Bacon's Rebellion: Victim Or Villain?

The topic of Bacon’s Rebellion has been heavily debated for centuries and is filled with much controversy. Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676-1677, was an uprising of the settlers in the colony of
Virginia against the Natives and the governor (Rice 1). The settlers believed that the government was doing too little to protect them from Indian attacks. The leader of the rebels, Nathaniel
Bacon, demanded a commission to fight the Natives and clashed with Governor Berkeley on several occasions when he was refused the commission (Stanard 75-80). Eventually, the tension became so intense that Bacon burnt Jamestown, the capital of Virginia (Rice 11). Some scholars call the rebellion justified and consider Governor Berkeley a scoundrel. Others, label Bacon

Of the two conflicting views of Bacon’s Rebellion- that the villain was either Bacon or
Berkeley– I agree that Berkeley was the villain in the story, and that Bacon was right to rebel against him.
Nathaniel Bacon is often seen as a selfish and radical rebel who was jealous of the elites, including Governor Berkeley, and wanted to defeat all Native Americans surrounding Virginia.
The National Park Service records that Bacon was a stubborn, plotting problem maker
(McCulley 2). Furthermore, it states that Bacon’s father sent him to Virginia in “hope that he would mature” (McCulley 2). However, his father’s efforts were in vain. Bacon remained a troublemaker and used his plotting skills to act on the jealousy he had for the wealthy Virginian elites. Robert Beverly, the author of The History and Present State of Virginia, proposed that
Bacon and other rebel leaders were “well-to-do men...who were excluded from the powered elite” (Beverly 1). It is further suggested that these men were not included in the monopolized
Watson 3 trade with the Natives, because Berkeley only extended that right to his elite friends. According to this view, it was the jealousy of Bacon and fellow aristocrats who were barred from

This view suggests that Bacon and others began the rebellion to fight against both Native enemies and allies for personal gain. While it is true that Bacon did lead attacks against friendly Natives, I have not found solid evidence that suggests Bacon was seeking to use the rebellion to win slaves and property (Rice 4). Nevertheless, many believe that Bacon began the rebellion due to jealousy and want of power and money.
On the other end of the spectrum, many consider Bacon to be a heroic fighter against tyranny, and name Governor Berkeley as the villain in this story. To understand this concept, one must know about Governor Berkeley’s flaws and failures. In Bacon’s Bacon’s Rebellion: The
Declaration, he points out eight of the major faults that Governor Berkeley has committed against the people and the King. These include unjust taxes and voting laws, corruptly appointing favored people as judges, monopolizing trade with Natives and therefore tolerating their attacks, as well as preventing the army from pursuing Native enemies (Bacon and Sherwood 2-9). Mary
Stanard also records these grievances in her work, The Story of Bacon’s Rebellion (Stanard