Full rough draft 1

In 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion tore Virginia asunder. There were two main factions in this civil disorder. 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, grand lifestyle. The other faction was the rebels, almost exclusively poor farmers and recently released indentured servants struggling to make a living on the harsh frontier. When Indians were attacking the colonists on the frontier, Berkeley refused to allow the colonists to deal with 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 was elected Governor, he was meant to protect, nourish, and help the people; instead he abused them and used the power for his and his friends’ betterment. The misuse of power by Governor Berkley was the main cause for Nathaniel Bacon and his followers to rebel.

The original and most apparent cause for the revolution was the violence between the Indians and the colonists. According to a report by the Royal Commissioners (Document 2), the violence between the Indians and the Colonists started by 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” (Document 5) over a short period of time or so the author of one notable manuscript wrote. In response to this, Berkeley gathered a force of men in order to retaliate, however he decided better of it and instead dispersed them at the last minute for no stated reason (Document 4). Afterwards, according to Mrs. William Bird, messages were sent daily to Governor Berkeley and yet 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). However, according to The History of Bacon’s and Ingram’s Rebellion, 1676 it was designed as to stop the Indians, but after a large amount of time and money, did not live up to its design (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 wrote a Declaration in which he says “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 proceeds to call the Indians robbers, thieves, invaders, barbarous outlaws, and Bacon then moves on to claim Berkeley is supplying them with firearms and ammunition (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.

Berkeley blatantly abused his powers during this period. The colonists were being killed 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 course of action, he decided upon one that was poorly thought out and would end up being essentially nothing but a drain on the funds of those who were already suffering from the attacks. This misuse of power rightfully angered the frontiersmen and roused them against Berkeley’s cause.

Another area of Government that Berkeley misapplied his power was in the economy. One source that points towards this 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 main four causes of Bacon’s Rebellion was extreme taxes (Document 1). Not only were the citizens of Virginia overtaxed, however, as the citizens of Isle of Wight County stated, their taxation problem was only worsened by poorly planned and all but useless forts constructed by Berkeley, paid for by the people (Document 10). Also, 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 other to trade with the for which he had every 3rd skin [beaver or fox pelt].” This shows that Berkeley abused his powers of appropriation of public funds, limitation of taxation, and his hold over the economy.

As you can see from these examples, the Governor’s economic policies were not well liked by the general population. Under his plans, the rich were becoming richer, and the poor were either getting poorer or dying. Also, the one plan he did create to try and further the good of the general population, not only did not work, but required even more taxes as opposed to being 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 displace their current “Governor.”

A cause for the leader, Nathaniel Bacon, to rise up and take a stand resides in the raw 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 (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. Also, he would not be 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 by a colonists, “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 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.

At this point, the reader is probably asking themselves “ok, but how does this apply to me.” Well, the rebellion sent many ripples of effect through time. One thing that the colonists complained of was that they were not able to own firearms, and therefore could not protect themselves. Now, Virginia is a very pro-gun culture (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2008/10/will_guns_sink_obama_in_va.html). One might argue that without Bacon’s Rebellion, their culture could be noticeably different on this, and many other matters.

In conclusion, Bacon’s Rebellion was brought about by Berkeley’s blatant abuse of the power vested in him by the people. 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.