First Charter of Virginia
XV above reads: Also we do, for us, our heirs, and successors, declare, by these presents, that all and every the persons, being our subjects, which shall dwell and inhabit within every or any of the said several colonies and plantations, and every of their children, which shall happen to be born within any of the limits and precincts of the said several colonies and plantations, shall have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities, within any of our other dominions, to all intents and purposes, as if they had been abiding and born, within this our realm of England, or any other of our said dominions.
King James I’s charter granting the establishment of the Virginia Colony in 1606 ensured that the colony would be governed by English rule of law and uphold the principles enshrined in the Magna Carta. This charter not only laid the legal framework for governance in the New World but also conferred upon the colony’s inhabitants the status of British subjects, thus extending to them all legal rights and privileges associated with being an Englishman. As a result, those born in Virginia were granted the same legal protections and civic rights as their counterparts in England, reinforcing the colony’s integration into the British legal and political system.