What is the Virginia House of Burgesses?

The Virginia House of Burgesses / ˈbɜrdʒəsɪz / was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America and to make conditions in the colony more agreeable for its current inhabitants.

The House of Burgesses was the first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies.