What event marked the beginning of representative government in North America?

The establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619 is a pivotal event in American history as it marked the beginning of a formal, representative legislative body in North America. The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first elected assembly in the New World, and it allowed colonists in Virginia to have a voice in their governance, establishing a precedent for representative government.

This assembly was composed of elected representatives from various local areas of Virginia, and it played a significant role in making decisions about local laws and governance. This step towards self-governance laid the foundation for the principles of democracy that would later be fundamental in the development of the United States.

In contrast, while the Mayflower Compact is often viewed as an early form of self-governance in the Plymouth Colony, it was more of a social contract rather than a representative government structure. The founding of Plymouth Colony and the organization of the Second Continental Congress were also important events, but they did not establish the representative, legislative framework that the House of Burgesses did.