They Say 2: Bacon's Rebellion

There are many different views about the first known rebellion of the English colonies; otherwise known as Bacon’s Rebellion. What I know from reading about it is that Bacon’s Rebellion was an event in the 17th century led by a man named Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon was a fairly new planter in the colony and was very unhappy with the conditions of the government on the coast of Virginia. According to the essay “Whether They be Friends or Foes” written by Michael J. Puglisi, “The frontier colonists were apparently dissatisfied with the conditions of the government efforts to protect their new settlements” (77). Howard Zinn and Rebacca Stefoff, the writers of “A Young People’s History of the United States” wrote, “It was not a war of American colonists against the British. Instead, Bacon’s rebellion was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies. One was the Indians. The other was the colonists’ own rich and privileged leaders” (35). According to Zinn and Stefoff, “Bacon’s Rebellion came about because of a chain of oppression in Virginia” (38). Basically the authors are stating why the rebellion was started.

Bacon was a considerably wealthy man and though he was new to the colony, he had extremely high hopes of leading a band if over 500 men to defeat the Indians. As Zinn and Stefoff stated, "He probably cared more about fighting the Indians than about helping the poor" (37). According to Puglisi, Bacon "received an appointment to the Governor's council at the age of twenty-nine" (77). William Berkeley had appointed Bacon and later on accused him of being a traitor.

There were many disputes between the English and the Indians. As Document #2 "A True Narrative of the Late Rebellion in Virginia" written by the Royal Commissioners, states "...certain Doegs and Susquahanok Indians on the Mary-lands side, stealing some Hoggs from the English at Potomakeon, on the Virginian shore... were pursued by the English in a Boate, beaten or kill'd and the hoggs taken from them..." In the actual document, the Indians had taken hogs from the English because they reported that the English had pretty much cheated them on a deal so the Indians "...took his hogs for Satisfaction." Basically the Indians were upset and retaliated by stealing from the English. The English men then hunted the Indians down and beat and killed them. They then confronted the King whom "... pleaded Ignorance and Slipt loos..." so the English shot and killed him with a pistol.

In "A Young People's History of the United States", Zinn and Stefoff stated that "More than half the colonists who came to North America came as servants" (41). After their indenture as a servant was up they were basically free to live like normal human beings. All in all, Bacon's Rebellion lead to the fact that it was better to not ignore the Indians because it would frustrate whites living near the frontier. Bacon's Rebellion did not last long after his death at the age of twenty-nine, shortly after he was appointed by Berkeley.