Statehood

Virginians after 1760 were in the forefront of the opposition to Great Britain's increasingly repressive colonial policies. Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Harrison were part of a delegation chosen to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress (1774) in Philadelphia. It was called to protest acts of the British parliament; Randolph was chosen president of the Congress. In March, 1775, at a convention in Richmond that selected delegates to the Second Continental Congress, Henry became the first Virginian to publicly call for independence, proclaiming "I know not what course others may take; but, as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

When the Revolutionary War began in April, 1775, Washington was named commander of the American army. In June, 1776, Virginia's delegates to the Second Continental Congress proposed the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, wrote it. Also that month, Virginia became the first of the colonies to establish a government independent of Great Britain and adopt a state constitution and a bill of rights (the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason). Henry was elected the first governor.

In 1779, Richmond, more centrally located than Williamsburg, was made the capital. In that year, fighting reached Virginia's borders. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his troops—marking the virtual end of the war—took place at Yorktown in 1781. During the war, George Rogers Clark and his Virginia militia had secured the Northwest Territory for the United States. In 1788 Virginia became the 10th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

Four of the first five Presidents of the United States were Virginians—Washington (who held office 1789–97), Jefferson (1801–09), James Madison (1809–17), and James Monroe (1817–25). Although these and other Virginians played important roles in developing the federal system, Virginia became an ardent proponent of states' rights in order to protect its economic and political interests.

In the 19th century, Virginia lost its position of prominence as other states surpassed it in wealth and influence. It remained predominantly rural, with most of its population living on plantations or farms. While only a small percentage of Virginians had slaves, the economy of the state was closely tied to the plantation system and slave-owning. The fact that political power remained in the hands of the aristocratic planters in the east caused friction with non-slaveholding small farmers of western Virginia.