Coxe, senator, and all of our distinguished guest, welcome. I have a great honor to serve as chief executive officer for preservation virginia. Deskhalf of president ial preservation virginia board of trustees, i share our appreciation for friends and partners gathered today and Technology Leadership of the administration, the General Assembly, american revolution, and the James Northam foundation. As special appreciation to our partners in the National Park service, the representatives, and members of the family society. Today, we commemorate the events that occurred on the site 47 years ago the distinguished speakers who follow me will capture the importance of these proceedings and the direct influence still felt today. Hope it will define this place with the persistent efforts of women who ensured its preservation. Within these walls would have been lost were not for the vision and dedication of women. 1889, they founded the association for the preservation of virginia antiquity. The goal was to save and restore landscapes and buildings that embodied the tradition. The women established an organization, the first in the nation. Over 130 years ago and have saved more than 500,000 virginia Historic Places. Never straying from their vision, they were successful entertainment 22 acres, including the 17th century turkey tower and the foundations of the old churches. Within that first decade, the ladies convinced congress to build a sea wall jamestown from further erosion. Preservation virginia founders built alliances with many family descendents and descendent societies represented here to construct this church, monuments and gates in advance of the anniversary. Connections between these organizations and this place of historic memory remain resolute. In the early years, three women launched an excavation to find the foundation where the First Assembly met. Their careful notes provided clues to marianna hartley, jamestown rediscoverys senior archaeologist who, in 2015, led only the second archaeological investigation of this church. They carefully peeled back layers of concrete and brick to find evidence of the 16th 17 church and its Foundation Evidence of the 1627 church and its foundation. There were looking at the cobblestone that literally an representsguratively the foundations of our democracy. Iny unearth the various part that assembly. At historic jamestown and all our programs, we embrace the belief that Historic Places offer singular opportunities to connect present and future generations with all the aspects of our complex history. Standing where history happens offers experiences that are thoughtprovoking. Our preservation efforts strive to capture the complexity of our history and tell the stories of the widely known fingers widely known figures john smith, chief powhatan, governor yardley, and indian women who lived within the walls during the early years, and a teenage girl we called jane, whose butchered remains were found, and an angolan woman captured and brought to jamestown on an english ship. In the 50th anniversary, ongoing in 1984 byitiated dr. Williams and his team. We expand the narrative to andect the perspective follow their footsteps here. Archaeological remains of the 1617 church survive. James Austen Powell remarked on the womens legacy, unselfish devotion. Today we commemorate the First Assembly in 1619, and honor all the men and women who ensured we could stand here with the seeds of our democracy. Thank you and welcome. [applause] Governor Northam good morning and thank you for being here for this correct incredible commemoration tommy good morning at thank you for being here for this incredible commemoration. Historic jamestown, where we are now seated, includes the reconstruction of the jamestown settlement across the causeway and about 22 miles down the colonial parkway, where freedom was ultimately won in 1779, when the world turned upside down at yorktown. This venue includes the First Permanent english settlement, when 104 brave young men and boys landed may 13, 1607. The site includes not just the first english settlement, but also includes the reconstructed remains of colonial virginia at the james river and york river you will find sites directly related to the construction of this nation. And others that involve its near destruction. On this Jamestown Island itself, the site of the first english colony, the earthworks of three civil war forts still exist. When you grow up surrounded by history, you simply accept it as part of your surroundings, it is just home, and this is my home. That is why, when you see a person in the supermarket locally in leggings or a tricorn hat, you must think nothing of it. It is just part of being home. The same goes for native americans and traditional native dress or women in large, elaborate dresses of bygone eras. It is just home. Bygone is what we do. History for many of us is a preoccupation and an occupation. It is a central part of our present and we hope we will always be hope it will always be a respectful part of our future. Our neighbors explore, teach, and they preserve history as a living. Elizabeth, i want to thank you for the many years of what you have done for preservation virginia. Elizabeth and i spent a lot of quality time in 2007 and she has done a marvelous job. We took on the 400th anniversary of Representative Government with all the efforts to better understand the emergence of slavery, the vital role of women then the effects of this colony on indigenous and indigenous native americans. It is a challenge to do better. We have worked at a very hard. Considerable thought has gone into it. I honestly do not know what they did in 1719. I recall what they did in 1819, because i was here. [laughter] but when the 20th century arrived, news accounts indicate the commemoration mostly involve a sustained salute of our english groups. We do appreciate our english roots, it is foundational to our law and our political structure, but now we understand so much more, and it is not by accident we have worked at that. We have examined events that occurred here, including their consequences, intended and unintended, and we have