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bjbjD Hi! This is DFH with Ruthie Oberg. It was on July 30 of 1619 that the the first
elected legislative assembly in the New World convened in Jamestown, Virginia, in the austere
setting of the choir loft of the town church. They called it the House of Burgesses Burgess
being an old English word for citizens. Every free adult male had been given a vote to choose
representatives to establish the laws that would make life in Jamestown a pleasant and
well functioning place for its inhabitants. The first law they passed? Well, it was an
economic one setting the price for tobacco at three shillings per pound. Other laws passed
during that first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness,
idleness, and mandatory observance of the Sabbath. Sir George Yeardley served two terms
as Virginia governor and made many progressive changes. Many of the colonists felt that,
although he was tough, his leadership was good for the colony. This is one of the hard
lessons of leadership sometimes the best decisions are some of the toughest to make. When changes
need to be made it is leadership who must see them through to their conclusion. And
they WILL NOT always be popular. But the choices we make as leaders will affect the generations
who follow us. Yeardley s House of Burgesses paved the way for future freely elected legislative
bodies. Imagine the direction our form of government could have taken if those early
Jamestown leaders had chosen to continue with the status quo of leadership based squarely
on birth and social status? We admire men and women who show bravery in their decisions.
We all need to take a look at our own lives and provide the self-leadership that is necessary
to make the tough decisions and to make them GOOD decisions. This is DFH with Ruthie Oberg.
Special thanks to today s guest scriptwriter, Brent Stokes. :pj{ urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
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