SUMMARY
Richard Bland was a Virginia planter and statesman whose prolific writings on the colonial right to self-governance helped shape Virginia political opinion in the years leading up to the American Revolution (1775–1783). Bland served as a representative in the House of Burgesses (1742–1776), a member of the Virginia Committees of Correspondence (1773–1775) and Safety (1775–1776), and a delegate to five Virginia Conventions (1774–1776), and was elected to the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774–1775). A dedicated student of history and law who attended the College of William and Mary, Bland was described by Thomas Jefferson as “the most learned and logical” political leader of his generation. Bland first emerged as a defender of Virginia’s rights during the pistole fee dispute, and became well known for his resistance to British interference in Virginia government, whether from Parliament, the colonial governor, or the Church of England. A