----In 1676, Virginia went into a violent revolution against a dictator that abused his power and his citizens. There were two main factions in Bacon’s Rebellion of Virginia. One faction was those who wished to remain loyal to the governor, William Berkeley; these men were almost exclusively grandees, or rich plantation owners whose name is used to denote their lavish lifestyle. The other faction was the rebels, practically only poor farmers and recently released indentured servants struggling to make a living on the harsh frontier. At one point Indians were attacking the colonists on the frontier, Berkeley refused to allow the colonists to kill the Indians. When people were struggling to harvest a living from the land, Berkeley heaped upon them taxes with no apparent cause for the public good. When Berkeley became Governor he was meant to protect, nourish, and help the people. Instead, he abused them and used the power for the betterment of himself and his friends. Berkeley’s misuse of his control over the colonists’ relationships with the Indians and the economy and his blatant accumulation of power were the factors that caused Bacon and his followers to rebel.
----The overt cause for the revolution was the violence that erupted between the Indians and the colonists that was preventable by Berkeley. According to a report by the Royal Commissioners (Document 2), the violence between the Indians and the Colonists started with a misunderstanding over proper payment and escalated from there into full scale raids. During this time, the Susquehannahs murdered “no less than 60 innocent people” over a short period of time, or so the author of one notable manuscript wrote (Document 5). In response to this, Berkeley gathered a force of men in order to retaliate (Document 5). However, Berkeley decided against the military offensive and instead dispersed the force at the last minute for no stated reason (Document 4). Afterwards, according to Mrs. William Bird, messages were sent daily to Governor Berkeley. He continued to do nothing, so Nathaniel Bacon and many frontiersmen took matters into their own hands (Document 14). Because of growing protest, Governor Berkeley decided to create forts at the mouths of each river on the frontier in order to stop the Indians (Document 15). According to The History of Bacon’s and Ingram’s Rebellion, 1676, the forts were intended to stop the Indians, but after a large amount of time and money, they did not live up to their purpose (Document 6). Also, the citizens of the Isle of Wight County stated that they were burdened by even greater taxes to obtain forts that not only didn’t help, but ruined their country (Document 10). Due to that, Bacon stated in his Declaration “Another main article of our giult is our open and manifest aversion of all, not onely the Foreign but the protected and Darling Indians.” He then proceeded to call the Indians robbers, thieves, invaders, barbarous outlaws, and Bacon then moved on to claim that Berkeley supplied them with firearms and ammunition and that Berkeley protected them in order to maintain that lucrative market (Bacon’s Declaration). This shows that Bacon and the frontiersmen have decided to make this a matter, not of colony versus tribe, but of colony versus race, forcing Berkeley to choose a side. He chose, in the frontiersmen’s eyes, the Indians.
----Berkeley blatantly abused his power of the colonists relationships of the Indians and the colonists. The colonists were killing and engaging in guerilla warfare with the Indians, and being killed in alarming numbers. He completely ignored his responsibilities of properly and equally protecting all in his domain at times, as Mrs. William Bird attested. Then, when he did finally decide upon a plan, he decided to build forts at the mouths of the river, and idea that was poorly thought out ended up hurting those it was intended to protect. This misuse of power rightfully angered the frontiersmen and roused them against Berkeley’s cause.
----Another area of Government in which Berkeley misapplied his power was in the economy. One source is Bacon’s Declaration which at one point says “[L]et us also consider wither any Publick work for our safety and defense or for the Advancement and propagation of Trade, liberall Arts or sciences is here Extant in any way adaquate to our vast chardg.” This, in conjunction with a few of his other points, is stated for the purpose of allowing the reader to see how the taxes are spent, not for the public, but for the elite and the Governor’s “cronies.” Robert Beverly opined that one of the four main causes of Bacon’s Rebellion was extreme taxes (Document 1). Not only were the citizens of Virginia overtaxed, but as the citizens of Isle of Wight County stated, their taxation problem was only worsened by Berkeley’s misinformed fort plan (Document 10). Over taxation was not the only economic grievance forced upon the citizens of Virginia by Berkeley. As Nathaniel Bacon put it, “[O]ur present Governor monopolized a trade with the Indians and granted licenses to others to trade with them, for which he had every 3rd skin [beaver or fox pelt]” (Document 12). This shows that Berkeley abused his powers of appropriation of public funds, limitation of taxation, and his hold over the economy.
----It can be seen from these examples that the Governor’s economic policies were not considered beneficial to the general population. Under his plans, the rich were becoming richer, and the poor were either getting poorer or dying. He did create concoct one plan to try and further the good of the general population. Not only did it not work, but it required even more taxes and weren’t paid for by the vast sums of wealth previously accumulated by the years of taxation without return. The monopoly upon fur trade only served to add further insult upon the injury of over taxation. This economic injustice provided yet another reason for the entire colony to rise up and overthrow their current Governor.
----A cause for the leader of the Rebellion, Nathaniel Bacon, to rise up and take a stand was the raw social, political, and economic power that Berkeley so obviously wielded. One obvious case of that power resides in the letter of apology from the citizens of Isle of Wight, where they apologized for their previous letter demeaning the Governor (The William and Mary Quarterly). This shows that he was such a respected figure that, even though they were extremely angry at him, they still feared his wrath. Another point that highlights his power is that he would not have been able to abuse the economy and the Indian/colonist relationships if he did not have large amounts of power under his control. While some might say that Nathaniel Bacon might have had more pure interests at mind, I believe that this testimony that a colonist made after Nathaniel had taken Governor Berkeley’s power, “We were then as unable to resist his will and commands… as his Honor had been in granting his commission…. And for fear of death were all of us forced to do what we did in opposing Sir Wm. Berkeley” (Document 35), suggests otherwise. Also, at one point, Bacon, while in power, supposedly even suggested a recession from England in order to maintain his power, almost definitely knowing that Virginia would be crushed in the attempt (Document 39). These two statements, along with the human allure of power inevitably lead me to the assumption that Nathaniel Bacon did not, after all, have the colonists’ best interests at heart.
----This knowledge has many applications. It can be seen that the rebellion sent many ripples of effect through time. One thing that the colonists complained of was that they were not able to protect themselves because they were not able to own firearms. From then till now, Virginia has remained a very pro-gun culture (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2008/10/will_guns_sink_obama_in_va.html and their pro-gun culture effects the ways people in that state vote. Bacon’s Rebellion, which happened over 300 years ago, might very well have an affect upon who is chosen for the President of the United States this year, and has had affects on who was chosen for the President and, to an even greater extent Governors and Mayors inside of Virginia in past elections. One might argue that without Bacon’s Rebellion, the culture and voting patterns of Virginia, and possibly the entire United States would be noticeably different on this, and many other related matters.
----Bacon’s Rebellion was brought about by Berkeley’s blatant abuse of the power vested in him by the people (through the king). He misused his powers in all areas he could. He misused his military might and his economy, and then was not able to hold his power from those who craved it. It is my opinion that if he had been able to do any of these correctly, the rebellion would have been put down quickly, and possibly would have never occurred at all.
Citations
Isle of Wight County: Papers Relating to Bacon's Rebellion
Lyon G. Tyler
The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct., 1895), pp. 111-115
Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2008/10/will_guns_sink_obama_in_va.html
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