Early Political Career
Bland served as a Justice of the Peace in Prince George County, and was made an officer in the militia in 1739. In 1742 he was first elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. He would serve there continuously until it was displaced during the American Revolution. His thoughts and thoughtful work made him one of its leaders, although he was never a strong speaker. However, he was frequently put on committees whose role was to negotiate or frame laws and treaties. He became involved in the creation of pamphlets, or published letters, frequently as an anonymous author.
His first widely distributed public paper came as a result of the Parson's Cause, which was a debate from 1759 to 1760 over the established church and the kind and rate of taxes used to pay the Anglican clergy. His pamphlet A Letter to the Clergy on the Two-penny Act was printed in 1760, as he opposed increasing pay and the creation of a bishop for the colonies.
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