The House of Burgesses

Here's something I found out about the House of Burgesses in the New World:

In 1617, the officers of the Virginia Company of London embarked upon a series of reforms designed to attract more people to the troubled settlement. They began by ending the company monopoly on land ownership, believing that the colonists would display greater initiative if they had an ownership position on the venture. The changes encouraged private investment from the colony's settlers which allowed them to own their own land rather than simply being sharecroppers. Four large corporations, termed citties [sic], were designated to encompass the developed portion of the colony. Company officials also made justice in Virginia more predictable by adopting English Common Law as the basis of their system, which replaced the whims of the governor as the final voice on legal matters. In 1620, in an effort to create a more stable society, the company dispatched a boatload of marriageable women to the colony; the going rate was 120 pounds of tobacco for each bride. The women did not know that they would get married.^{[citation needed]}

The changes in 1619 also created a legislative body to be selected by the colonists called the House of Burgesses, similar to the British Parliament, that would meet once annually at Jamestown. (In Bermuda, previously part of Virginia, the House of Assembly was created that same year).

I got this from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Burgesses