Episode 1: The First General Assembly

Self-rule: the great gift of Jamestown to the American experiment. Jamestown is not what we would call a free society, yet it was crucial in forming our American understanding of the principle of self-governance. Driven out of necessity, members of the colony embraced the influence of common law and parliamentary rule to create the first-ever example of a mixed government system in the western world — and more importantly, the first ever example of self-rule.