Bacon's Rebellion

This is a re-post from my U.S. History blog.

Bacon's Rebellion took place in 1676 in Virginia Colony. The leader of the rebellion was Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy tobacco planter. Why did he rebel? Was not the fact that his last name evokes the image of smoky crispy strips of goodness good enough for him?

I'm glad you asked. As a matter of fact, I'm here to help y'all find out.

Colonial times in all their fancy-coat-and-hat glory.

Virginia Colony was going through some tough times. Tobacco prices had sunk, and the colony faced competition from the Carolinas and Maryland. On top of that, England had barred trade with France for them, so they lost a whole market. Bad weather didn't help either.

When some Native Americans lead a mini-raid on someone's plantation, the Virginians decided to use them as a scapegoat for their troubles. A series of raids and violence went back and forth on either side, so Governor Berkley decided to pursue a policy of containment of the threat, and just build a bunch of forts. Settlers in the back-country questioned this plan's effectiveness, and many thought it was just an excuse to raise taxes. People didn't like Berkley much, and also accused him of appointing his friends to high government offices. Bacon lead some raids against the Native Americans, (even killing friendly groups), and was elected to the House of Burgesses for his efforts.

Nathaniel Bacon himself. 

Governor Berkley convened the HoB and when Bacon came, tried to have him arrested. This failed, and Bacon gathered his followers and coerced Berkley into allowing him continue his raids on Native Americans. Berkley agreed, and fled Jamestown to go raise a militia since Bacon had sort of taken over the Colony for a bit. Bacon died suddenly, and his rebellion collapsed without his leadership. Berkley came back to assume command, but was recalled to England (much to the delight of Virginia.)

Defending against Native Americans, although the colonists may have started this one...

Many joined Bacon's cause against Berkley and the Native Americans, including both black and white indentured servants. The economic situation hadn't been kind to them either, so they joined in the rebellion. For upper-class Virginians, seeing the indentured servants ban together and rebel was frightening, and what was especially frightening was the fact that they were black and white joined together.

This caused Virginia colony to start relying more on slave labor and being tougher on African-Americans, free or slave. Since indentured servants were unreliable in times like these (and because they were racist and didn't like blacks and whites joining together), Virginia decided it needed a safe, more permanent lower class of person. to work for them.