done so much with greater sensitivity and honesty. It seems to me it is our duty, it is our stewardship that we owe each other, it is our stewardship that we owe america. And then, tell it all as best we can, unvarnished. There is history, and there is metairi there is history, and there is memory. I will leave it to the scholars to make distinctions between history and memory, but the two enjoyed a close relationship. Someone once wrote that memory remains a subject of reflection and anxiety, not the least because, as people live longer, more survive without connections to the past, and i identify with that. I cant remember things like i used to. Technology and a far more open approach to history may have changed that. I hope so. Clearly people yearn to better understand their ancestry, but we need to pull apart and closely examine our national dna. Historical milestones including commemorations such as we are celebrating today offer us an opportunity for greater insight and more indepth understanding of our ancestry. We want to remember. We want to commemorate. We want to respect our heritage. It is an honor to be joined by a contemporary leader who embraces the heritage of our parliamentary and legislative form of government. It is my pleasure to introduce to you sir david, former clerk of the house of commons, advisor to the house of commons of the United Kingdom and advisor on all its procedure and businesses. He is the 50th person to hold your role. Sometimes i would need him in the senate of virginia. Sir david hosted a commemoration delegation and has been keenly interested in the history of jamestown and all relevant matters of today. We are honored to welcome sir david to offer remarks on the intersection of our international relations, and our impact on the democracy worldwide. Sir david. [applause] david thank you for that generous, generous greeting. I know some of you must have difficulty seeing me staring into the sun, so you can shut your eyes. There is nothing to see. [laughter] so on this day, on this very day 400 years ago, and in this very place, something very special happened, the first meeting of an elected assembly and what was then the new world. It was a real assembly, not the ceremonial meeting like this, or a ritual, assertive, discursive and ultimately productive. And it sat here at the hottest time of the year, hot enough to kill one of its members, and we all have some idea of what the weather would have been like through those hot days. And a year later, a very similar assembly was held in bermuda. But it is not just in a spirit of antiquarian as him that this event 400 years ago needs to be celebrated and acknowledged, because it is important not only to you all here in virginia, not only throughout the United States and all its state legislatures which give your country its name, but throughout the world, wherever the idea has taken root that people wish to be governed by laws made by their own elected representatives. That is Representative Democracy. So Representative Democracy is not a perfect system of government. It is not the rule of the saints, not even in new england. The 22 burgesses who gathered here for hundred years ago were not exceptionally righteous or upright men, and they were all meant. They were no doubt liable by all the friendship shown to their frailties shown to their successors and elected assemblies that followed all over the world. But the ideal of Representative Democracy, first expressed 2500 years ago in athens, and here again in jamestown for hundred years ago, has survived those centuries of bruising contact with real people. The Jamestown Assembly was the first child of westminster, and a first child occupies a very special place in a parents heart. Across the United States, siblings to the north in canada, south across central and latin america, across africa and asia and as far as australia. There are over 170 members of the interparliamentary union, the union of parliaments and assemblies, and over 70 parliamentary commonwealth association, whose thai i am tie i am wearing today. Forgive the garish colors. Greenland has a parliament, at 64 Degrees North and 52 Degrees South as the Worlds Largest the worlds smallest parliament, and the Falkland Islands, which meets in a building smaller than this. It has eight elected members, but a vigorous democratic tradition, as i have experienced. So this idea, obstructed by authoritarians, resisted by elites, fought by centex, fought by cynics, sometimes bullied, but again and again it rises, the idea of a freely elected representative assembly, wherever people seek freedom and self rule. In the 1950s and 1960s, it happened in the former european colonies in africa and asia. In the 1990s, and central and eastern europe, in the countries freed from soviet control. And most recently, in the countries of the arab spring. And as we meet on the streets of hong kong, the independence of the legislative council, legco, is the principal demand of demonstrators. In sudan, people are fighting and dying for an assembly. So they have one simple remedy, for which thousands have fought and died over the years, to elect their own representatives. And assisting those demands should be a common endeavor between the great representative democracies, foremost among them the United States and the United Kingdom. It is not and it never was quite that simple. As a descendent of british emancipator william wilberforce, im also aware you are marking here the arrival for hundred years ago of the first enslaved african men and women in virginia. In 1619, there was no Representative Democracy for virginias women, nor was there justice for those who already occupied the land. And having an assembly did not and could not even begin to right those wrongs. We also know that around the world, Representative Democracy is under attack from many Different Directions. It will not survive on its own, unless it is defended and sustained, and if need be constructively criticized by engaged citizens, which means us. Modern assemblies are different in forms. Many have sophisticated buildings and staff, temples of democracy, such as jeffersons