Nathaniel Bacon's Life After A Scandal In England

You may ask yourself, what even is a rebellion? A rebellion is the act of defying a group of people or a certain person and turning your back on them. Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion put a mark on everything. This was probably one of the biggest rebellions in history. This dates back to the 1600’s. Little did Bacon know that he affected peoples life’s forever and would be talked about in present day.

Thesis: Rice appears to have two major arguments in his book. The first argument is that Bacon’s Rebellion had a lasting impact on early America. He ties the rebellion to later anti-Catholic sentiment and ultimately how the English colonists responded to the Glorious Revolution. His second argument is that race played a significant role in unifying colonists, specifically by giving them an outside enemy and reducing some internal class tensions. This argument culminates in his assertion that Bacon’s Rebellion was critical for the development of the Old South.

In 1676 an uprising occurred known as Bacon’s Rebellion. This Rebellion was lead by Nathaniel Bacon. Virginians who resented Governor William Berkley’s friendly policies towards the Native Americans rose against him by joining the rebellion. “.. For then having expressly countermanded and sent back our army by passing his word for the peaceable demeanor of the said Indians, who immediately prosecuted their evil intentions, committing horrid murders and robberies in all places, being protected by the said engagement and word past of him the said Sir William Berkeley.” (Bacon’s Rebellion: The Declaration) The Declaration of the People of Virginia criticized Berkeley’s administration and its policies. Berkeley was accused of appointing friends

Bacon’s Rebellion is well known to students of colonial America, although no-one has succeeded in writing a convincing account of it. The first question historians asked was who was responsible for the widespread anarchy that followed the breakdown of government authority in the colony between 1676 and 1677. One historian attributes the rebellion to Nathaniel Bacon, and describes Governor Berkeley as a man doing his best to implement sensible policies. Another sees the Rebellion as prefiguring the American Revolution, with Bacon as an early George Washington, already defying British authority. Historians writing more recently explain that neither the rebel nor the governor could have controlled the dangerous economic situation in Virginia where

Hatred was brewing within Virginia, but nothing major broke out until a violent fight spread in the middle of Jamestown between a group of Native Americans and English Settlers. This fight, which was said to have killed 2 settlers and injured many more, was the moment the rebellion truly started (Charles II.). Although the fight was between something small, Bacon used the tension and vulnerability in the colony to spread his message and

It shows the historical trends of conflict between those on the frontier and insiders, and elite consolidation of power, excellently. Bacon’s rebellion had many proximate causes, but no main objectives or driving cause. The story of it is inextricably tied up with the situation in Virginia and the facts on

As the English tried to remake New Netherland into New York and the French attempted to transform New France, Maryland and Virginia experienced drastic changes. These contributed to, and were accelerated by, Bacon’s Rebellion a complex set of events in 1675–1676 that involved war between colonists and Indians as well as a civil war in which whites of every social rank and enslaved Africans joined to topple Virginia’s governor. By the early 1680s, Virginia resembled Barbados. It too had become a society dependent on slavery and founded on the principle of white supremacy. Bacon’s Rebellion remade Virginia’s borders and its politics. Susquehannocks straggled north, where many submitted to the Iroquois. Charles II appointed a commission to investigate

In July 1676, Bacon issued the Declaration of the People of Virginia, a list of complaints against Berkeley. Berkeley tried to rally public support by holding new assembly elections and extending the vote to all freemen, but the new assembly went against the governor, instead passing laws to make government more responsive to the common people and to end greedy office holding (Nash 59). In September 1676, Bacon’s men drove the governor and his supporters across Chesapeake Bay to refuge on the eastern shore and burned Jamestown to the ground to discourage their return. A few weeks later, Bacon suddenly died of dysentery, leaving the movement leaderless. Soon thereafter, an English naval squadron arrived to restore order (Garraty 43).

In Bacon’s “Manifesto” where he justifies his rebellion against Governor Berkeley, he says, “Let truth be bold and all the world know the real foundations of pretended guilt… Let us trace… [the] men in authority and favor to whose hands the dispensation of the countr[y’s] wealth has been committed.” (Document H) All-in-all, Bacon was dissatisfied with Governor

From the American Revolution to the 1950s, the most common understanding of Bacon's Rebellion was that it was a precursor of the American Revolution, a premature revolt against British tyranny that represented but a temporary setback for American liberty.

The question, “Why the fighting started?” isn’t as complicated for King Philips War, as it is when examining Bacon’s Rebellion. Bacon’s rebellion was a result of settlers in the backcountry become upset about the weak efforts of the aristocrats in the East to protect them from Indian attacks. Bacon led the backcountry in attacking the Indians over some land, defying the government of Virginia, which caused fighting to begin not only against the Indians, but also against the Governor and the settlers in Jamestown. In comparison, King Phillip’s war began strictly as the Indians fought to defend their threatened way of life as the English quickly populated New England and destroyed forests. Although Bacon’s rebellion began over more diverse issues, both the rebellion and King Phillips war began over the root issue of English greed and taking

Many of the reasons the American colonies believed they were justified in their rebellion from England lay in trade and taxes. When George III inherited the throne at the end of the Seven Years’ War England’s debt had risen to 145 million pounds and his chief minister believed that the American colonies needed to help shoulder the debt. (Nash, et al., 2007. , p. 134) In attempting to collect these taxes from the colonies to relieve the mounting debt Parliament passed a range of acts, which led to discontent among the colonists as many of them restricted trade, their political maneuverability and left many believing they infringed upon their “right to be taxed only by their own consent.”

The point on taxes identified by Warren is outstanding. From the people in the colonies point of view, it is not legitimate for them to pay taxes that flows to three thousand miles off, which was never been allocated to act for them. I find the Boston Massacre, agonizing event, as the callous act of Hutchinson’s feeble government. Had he been the better governor, massacre would have never been happened. His incompetent decisions had people seen Boston painted with blood of innocent bodies.

In the prologue, President Obama states, “America was made by ordinary people; who kept their moral compass pointed straight and true when the way seemed treacherous, the climb seemed steep, and the future seemed uncertain” (Movie). However, as captivating as this statement is, America: The Story of Us - Episode One: Rebels presents United States history in a manner that largely avoids controversial or sensitive events and blurs the line between fact and fiction. Large portions of history, such as the effects of religion and elitist control, are exempted. These omissions significantly impacted the development of America, and shaped it into what it is today. This is all done in an attempt to generate profit and glorify the American story, resulting

At the dawn of the 1770s, American colonial resentment of the British Parliament in London had been steadily increasing for some time. Retaliating in 1766, Parliament issued the Declaratory Act which repealed most taxes except issued a reinforcement of Parliament’s supremacy. In a fascinating exchange, we see that the Parliament identifies and responds to the colonists main claim; Parliament had no right to directly tax colonists who had no representation in Parliament itself. By asserting Parliamentary supremacy while simultaneously repealing the Stamp Act and scaling back the Sugar Act, Parliament essentially established the hill it would die on, that being its legitimacy. With the stage set for colonial conflict in the 1770s, all but one