Virginia is one of the original southern states. Virginia is a place of history for our nation and in my own life. I was born in Alexandria, Va. Alexandria is a beautiful city if you ask me. Living in Virginia my whole life has been a journey since I moved around a lot. My parents moved here from Pakistan when they were sixteen for better opportunities, economical reasons, and political reasons. Virginia has had political problems but without a couple of important people, it wouldn’t have been stable as it is now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Virginia
Some of our founding fathers who played a great role in our country are from Virginia. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the declaration of independence is from Shadwell, Va. Thomas Jefferson cared about the people’s rights and equality. Not to mention he made the Louisiana Purchase which doubled our nations size in 1803 when he was our nation’s third President. He then sent Louis and Clark on a journey to explore a passage to the Pacific Ocean through the land of rivers that he had purchased. Another achievement of his is that he wrote The Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom in 1777. Again he cared about people’s equality so he wanted everyone in Virginia to practice whatever religion they wanted to practice. It started getting popular so they considered it to be in the constitution through the addition of the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights.
Another important person from Virginia was George Washington. Everyone in the world most likely knows about him since he was the First President of The United State of America. Not only was he our President of our country at the time, but he also was the commander in chief of the continental army during the American Revolutionary War. He served two terms in office as our president. His house is located just down river from Alexandria, VA and it is preserved today as the Mount Vernon estate.
James Madison who was our fourth president was also a Virginia native. He made a major contribution to the ratification of the constitution by writing the federalist papers. Later he was known as the Father of the Constitution because his Virginia Plan of government helped outline the structure of our nations government into three branches. President James Madison declared war on Britain during the war of 1812 in order to protect our western frontier and establish a strong navy that would protect our overseas trade.
In addition, George Mason was a founding father from Mason Neck, Va. He was born in the same county I was born in which is Fairfax County. He influenced Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence by his emphasis on John Locke’s theory of inalienable rights. Inalienable rights are rights that can’t be taken away from we the people. He also helped in creating the Bill of Rights.
Another of our Founding Fathers was Patrick Henry. He was born in a farmhouse called Studley. It is located in Hanover County Virginia. He was known as Virginia’s strongest patriot during the American Revolution for the famous quote “Give me liberty, or give me death.” He said this as a member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses in order to convince neutrals and loyalists to join the fight for independence. He also influenced the writings of the Bill of Rights.
