Excerpt from John Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Vol. 35: Under the Direction of the Department of History, Political Economy, and Political Science This study of the Virginia committee system in its rela tionship to the American Revolution has been made in the main from source material, much of which has been utilized by writers who have studied these committees as isolated units rather than as parts of a well developed system. The author believes that an institutional and historical continu ity runs through the committee system of the Virginia legis lature, and that these committees are connected in a vital and intimate way with the so-called revolutionary commit tees of the transition period from colony to commonwealth. To show the continuity, to explain the organization of the committees of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and to show their part in the calling of the first Continental Con gress is the purpose of this study. It was at first intended to include the results of an investigation of the so-called revolutionary committees (the Virginia Committee of Safety and the local committees) but any adequate treat ment of these organizations would have carried this study far beyond the usual limits of a dissertation. I have fol lowed out the activities of these committees and hope soon to publish my findings as a continuation of this study. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.