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
Internet
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