The story of Virginia’s Gateway Region began long before modern industry, interstate highways and global commerce. It began on fertile farmland, along thriving waterways and in communities where agriculture and representative government helped shape a new nation.
As part of VGR250, our series celebrating the people, places and moments that helped define both our region and America’s founding, we traveled to Prince George County Founder’s Day, where we caught up with living history interpreter Charles Wissinger portraying Richard Bland. Through his portrayal, one of colonial Virginia’s most influential statesmen reflects on agriculture, public service and the principles that helped lay the groundwork for the American Revolution.
How did your life as a planter influence your work as a representative?
I learned how to be a farmer, and I learned the ways of rotating the crops. Tobacco destroys the fields when you farm it, so being able to rotate different crops created the money to fund my plantation and other endeavors.
Why was tobacco so important to Virginia’s prosperity, and what led you to grow crops such as wheat, corn, rye and barley?
Tobacco is the cash crop of Virginia, and you can use it almost like money. But, as I said before, tobacco destroys the land when you raise it. As my farmlands grew, and as Virginia grew as a colony, it was natural to expand what we could do by growing wheat, barley and other crops. Virginia was more agricultural than some of the other colonies, and agriculture was what supported our economy.
Why did your family choose to settle in Prince George County?
Prince George County was not here before my birth. It was part of Charles City County. My mother’s family, the Randolphs, lived at Turkey Island, and after my parents passed away when I was about 10 years old, I was raised by my grandparents there. Later I established my own place at Jordan’s Point. After the new county was created, it felt right to continue living here. It was already a well-established area and the crops were prosperous.
What challenges did Virginia planters face in earning a living?
In the 1750s, we faced several years of drought. When there is a drought, the crops suffer, and because tobacco was our cash crop, tobacco suffered greatly. As a delegate representing Prince George County, I fought to regulate the price of tobacco through the Two Penny Act to help save Virginia from bankruptcy and ease the tax burden on individual planters. Agriculture was our mode of income. It was what supported Virginia and our economy.
How did Britain’s trade laws affect Virginia’s planters and merchants?
Parliament and the King were allowed to tax our imports and exports. But the taxes inside the colony were largely handled by the House of Burgesses. The elected representatives from each county debated those taxes because they represented the people of Virginia. If Parliament said we needed to pay for something, it was up to Virginians to decide how those taxes would work here.
Why did you believe Virginians should govern their own affairs?
We already had legal representation. The people of each county elected representatives to serve in the House of Burgesses, and we had been governing ourselves for almost 150 years before the American Revolution. Because we were 3,000 miles from Parliament, we handled our own affairs here. When Parliament passed measures like the Stamp Act, the Molasses Act and other taxes without consulting our House of Burgesses, we believed those were illegal acts. We had no representation in Parliament. That is why the idea of ‘no taxation without representation’ mattered. We believed Virginians should have the right to govern Virginians.
What do you hope people remember as your legacy?
The American Revolution started before the first shots were fired. It began with the legal questions surrounding the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts and other acts of Parliament that I argued against. The question was never simply whether Virginians should pay taxes. The question was who had the right to tax Virginians. I believed that right belonged to our own legal representatives, not to Parliament.
What advice would you give future leaders of Prince George County?
In my time, we did not actively seek office. It was not about creating power or becoming rich. A representative is there to serve the people and remember that it is not the representatives who are in charge; it is the people. That is what I would suggest for the future leaders of Virginia.