Bacon's Rebellion; Final draft

Bacon’s Rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion was in many ways the beginning of the American Revolution. The Rebellion largely occurred in Jamestown, Virginia, the landing place for colonists in the New World. Coming away from England, this New World allowed the colonists a place for a fresh start. On the surface Bacon’s Rebellion may simply seem only a minor event of American history that involved a conflict between the colonists of Jamestown with both the local Indians as well as the Virginia Company. In fact, Bacon’s Rebellion was much more than that in it was a snapshot of the Revolution roughly 140 years later and its story includes many tantalizing items like blackmail, fear, retaliation, corruption, and injustice. This “New World” would prove to be unlike anything the colonists had ever seen before.

William Berkley was the governor of Jamestown, appointed by King Charles I, in 1639. The governor started his career in James town, being known for his refined optimism.
In The Story of Bacon’s Rebellion-Virginia, 1676 it says, “Green Spring some four miles from James Town had become famous for its atmosphere of refinement and good cheer, and as a resort for wondering cavaliers.” People saw Berkley as a leader they could easily follow and respect and Jamestown as a place they would want to live. Although William Berkley started his career as governor in this way, his reputation changed over the years into being “stern and selfish,” For example, “He was now grown old in years and sadly changed in character serving a third term; reigning, “one night almost say”. Stern and selfish as he had become….”] [13] Berkeley gained a reputation for upholding peace with the Native Americans. This “peace” stirred up anger with the colonists because they felt Berkley favored the Indians. The governor was making good profit by trading with the Indians and he didn’t want to disturb his profitable endeavor.

In Nathanial Bacon, the colonists found someone who was also angry with Berkeley’s protection and “favor” for the Indians. Like the colonists, Nathanial Bacon was loyal to the King of England. However, his loyalty to local government officials (like Berkeley) as almost non-existent. Bacon’s belief that the government favored the Indians’ interests over their own people started the rebellion that resulted in many innocent deaths and racism toward the Indians.

Bacon wanted access to military trained men and access to weapons so that he could attack the Susquehanna Indians. His hatred for them was enough to push him towards being called a traitor by Berkeley, the governor of Virginia. He was called a rebel because he threatened to act without permission. The colonists faced financial hardship--the tobacco sales were down and the Indians ruled a huge percentage of land. The colonists were genuinely in distress and Bacon used their needs as a gateway for power. The issues of the colonists became the surface issue in what was a fight for power between Berkeley and Bacon. Even as Berkeley attempted to remove Bacon from power the governor ended up turning the majority of the settlers against himself.

The colonists took sides with Bacon because they believed he was their best hope for greater living standards. The Colonist of New England Virginia Were mostly indentured servants and lower-class citizens. They were stressed with high taxes, limited use-able land, fear of Indian attacks, and dissatisfied with a corrupt government. The settlers were placed on the back shelf where their ideas, believes, and fears were not considered.

When the Settlers were faced with problems not at all under their general control, they turned to Nathaniel Bacon for help. He seemed to have a desire that matched their own to do whatever it took to get results. Bacon portrayed a perfect hero to the colonists; he stood up to the governor, led a revolt against the Indians, burned down the town, and took up their cause. To the colonists Bacon was better than no hope at all, even though he blackmailed the governor into what he wanted and caused more problems than he actually solved.

The Indians, especially the Susquehanna Indians became hostile after Bacon started attacking without warning. The Indians retaliated by killing colonists, setting traps, and even capturing them. The Indians lived and dominated the New World at first and they could have by right, forcefully pushed the colonists off their land. Much of the time the Indians just made peace (or at least tried). “The susquehannocks were an exceedingly fierce tribe of Indians but were, just then, at peace with the English settlers”. The Indians were inconsistent with how they treated the settlers and would also sometimes be intense and fierce towards the settlers. In a way, the English and the Indians were always fighting, like brothers; if one struck the other, then the other would strike the first, and round it would go more aggressively each time. Eventually, most of the settlers hated keeping the peace with what they saw as a savage people, and they were not shown the respect or given the government’s support they thought they deserved as the established people of Jamestown.

Bacon’s violent actions actual made matters worse for all parties and let to an imbalance between the colonists and Indians. In Whether They be Friends or Foe” by Michael J. Puglisi, he states that “neither group resorted to rebellion against the governments, but both clearly expressed their resentment and dissatisfaction with the treatment they received.” Also, Puglisi gave an in-depth description of Bacon’s rebellion and everything that lead up to it. Although Puglisi did not choose a side, he did give off a sense of understanding to how bacon’s Rebellion was fed mostly on the concept of power. It was a power struggle between Bacon and Berkeley. Bacon’s represented the mistreated colonists and Berkeley represented the upper class and ruling authorities.



Bacon just wanted to self-gain, especially in the area of power. It is clear he did not need money and did not need to start the rebellion to sustain a living. For example, Daily Life on the Old Colonial Frontier by James M. Volo, Dorothy Denneen Volo: states, “Nathaniel bacon was only twenty-six, but he maintained a successful plantation on the James river and had enough wealth and influence to sit on council of the elderly royal government.”[191]. Bacon was far more off than most people in New England. He had money, connections, land, and all of this at a young age. He didn’t need to lead a rebellion because he was not suffering in the way the colonists were.



In a way, what Bacon did is only the forerunner of a very similar problem that we have today in human trafficking. “Human trafficking is a multi- dimensional threat. It deprives people of their human right and freedoms, it is a global health risk and it fuels organized crime.” Human Trafficking is the modern-day form of slavery, and slavery was only a variation on the indenture-servants of Bacon’s day. Bacon used the indentured-servants for his own personal gain even like human traffickers of today use people for their own personal gain. Bacon was not at need for anything. He wanted power and used the need of the peasants and indentured-servants for his own purpose. Berkeley was no better. He was overlooking the needs of the indentured-settlers and favoring the Indians so he good keep power and gain wealth.


Bacon’s rebellion involved a balance of cruelties--all sides were equally wrong. The Indians were not justified when they killed, set traps, and deceived just as the English did to them. But one cannot really side with the English either because they lead a revolt to kill all the Indians, tried to overthrow their government, and also deceived the Indians. Also, Bacon wanted power and Berkeley wanted power. All parties tried to control one another. They all tried to enslave one another and they all wanted freedom and were willing to fight and war because they were afraid. As Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff explain in A Young History of the United States: “this was Bacon’s Rebellion. It was not a war of American Colonists against the British. Instead, Bacon’s Rebellion was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies.” [35] Whether Bacon's Rebellion was right or wrong it still made a significant impact for future generations. It temporarily worked out certain kinks that may have caused an even bigger war for the New England territory, but later came about in the American Revolution. The Rebellion allowed the colonists to move past some of their problems and continue building what they started. It was the beginning for new foundations and establishments. Gradually the colonists moved on with a better system of government. But the rebellion did not fix all of the problems. It took years of wars and problems to help shift New England into a place with more rights and freedoms. Yet, even now our country still has problems like racial discrimination, superiority, lust for power, and the control of people like human trafficking. Bacon’s Rebellion was just a starting point for New England government to be established and built. The Bacon’s Rebellion that included Nathaniel Bacon, William Berkeley, the colonists, and the Indians was a combination of disorganized problems that ultimately resulted in shaping America into what it is now.













Work citation.


www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books.com
"A Note on Historical Interpretation" by Leon J. Goldstein
www.conservapedia.com
47 documents
www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books.com
www.newrivernotes.com
“Whether they be friends or foes” “by Michael J. Puglisi”
www.jstor.org
www.books.google.com/books?