776, the Second Continental Congress entrusted a Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, to draft the formal document declaring the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. The 13 British colonies in mainland North America had disparate interests and cultures. For them to unite, the Founding Fathers believed the colony of Virginia needed to spearhead independence. Once that was achieved, another Virginian, George Washington from Mount Vernon, was elected the first president of the fledgling nation.

As it was in 1776, Virginia remains central to the American story in 2026. To understand America’s economic, political, and historical developments on its 250th anniversary, one must begin in Virginia.

The First American Business 

Before the United States of America, there was English America, and before that, English Virginia. At the close of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I sponsored numerous voyages to the New World in hopes that England could “plant” Englishmen there. Explorer Sir Walter Raleigh campaigned to name North America’s first settlement after the reputedly virginal Queen Elizabeth herself. In 1607, King James I chartered the Virginia Company.

The Virginia Company’s success was, by its stated goals, short-lived. As Jamestown’s “starving time” in the early 17th century demonstrated, the Commonwealth proved hard to manage without royal support. This led the crown to dissolve the Virginia Company and decree Virginia a royal colony in 1626. Over time, Virginians developed institutions that transformed the colony into England’s most durable North American economic project.

One of those institutions was slavery. In 1619, colonial Governor George Yeardley purchased “20 and odd Negroes” from a Portuguese ship in exchange for food for the crewmembers. This began Virginia’s involvement with the institution of African enslavement.

Virginians soon learned that the key to economic prosperity was tobacco. While Virginia’s soil was indeed suited to produce it, particularly along the rivers connected to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginians developed institutions to cement tobacco as the staple crop. As early as 1618, for instance, tobacco was used as legal tender to buy goods and land, pay off debt, and serve as collateral on loans. Virginians’ ingenuity with tobacco enabled them to grow the economy for more than a hundred years with it.

Like the rest of the country, Virginia has not always progressed in a linear fashion, and tobacco offers a key illustration. Tobacco could not have sustained Virginia’s economy without the displacement of Native Americans from their lands in massive numbers and cultivation by enslaved people. By 1700, nearly 20,000 enslaved Africans labored on Virginia plantations.

By the start of the 18th century, Virginia represented the pinnacle of Britain’s North American success, its most profitable mainland colony. The College of William & Mary, founded in 1693, educated and trained the colony’s religious, civic, and economic leaders. Port cities like Williamsburg and Norfolk made Virginia a powerful hub of maritime trade.

The Duality of Jefferson 

No Virginian embodied the vision for the Commonwealth’s progress better than Thomas Jefferson, born in Albemarle County in 1743. Jefferson entered the world as a genteel British colonial Virginian and left as a principal driver of the American republican experiment. Despite serving two terms as president of the United States, Jefferson wished to be known primarily for his commitment to Virginia, which he called “his country.”

As written in his epitaph, Jefferson wanted Americans to remember him for writing the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and for creation of the University of Virginia (UVA), founded in 1819. For America’s republic to work, he believed the citizenry needed education grounded in the liberal arts, which he deemed the “useful sciences.” Jefferson designed a curriculum at UVA that broke from traditional legal and religious education and taught students how to become productive citizens.

Jefferson’s commitment to republicanism was marred by his commitment to slavery. Throughout his life, Jefferson held over 600 enslaved Africans and did not consider any emancipation effort that didn’t end in expatriating freed African slaves.

By the early 19th century, chattel slavery’s economic benefits were a key part of the Deep South’s new cotton economy. Virginia struggled then, amid a flagging tobacco market and domestic slave trade. The Civil War ended these struggles, but resulted in even harsher ones when the Confederacy — for which Richmond, and briefly Danville, served as its capital — lost the war and remained within the Union.

Slavery’s collapse forced Virginia to reinvent the foundations of its economy. It turned toward railroads, manufacturing, and public education as engines of modernization. Only through renewed commitment to the public good could Virginia find its footing again and effectively realize its economic potential.

The Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890 allowed for creation of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, now known as Virginia Tech, and the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, now Virginia State University, the first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher education for Black Americans in the country. The first Morrill Act focused on educating white working-class Americans for agricultural, mechanical, and military professions. The second act expanded that access — albeit highly unevenly — to Black people. These schools, and other commitments to public education, contributed to the birth of industrial Virginia in the 1900s. Textiles, like those manufactured at Dan River Mills and other factories in Southern Virginia, helped diversify Virginia’s economy via creation of a truly industrial sector.

A Legacy of Service

Growth of the federal government following World War II transformed Virginia again — into a center for military and federal employment. Naval Station Norfolk, for instance, was founded in 1917 and burgeoned into the world’s largest naval base during World War II. Today, 27 military bases operate in Virginia. Due to its proximity to the nation’s capital, Northern Virginia became and remains a hub for federal agencies and government contracting. The Department of War, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Science Foundation, and numerous other federal agencies still operate in Virginia.

If the end of World War II enabled Virginia’s economy to reach new heights, so too did the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Virginia’s expansion of access and opportunity lifted one of the main burdens still holding the Commonwealth back in the late 20th century. By the 1970s and 1980s, public universities across the state had opened their doors to women, minorities, and other historically marginalized groups.

Though certainly never perfect in its advances, Virginia began to realize its true civic and economic potential at the end of the 20th century. The increase in, and commitment to, a bipartisan landscape where businesses can flourish is a learned lesson for Virginia, but one it continues to uphold. Virginia has also maintained a long tradition of fiscal and regulatory stability, cultivating a favorable environment for economic growth and investment.

Public education and a commitment to liberal arts and STEM fields continue to push Virginia forward in economic prosperity. In the former, Virginia remains integral to the nation’s museums, libraries, humanities, and civic institutions, all of which cultivate citizen leadership and public virtue. A commitment to STEM has sustained Virginia as a hub for the data and tech sectors, with one of the country’s most robust tech workforces and a history of technological innovation from leading companies.

Virginia never lacks opportunities for further cultivation of virtue and prosperity. Virginia’s history has proven its flexibility in assuming different roles as needed. As we celebrate America 250, we have an opportunity to reflect on how Virginia has led in America’s economic and civic development. By considering Virginia’s failures and its advancements, we can better understand the need to continue improving the nation today.

By reaffirming our commitment to the institutions that make Virginia viable, we extend the experiment England began 400 years ago and the faith our Founding Fathers placed in Virginia 150 years later. Virginia’s enduring success is a result of its ability to adapt, build durable educational institutions, and reinvent itself. This, coupled with the Commonwealth’s proven ability to embrace economic and technological change, ensures a pivotal role for Virginia in leading the economy of the future and continuing to shape the broader American experiment.