Williamsburg Photos

Williamsburg Photos
Fasttrack Civics Project

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   The photographs below show the reconstructed historic site of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The first picture shows the Capitol - the building where Virginia's elected assembly, called the House of Burgesses, met in colonial times. The fifth picture shows the Governor's Palace, the residence of the royal governor appointed by the British king.
   Williamsburg became the capital of the colony after a fire destroyed Jamestown in 1698. In 1780, during the Revolution, Richmond became Virginia's capital because that was considered a more secure location.
   It was in Williamsburg in May of 1776 that the colony's leaders, meeting in the Capitol as the Virginia Convention, declared independence from Great Britain. They also adopted a resolution urging the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, to do the same.
   The next month, in June, the Virginia Convention voted to adopt George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights. That famous document had a great impact on the independence movement and political thought throughout the colonies. It later became the model for the U.S. Bill of Rights, which became part of the U.S. Constitution.

Williamsburg - British flag over Capitol

The photos are by David Burns.