wonderful capitol in richmond. But they are not different in substance, and the meeting here for hundred years ago of two dozen hot and bothered early settlers in this Little Church marks the humble start of a very big idea, that the best form of that the best form of government is a Representative Democracy and this is the best protection against tyranny. That is why i am profoundly honored to be bringing you tongs from the mother bringing you greetings. Lowlying, marshy field on the banks of a great river. Freedomn echoes that and the rule of law. , july 1619, was a very special day and so is today. Thank you. [applause] sir david, thank you very much for sharing those insightful remarks. I had a number of takeaways but one that stood out, perhaps we should emulate the Falkland Islands and reduce our legislature to eight members. I am trying to figure out who the other seven are going to be. [laughter] it is my pleasure to introduce a very distinguished gentleman and a friend of mine for many years. Ivernor Ralph Northam and have known one another for many years and we share a common alma mater, which happens to be one of the outstanding universities in the commonwealth of virginia. Sometimes known as Virginia Military institute. Our professional interests took us in Different Directions in life. Governor northam went on to be recognized as a skilled pediatric neurologist serving our country as a doctor as i struggled to be a humble smalltown country lawyer. Our careers circled back toward each other in cause of publicly elected service. In some respects, that follows a pattern that began 400 years ago at jamestown. Then, everyone knew each other, for better or for worse. They knew each others strengths, habits, inclinations, all of the attributes that go into the human character and shape of our personal conduct. Think vmi did a world of good for both of us. Everyone gets to show gets shoved into a same space great discipline is imposed upon you. Begin to realize human , asership takes many forms do human ideas. Democracy, you must work out your differences, having workable system grounded on sound principle, ordered by triedandtrue is vitally important to that effort. Partisan rhetoric is a distraction no matter from whom it comes. Governor northam would agree with me, i believe, that we should all be respectful to our virginia ancestors for having set in motion a system of Representative Democracy that enables our people, our citizens and americans to resolve disputes, remain safe and prosper. We are all beneficiaries of that legacy. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinguished honor and pleasure to introduce to you his excellency the 73rd governor of the commonwealth of virginia ralph s northam. [applause] gov. Northam good morning. It is a tremendous privilege to be with all of you here today. Thank you so much for the kind introduction. It is good to share the stage with you and thank you for your leadership in virginia. It is also good to see our lieutenant governor. Thank you for being here in our attorney general. And our attorney general. To our legislators, thank you for your attendance this morning and thank you for your leadership in virginia. I served in the state senate along with my friend the senator and presided over that body as lieutenant governor. That gave me a deep appreciation for the history of the senate as part of our General Assembly. I appreciate senator norman service and leadership in the senate and i feel privileged to be here with him and all of you today commemorating such important events in our state and our countrys history. We are gathered here this morning at the spot where 400 years ago, Representative Democracy began on this continent. We look back across these 400 years as the colony of jamestown and from our perspective, in 2019, it is hard to imagine what life was like in that colony. It is hard to imagine now, when the ideas of america and democracy are so rooted in our minds that jamestown was an experiment that nearly failed. Birth not founded to give to a new way of governing. Or to be an incubator for our lofty ideals of freedom. It was founded to make money for investors and establish a foothold on a new continent. On from agued early high death rate and a martial law style of governance that did not make virginia a very attractive place to come. Potential colonists were not eager to go to virginia. Colony, the men running the Virginia Colony started to make changes to make the place more attractive. With ideas planted by sir edwin sanz, they started talking about a different system of government. They directed the creation of a General Assembly. 30, in very day, july 1619, 22 burgesses met here in this place, this church. This Church Stands on the on the one of which they met. Like today, it was hot. It was humid. For six days, they sweated out the details of what would become our first Representative Government. They built a framework to settle disputes, pass laws, and manage the colony through discussion and legislation. Over the years, and the centuries, as the Jamestown Colony and the Plymouth Colony became 13 colonies, then states, then those states became united as america, the ideals of freedom and Representative Government have flourished here. They spread out from this very ground here in jamestown. That is not the only thing that spread from this place. While we mark this history, we must also remember that it is more complex. The story of virginia is rooted in a simultaneous pursuit of both liberty and in slavery. Enslavement right just a few weeks after enslavement. Just a few weeks after the first General Assembly, a ship arrived carrying stolen African People taken from angola. Again. Re sold and sold the first enslaved africans, people who were not granted the same freedoms that would be given to white landowning colonists. Africansse enslaved joint the thousands of virginias first people, the members of the virginia Indian Tribes who would also wait centuries to have the same freedoms. Hold thesee commemorations of the First Representative Assembly in the free world, we have to remember who included and who it did not. That is