1-301 - Extent of territory of the Commonwealth after the Constitution of
§ 1-301. Extent of territory of the Commonwealth after the Constitution of1776.
The authorities in determining the extent of the territory of theCommonwealth after the adoption of the Constitution of 1776 shall consist of:
1. The charter of April 10, 1606, granted by James the First, in the fourthyear of his reign, that authorized the first plantation at any place upon thecoast of the Commonwealth between the thirty-fourth and forty-first degreesof north latitude; and granted the territory from the seat of the plantation(which under this charter was begun at Jamestown), for 50 miles along thecoast towards the west and southwest, as the coast lay, and for 50 milesalong the coast, towards the east and northeast, or towards the north, as thecoast lay, together with all the islands within 100 miles directly overagainst the seacoast, and all the territory from the same 50 miles every wayon the seacoast, directly into the mainland for the space of 100 miles.
2. The second charter of James, dated May 23, 1609, in the seventh year ofhis reign, that granted all the territory from the point of land called Capeor Point Comfort, all along the seacoast to the northward 200 miles, and fromthe point of Cape Comfort all along the seacoast to the southward 200 miles,and all that space and circuit of land lying from the seacoast of theprecinct, up into the land, throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest,and also all the islands lying within 100 miles along the coast of both seasof the precinct aforesaid.
3. The third charter of James, dated March 12, 1611-12, in the ninth year ofhis reign, that granted all the islands in any part of the seas within 300leagues of any territory granted in the former patents.
4. The 1763 treaty of peace between Great Britain and France that establisheda line along the middle of the river Mississippi and became theCommonwealth's western boundary.
5. Section 21 of the Constitution of Virginia adopted June 29, 1776, thatceded, released, and confirmed to the people of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Northand South Carolina, such parts of the territory of the Commonwealth as werecontained within the charters erecting those colonies, with all the rights inthose parts that might have been claimed by the Commonwealth, except the freenavigation of the Rivers Potomac and Pocomoke, with the property of theCommonwealth shore or strands bordering on either of the rivers, and allimprovements thereon; and that at the same time laid down in the section thatthe western and northern extent of the Commonwealth should in all otherrespects stand as fixed by the charter of James the First, granted in 1609,and by the treaty of peace between Great Britain and France in 1763, unlessby act of the legislature one or more territories should thereafter be laidoff, and governments established, westward of the Alleghany mountains.
(Code 1950, § 7-1; 1966, c. 102, § 7.1-1; 2005, c. 839.)