On March 6, 1918, the General Assembly declared the American Dogwood, known technically as the Cornus Florida or Flowering Dogwood, as the official state flower in Virginia. It was not until 1940 that the state legislature officially adopted its state song. At this time, "Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny," written by James A. Bland, a South Carolina Negro, was declared the state song although it had been widely recognized and sung by many generations of Virginians. The Cardinal, known technically as the Cardinalis Virginianus, is considered the official State Bird. SUMMARY Fundamental state laws for Virginia are found in a written constitution, originally adopted in 1776. The United States Constitution provides not only the framework for our national government but also the relationships between the national government and the individual states. With the exception of these restrictions, the state constitution determines the political structure or organization within the state area and the various powers and functions granted to each governmental agency. Like all governments established by state constitutions, the state government of Virginia consists of three departments: the legislative, executive and judiciary departments. The Virginia Bill of Rights, written by George Mason, furnished a pattern for the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution as well as for numerous state bills of rights. The significance attached to voting even in the early post-Revolutionary period is obvious by the location of the voting qualifications in the Virginia Constitution directly following the Bill of Rights. Some unique features about government in Virginia include Section 58 of Article IV which lists a series of prohibitions on the General Assembly as a protection for individual liberties, the fact that the Governor cannot succeed himself (only sixteen states have this restriction), the existence of three types of county government (the County Executive, the County Manager and the County Board), the lack of a village form of local government, the existence of thirty-two independent cities and the existence of three forms of city government (Mayor-Council, Commission and City Manager).