Module 3 - Bacon's Rebellion

What were the motives behind Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676?  Was it really just a conflict within the Virginia elite regarding injustices of the Berkeley regime (Foner 100); a personal struggle between Bacon and Berkeley fighting for control and power; or as Zinn mentions Bacon’s enthusiasm to kill the Indians (34). 

The two men at the heart of the Rebellion are Governor William Berkeley of Virginia and Nathaniel Bacon.  Foner describes Governor Berkeley as a corrupt individual supported by his inner circle of the wealthiest tobacco planters (99).  The Library of Virginia website describes Berkeley as an advocate of economical diversity, encouraging governmental and legislative responsibility and teacher of peaceful living through tolerance to differences (1).  These are two very different views of an individual at the center of Bacon’s Rebellion.  Then you also have Bacon himself the leader of the rebellion described by Foner as a wealthy and ambitious planter (100).   A few things that both Zinn and Foner never mention are the vast age differences between Berkeley and Bacon, the fact that they were cousins by marriage, or that Berkeley gave the young Bacon a substantial land grant and a seat on the council upon his arrival to Virginia.  

During this time in the 1670s Virginia people were starting to feel the crunch of less available land, lower tobacco prices yet higher taxes, and poverty at levels similar to their past experience in England.  Additionally, Governor Berkeley restricted the voting right to only land owning men and preserved the land areas reserved for Indians (Foner 99).  In my opinion these issues angered the people of Virginia making it easy for Bacon to recruit and gain their trust and support to start the rebellion in which they burned down Jamestown.  Initially, I thought these injustices to the people were at the heart of the rebellion and that Bacon was protesting for the greater good of the Virginians.

Berkeley wasn’t without fault, however; upon further research I’ve come to the conclusion that Bacon main motive was his strong hatred and zeal to kill all Indians.  Bacon was close minded towards his cousin Berkeley’s reasoning of why they shouldn’t fight friendly Indians and why he protected pieces of land for the Indians.  Bacon said, "[We must defend ourselves] against all Indians in general, for that they were all Enemies." (2)

I choose this drawing of Bacon’s Rebellion because I felt like it depicted several aspects of the rebellion.  In the background it looks like smoke and buildings, possibly Jamestown burning down.  I also noticed a drummer so the people are possibly marching for Bacon’s release.  And finally to me it represented a varied group of individuals uniting together towards a common purpose.

RESOURCES:

Books

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: The New Press, 2003

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. W.W. Norton & Company LTD.,2009

Image

http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/475-2397

Internet

(1) http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/political/william_berkeley.htm

(2)   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p274.html
http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm

Zinn Blog Module 2

Blissful ignorance can only get you so far and this phase has started to end for me.  Not being a history buff or into historical events in general I’ve played the quite role silently listening, but not adding a perspective or any value to conversations that revolve around anything historical.  These techniques have aided me well in preserving myself from utter embarrassment due to my lack of knowledge, but ultimately hindered my growth, insight and perspective of the world. 

My memory does not serve me well and my recollection of Christopher Columbus was he sailed the ocean blue in 1942 and discovered America; a ‘Hero’ to be celebrated and honored with a day of remembrance. 

The more I read the more my perspective has evolved from thinking of Christopher Columbus as a Hero and more of a Villain.  In the readings written by Howard Zinn it describes Arawak men and women going into the waters to greet Christopher Columbus and giving the sailors a variety of gifts, painting a picture of peaceful people not an enemy to destroy (3).  Columbus’s journal log further describes this first encounter:  “They.…brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spear and many other things, willingly traded everything they owned.…They did not bear arms….They would make fine servants….With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want (Zinn 3).”  It seems pretty clear that Christopher Columbus was not a victor for he did not encounter an enemy, but rather naïve innocent people that he could dominate, exploit, kill, enslave and utilize for his own gain.  Knowing this would you be inclined to attend a Columbus Day celebration or would you join in the protest parades held on Columbus Day to support others who feel victimized by Columbus’s cruelty to Native American?

Personally, I would join the protest parades and I’d like to believe that others would as well if they knew of the horrific acts of Christopher Columbus toward Native Americans.  So surely there must be something positive about Columbus that we are truly celebrating.  Could it be the achievements of attaining his goal?  Specifically, he was on a quest to find gold and spices on a westerly route to Asia.  Columbus accidentally landed in the Americas; never making it to Asia or finding gold and spices and relied on fabrication to get a second voyage funded this time with a quest of slaves and gold.  During the second voyage he still didn’t find the fields of gold he envisioned.  Knowing that he couldn’t go back without repayment he captured the native people and shipped them to Spain to sell as slaves as repayment for his debts (Zinn 6). 

So by luck it seems Columbus landed in America.  Are we celebrating his ‘luck’?  Or is it our patriotism and past teachings starting as a child that have lead us to believe he was a great and honorable man worthy of celebration. 

REFERENCES:

BOOKS

Zinn, Howard.  A People’s History of the United States. New York: The New Press, 2003

INTERNET

Introduction

Hi fellow classmates,

My name is Kristie.  A bit about myself; I love dogs and you can find me every Friday after work at ARF (Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation) in Walnut Creek where I've been an active volunteer for the past 6 years.  As a child my parents owned a petshop so I grew up with pets, specifically dogs and fish.  My current dogs Parsnip and Ginger were both adopted through ARF and are a great source of joy in my life.

Jeff (my husband) and I love to travel and if I had my way or should I say unlimited funds, I'd quit my job and travel the world.  Our most recent trip was an adventure vacation to the beautiful country of New Zealand.

Cheers to an interesting summer of History!

Kristie