Nathaniel Bacon was a settler of the Virginia colony, Virginia planter and the leader of the Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676. Nathaniel Bacon was born on January 2, 1647, to Thomas and Elizabeth Bacon in Suffolk, England. Bacon came from a rich family and, therefore, had the opportunity, and the financial backing, to have an exceptional education. Bacon arrived in Virginia in 1674 with both money and guidance to his benefit. Governor William Berkeley helped Bacon settle in Jamestown. Berkeley later offered Bacon a seat on the council. In 1676, Bacon’s rebellion began. The rebellion was a conflict between the wealthy planters of Virginia, like Bacon himself, and the Native Indians. Governor Sir William Berkeley, was a cruel and selfish man. He ruled the colony completely in his own welfares, keeping his subjects in deep poverty by unfair taxes and gaining profit from the fur trade with the Indians. The Indians, specifically the Doeg and the Susquehannock tribes, began to attack the settlers along the frontier. The Indians would raid livestock, steal food and supplies, attack farms, and sometimes murder settlers. To protect his profitable fur trade Berkeley did not …show more content…
Bacon and his men destroyed an Occaneechi village, killing men, women, and children. The Occaneechi had always been friendly to the settlers. Friendly enough to agree to fight against the Susquehannocks tribe. Governor Berkley believed that his actions would make the relationship with the Indians worse and also disrupt his fur trade. Bacon’s rebellion also occurred to question Berkeley’s rule as a governor. The colony had a disorganized political structure, and Berkeley also didn’t allow Bacon to be a part of the fur trade with the Native Indians. This helped to stimulate a widespread rebellion against Berkeley, who had unsuccessfully addressed the burdens of the
In addition, Berkeley lost a great amount of his colony because he protected the Indian land, limiting many settlers the opportunity to obtain land and their liberty. Liberty during 1676 meant owning land and is why Bacon fought for their opportunity to obtain
On 22 April 1677 Charles II’s commissioners, Sir John Berry, Colonel Herbert Jeffreys and Francis Moryson, visited the colony’s governor, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances, at Green Spring House. The three men had been sent to Virginia with a large armed force to suppress Bacon’s Rebellion and discover its causes by hearing the people’s grievances. The commissioners’ purpose was to bid farewell to the governor, whom the king had summoned to England. Colonel Jeffreys, who commanded the English troops, was designated to replace Berkeley during the latter’s absence. However, Berkeley was old and frail and unlikely to return to the colonyOn 22 April 1677 Charles II’s commissioners, Sir John Berry, Colonel Herbert Jeffreys and Francis
In this document Bacon declares himself General by the consent of the people and asserts that Governor Sir William Berkeley and his supporters have used their power to commit crimes against the people of Virginia and the English Crown. The document cites eight grievances related to unjust taxes, inadequate protection from the Indians, and government corruption. Bacon calls for the immediate surrender or capture of Berkeley and 23
King Philips War created immense fear and hatred towards Native Americans and caused rebellions throughout the English colonies, the greatest rebellion being Bacons Rebellion. Ironically, the rebellion began with a pig. A group of Doug Indians took some pigs as payment for a debt that planter Thomas Matthew owed them. Due to the act, Matthew gathered a group of family members and neighbors to track down the Doug Indians, capture them, and beat most of them to death. In retaliation, the surviving Indians attacked Matthews’s plantation and killed one of his indentured servants.
The colonists were taking the Native American's property and taking advantage of the native Americans in the trade by getting them drunk so they could get more land. King Philip, the religious leader the Native Americans.
Bacon’s followers into rebellion. Frances Berkeley’s statement was witnessed and signed by Sir William, Sir Henry Chicheley, a member of the Council of State, the Reverend John Clough, rector of James City Parish, and Captain James Crews. The latter’s presence at Green Spring is puzzling.19 Crews had urged Bacon to take the illegal action of leading armed men against the Indians without a commission from Berkeley. He was executed at Green Spring in January 1677 for his part in the rebellion. Crews may have visited the Berkeleys after his election to the June Assembly, 1676, perhaps to try and bring about some resolution of the struggle between Berkeley and Bacon.
From 1607 to the year before the Declaration of Independence, democratic society had been developing in the colonies over time through specific events. From religion to politics to social class, people looking to change the their lifestyle has done so with their own ideals in mind. Both the Zenger case of 1734 and Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 are examples of people who found the government unjust taking matters into their own hands. While Bacon was more violent in his efforts compared to Zenger in his methods, both contributed to the development of a more democratic society in the colonies, and distancing from the monarchy of their matriarch. Nathaniel Bacon was the leader in a rebellion against what he deemed an unjust government.
Unfortunately, British settlers at Jamestown and the Algonquian tribe had a strained relationship. When looking at primary documents, it is evident that there was a great deal of enmity between them. In Document 3-1 of Reading The American Past, an indentured servant describes some of the horrors that he witnessed during a surprise attack from the Algonquian tribe. He mentions how 26 men were killed by natives and a captain was decapitated. Furthermore, fear was struck into their hearts when they realized all the weapons and armor were stolen.
(McCulley, 1987) Historians have found out that the real issue that caused Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion was his stubbornness, selfishness and as well as, the unlucky choices and decisions Governor Sir William Berkeley made for appointment. People may specifically point fingers to a number of reasons for Bacon's rebellion, they may include the following: economic problems, competition
Howard Zinn discussed the actuality of Colonial America, in which the wealthy handled poor whites, black slaves, and Native Americans as undesirables. Zinn’s thesis was the idea of plutocracy, government by the wealthy, controlling American society. Class lines hardened, distinctions between rich and poor became sharper. Wealth equated to power, slaves, and estate subsequently, fortifying their superiority over the disadvantaged. This inequality of wealth and power caused disapprobation among the impoverished populace and defiances such as Bacon’s Rebellion undertook.
The Bacons rebellion, King Phillip War , Glorious Revolution was the reason for the Colonial crisis. The power struggle between stubborn, selfish leaders is what caused economic issues, including the right to vote, and a decrease in crop’s for survival. The social class, making the poor an established name of category is what created more crisis. The Salem Witch trials reflected on the colonial crisis in many ways.
During the 1650s, Virginia had land that had became available for colonial settlement because of the removal of an Indian Tribe. The Meherrin took this opportunity and distributed among the land. However, controversies arose over the colonial boundary lines between Virginia and North Carolina. As a result of the disputes over the land, the Meherrin were attacked during Bacon's Rebellion. To settle their
The result of the Bacon’s Rebellion made a establishment of hierarchies based on class, but hidden by race. The Bacon’s Rebellion had to do with the environment because there was a significant deal of social mobility, but this gave the colonist anxiety. The colonists faced lack of stability and an uncertain future, plus a chance of social mobility. Therefore, this became a conflict as individuals fought for nature's
King Philips War and Bacon’s Rebellion were two pivotal points in early American history. Ironically, they both shared many similarities between them. There are three main points of discussion in comparison of the two conflicts: 1) why the fighting started, 2) what they were fighting over, and finally 3) who they were fighting against. Each of these conflicts resulted in tragic loss of many lives of settlers and Indians and caused even more tension between the English and the Native Americans.
This led to Bacon’s Rebellion, a gang of impoverished and landless former servants attacked the capital of the colony and plundered the homes of the wealthy. Both colonies constituted a successful form of government; however, both governments were carried out in dissimilar ways. The establishment of two primitive English colonies, Jamestown and Massachusetts Bay Colony had many homogeneous attributes and differences. Both had an adequate relationship with the Native Americans that deteriorated and