Humans first settled in Virginia over 5,000 years ago. Around AD 900 the land began to be cultivated and agriculture was practiced. Around 1500, Algonquian Indians established settlements in the Tidewater region, an area of ​​eastern Virginia. Sioux tribes lived to the west and Iroquois had settled to the north and south. From around 1570 the Algonquian tribes united under the chief “Powhatan” to defend themselves against attacks by the other groups on their trade routes. Powhatan controlled more than 30 minor tribes and over 150 settlements. Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Sir Walter Raleigh the right to establish a colony north of Florida in a charter in 1583. A year later, Raleigh launched an expedition to North America. The name Virginia was probably chosen by Raleigh or Elizabeth herself. Because of political considerations, Elizabeth has been stylized since 1578 as the “Virgin Queen”. Along with Kentucky, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Virginia has the term “Commonwealth” in its name, meaning “community” or originally “common good” or political community based on the Roman Res Publica. The state is often referred to as the “Mother of Presidents” because eight American presidents were born there. He belongs to the American southern states. And is landscaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. When the “Virginia Company of London” founded the first British colony in the New World in 1607, slavery still played a very important role in the early history of Virginia. The state entered the American Revolutionary War as one of the thirteen colonies and joined the “Confederacy”. During the Revolutionary War, West Virginia was separated from the territory. The states of Virginia and Maryland ceded part of their territory to form the new District of Columbia in 1790. There the city of Washington was founded on July 16, 1790. Washington, DC, formally called “the District of Columbia” or simply “DC” or “the District”, is the capital of the United States. Later, in 1847, Virginia’s ceded territory was returned to the state in the District of Columbia retrocession. Virginia declared its secession from the United States on April 17, 1861, after the Battle of Fort Sumter, and joined the Confederate States in June 1861. Richmond, Virginia was chosen as the Confederate capital. In 1863, 48 Northwest counties separated to form the new state of West Virginia. More battles took place in Virginia during the Civil War than anywhere else. Virginia was formally reincorporated into the United States of America in 1870. The economy of the state is very balanced. There are many different sources of income. About a third of employees work in the service sector. The state is very prosperous and is home to many of the nation’s leading commercial companies. In Virginia, the highest concentration of employees is in the technology sector. Computer chips are the state’s main export. They have already surpassed the traditional top export values ​​of coal and tobacco. Farms are mainly found in areas like the Shenandoah Valley. Many federal agencies are based in the north of the state. The Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, is in Arlington. Check topschoolsoflaw.com for brief history of the state of Virginia.