the paradox of virginia, of america and of our Representative Democracy. A full accounting demands that we confront and discuss those aspects of our history and it demands that we look not just to a point in time 400 years in the past but at how our commonwealth and country have evolved over the course of those four centuries. In many ways, virginia today represents the best of what it means to be american. We know our diversity is our strength. Refugees, immigrants, and all, like those who stood on this about 400 years ago, come to virginia in search of a better life. Our doors are open and our lights are on. No matter who you are, no matter who you love, and no matter where you came from, you are welcome in virginia. There is nothing, nothing more american than that. Todays we stand here proud of the progress we have made, lets not forget we have a long way to go. Number ofa number, a inequities that continue to exist in virginia and beyond. Inequities in access to a worldclass education. Inequities in access to health care. Inequities in access to business opportunities, to the justice system, and to the voting booth. Of thecommemoration founding of our democracy requires us to examine how we have lived up to our ideals, or failed to do so. It requires we do this work, not just today but every day. And not just with big speeches or commemorative events but with action. I want to thank the many people and organizations that have worked to create this event today. Preservation virginia, the jamestown yorktown foundation, and the National Park service. I want to thank all of those people who worked to preserve these sites here at jamestown and fort monroe. The archaeologists and historians who work to understand what happened here, from the food people eight to the laws they passed the food ate to the laws they passed. If you dont know where you came from, you do not know where you are going rate going great we have to understand america as it was yesterday. Insight is an important part of that understanding this site is an important part of that understanding. I am grateful we come together to talk about all those aspects of our history and the importance of this place and those events 400 years ago. They made us what we are today and they continue to guide us as we work toward a better, a fairer, and a more inclusive tomorrow. May god be with all of you. Thank you very much. [applause] Governor Northam, thank you very much. I listened very intently to some of the cogent comments that you made. The theme of this commemoration was as a result of a lot of deliberate thought. And it was american evolution and we continue to evolve artan back our Representative Democracy and we continue to evolve the rights and respect of minorities. The chair next to me regretfully is vacant today and my friend dating back to before 2007 could not be with us. She was going to share with us and invocation and invocation and i was sitting and i was looking at some of the remarks she would have made and i expected this part from her. May we all be united as brothers and sisters, not because of our differences but because of our love for our god, country, and our commonwealth. Thank you, and. Thank you, ann. We have members of our current Virginia Assembly who represent the burros of the original ouroughs of the original assembly. He will be followed by senator monte mason. James city. S mr. Speaker. [applause] i want to give a few reflections but first i have to say, one of the most blessed people in virginia. It is a Beautiful Day and 35 years ago, when i started as a schoolteacher, i could not imagine standing here today. It is an incredible Representative Democracy. Here is the wonderful thing about virginia. 400 years later, despite the growth in population, the city, suburbs, roads, railways and find spotsou can where things have hardly changed at all. The district i represent is modern and growing and not. Also reach back through time and acquire guidance for the future. The more you look, the more advantages you give yourself to engage in the challenges today. Pastor oakes give you inspiration. Past heroics give you inspiration. Past mistakes really give you guidance. The early days of the first settlements were in certain and full of danger. Life expectancy was abbreviated. It was a young population and mostly male between the ages of 16 and 25. Few children knew their grandchildren grandparents. For the native americans, the settlers were a disruptive force. The indians had flexibility. Houses were not meant to last long because the tribes were often moving within the region from season to season in order to cultivate new land and find game. Was with managed controlled fires. There were no domesticate animals. There were no fences domesticated animals. There were no fences. Settlers began to push back. We have built park. S, and historical river from the james the original settlement. This is the second settlement and it was named for king james son. Irsts tomorrow, anday, most days. Thing you will learn quickly is the governance of the settlement was difficult. Be leadership failed to responsive to the people and their concerns and the system failed. There is aacon, reason why he is memorialized. The common political phrasing time for change echoes through the centuries. What you find right from the beginning is a struggle to find leadership and accountability. Adjustments, dramatic adjustments were often made. You see the process, mucker seagate the foothold democracy gave the foothold. Ive always tried to emphasize the civics. It is flexible as humanity itself. When it came to history, virginians were strong on what might have been and weak about what is. This event, an examination of ourselves as much of a commemoration continues our progress in more inclusive direction. The evolution of our commonwealth is worth understanding. My district offers endless opportunities to learn. [applause] good morning. