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What happened 400 years ago today
The great American Experiment of government by the people was born on July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. But the groundwork for that fateful day was laid 157 years earlier at a small church in Virginia.
On July 30, 1619, the first legislative assembly in what would become the United States of America met in Jamestown. Known as “the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World,” the House of Burgesses is now known as the Virginia General Assembly.
 Watch: President Trump commemorates 400 years of American democracy
“On this day in 1619, just a mile south of where we are gathered now, 22 newly elected members of the House of Burgesses assembled in a small wooden church,” President Trump said today in Williamsburg, Virginia. “They were adventurers and explorers, farmers and planters, soldiers, scholars, and clergymen. All had struggled, all had suffered, and all had sacrificed in pursuit of one wild and very improbable dream.”
They called that dream “Virginia,” the President added.
The Jamestown settlers’ story is well-known to most American schoolchildren, but it’s worth reflecting on just how daunting the challenges that faced these pioneers were. They arrived in America during what we now know was one of the worst droughts in over seven centuries. In their third winter in the New World, known as the “Starving Time,” a population of around 500 settlers was reduced to 60. The rest didn’t make it to spring.
“Together, the settlers forged what would become the timeless traits of the American character,” President Trump said. “They worked hard. They had courage in abundance and a wealth of self-reliance.”
When the Virginia Colony formed that first legislative body 400 years ago today, it laid the groundwork for what would become the greatest nation on Earth—with democracy at its core. From city councils and state capitols to the halls of Congress, legislative bodies across America continue to deliberate and represent the will of the people.
“In our time, we must vigorously defend those cherished democratic traditions that have made our beloved Republic the envy of the entire world,” President Trump says.
Read President Trump’s full message on today’s 400th Anniversary.
 President Trump: Our hard-won culture must be preserved. |
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Video of the day: Our 9/11 heroes won’t be left behind
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Yesterday, President Trump kept America’s promise to all those who answered the call to serve during and following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Surrounded by first responders and the families of victims, the President signed into law a permanent authorization of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.
“We have an obligation, and it’s a sacred obligation, to the families and first responders of 9/11,” the President said in the Rose Garden.
In the wake of those attacks, more than 2,000 of these brave men and women have died from illnesses related to the toxic fallout from that day. Nearly 18 years later, thousands more fight the same battle.
Now, these heroes and their families will always have the financial support they need. |
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| Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead |
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| The Mace of the Virginia House of Delegates is seen as President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the First Representative Legislative Assembly at the Jamestown Settlement Museum | July 30, 2019 |
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