 The area 's history begins with several indigenous groups , including the Powhatan . In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony . Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colony 's early politics and plantation economy . Virginia was one of the 13 Colonies in the American Revolution and joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War , during which Richmond was made the Confederate capital and Virginia 's northwestern counties seceded to form the state of West Virginia . Although the Commonwealth was under one @-@ party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction , both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia . 
