Virginia historical timeline

Origins

The Powhatan paramount chiefdom held the Tidewater when the English landed in 1607 and founded the Jamestown Colony, the first permanent English settlement in America. It survived starvation, war and near-abandonment.

Turning points

The first Africans arrived in 1619, and the colony built a tobacco economy on enslaved labour over the following century. The Revolution ended at Yorktown in 1781. Virginia seceded in 1861, its capital became the Confederate capital, and more Civil War fighting took place here than in any other state before Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.

Influential people

Eight presidents were born in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson designed Monticello and the University of Virginia — both now UNESCO World Heritage Sites — while enslaving some 600 people over his lifetime, a contradiction the state's museums now address directly.

Cultural evolution

Massive Resistance in the 1950s saw Virginia close public schools rather than desegregate them. The state has changed profoundly since, and the northern counties are now among the most diverse and prosperous in the country.

Present-day significance

Defence, federal government, technology and agriculture carry the economy. A very large share of the world's internet traffic passes through data centres in the state's northern counties.