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to address the assembly on this momentous occasion. Remarkable people have been arriving here for 400 years and years and it has made for rich and dynamic community. If you go back and look at what was happening 400 years ago, i do not see how we could get anymore dynamic or bewildering or contradictory or exciting. Jamestown nearly came to nothing but it survived and cause the world to pivot in ways that remain a challenge to our nation. The instinct for represent of government was strong here. Government wasve strong here. It was not always so in other parts of colonial america. After the english seized New Amsterdam and turned it into new york, the assembly did not take hold until the end of the 17th century. New york gets a few things right, too. The governor was instructed to tolerate all people of all religions and he does so. In the words of one historian, new york becomes a worldly tolerant quite willing to absorb just about everyone. Some things never change. The early inclinations of different colonies, the way we were structured and ordered right from the beginning establishes enduring and lasting characteristics. Written in hiss book published last year in which he titled 1619. Ago, the leadership of the Virginia Company has its mindset to fashion a society that promoted and abiding commitment to anglican ritual and gods word. Just laws and equitable government and an economy based on a wide variety of crops and industries, trade and public works that would benefit the company and the multitudes of settlers. Interested in not surviving. They intended to prosper. Within that core idea the substance of thinking that still animates virginia to this day. Jim points out that sir edwin sanz advocated a colony devoted to the public, a commonwealth that would benefit all those that ventured themselves or their money and represented an improvement on English Society ofrespect to the wellbeing the people. It sounds familiar. He intended that the colony would get there by involving the people in their own public affairs. That made a representative body located in jamestown absolutely essential. That is it. Representative democracy starts here and never stops. You can go through the excellent account of 1619 and read and you will encounter over and over again ideas that endured. , andill also encounter this is the part that is difficult to stomach, you will also encounter ideas on race and enslavement, political participation and basic human rights that have no place in america nor should they have any place anywhere in the world. Anyway you cut it, the godly people at jamestown did ungodly things. This is the story and it is our unvarnished history. Reservation and inspires denunciation. We learn from both. We learn from it all and with this commemoration, we are intent upon telling the whole story. I am privileged and grateful to represent this region, a community that has stayed interesting and instructive for a very long time. I thank you for your participation. Thank you for your recognition of these important moments and thank you for the opportunity to share these words with you. [applause] thank you, senator mason. [applause] i understand that sir david pointed out that the line from behind is something to challenge but i want to offer you in my case, it is a halo. Let it stand and pray. God of adventure and sustenance, you created all that is and all that will be. We offer you thanks for the work that you started here in this place. You made us a people, you inspired and initiated our efforts toward the participation of all people and the decision that guide our nation. Representative government in our land started here. A vehicle of fairness and the common good started here. We are grateful for the principles that undergird this work. You are the god of truth and we must tell the truth. Some arrived on the shores seeking a better life. Some arrived here looking for freedom. Some arrived seeking economic possibilities. Men and women came here as seekers. The arrival of some marked the end of freedom and shattered the principles we espouse, making a mockery of your dream for the human family. Original inhabitants of this land were pushed aside and suffered at the hands of our forebears. Forbearers. All people are made in your image. As we reflect on our beginnings, we pray that we might learn from the past to enable a better future. Pray that we may passed on put on the armor of light now in this mortal life. We pray that we may be seekers in our time, give us a longing for expansion and opportunity and equality and justice. They seem to be in short supply in our time. We claim to love you without loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We pray that you will move us and galvanize us with such divine love. Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Be swift to love. Make haste to be kind. May the divine mystery who is beyond our ability to know but made us and who loves us and who travels with us, bless us and keep us in peace. Amen. Thank you, reverend. Ofore we conclude, on behalf of the commemoration, i want to extend our janna ryan are genuine appreciation for the appearance of governor Ralph Northam, my friend, the presiding officer of the senate who tries to keep me in order unsuccessfully, just in fairfax and Lieutenant General just in fairfax. We have a number of legislators here, including the president pro tem of the senate. I want to thank all the legacy groups that are here. I saw one young lady from the dar who is looking patriotic and reminded me we need to extend our appreciation. I want to thank all the members of the General Assembly who are here. With that, and we will adjourn and continue the commemoration activities over at the jamestown settlement. Thank you for being here. [applause] this year works the 400th anniversary of the first meeting of the virginia General Assembly in jamestown which established Representative Government and the colony. In the colony. You can watch more on this anniversary on the American History tv website. From the early 1960s until about 1980, filmmaker Robert Newman produced a number of documentaries on social justice issues for the United Church associated with an United Church of christ. Next, duffe dissent of the gove, the duffey campaign in 1970. Activist who one the democratic mary but