The dates chosen mark the period in 1619 when the first representative legislative assembly in the New World, known as the House of Burgesses, met at Jamestown. This first meeting established the idea of self-government and provided the seedbed for the eventual institutionalization of representative government in the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Special activities included an official Constitution Day ceremony with state senators and historians as guest speakers, a fife and drum corps, reenactments of the First Assembly by the St. Marie's Cittie Militia, a band concert and a day full of fun-filled activities for children. The highlight of the final day was a naturalization ceremony held at the Robert Hunt Shrine to indoctrinate new U.S. citizens. The Jamestown Quadricentennial will be in 2007.
Planning is already at the national level.
It will no doubt be another major celebration commemorating the settlement of Jamestown and the birth of English America. May 28, 1822. Washington, D.C., 1958. The Cradle of the Republic. Hermitage Press, Richmond, Virginia, 1906.