What was Bacon’s Rebellion? The definition of a rebellion is the act of defying authority by a person or a group of people. This is what Bacon’s Rebellion was. It affected many people, colonists and Native Americans alike. The rebellion had disastrous consequences for both sides. No one really won, but everything was lost for one group of people. Colonists were fighting for their rights while Native American rights were lost. The consequences of Bacon’s Rebellion are visible throughout the generations.
Bacon’s Rebellion was an act of civil disobedience against a corrupt government and Native Americans who were despised. “Bacon’s Rebellion was the result of discontent among back-country farmers against corruption in the government.” (Bacon’s Rebellion. wikipedia.com). A young settler named Nathaniel Bacon led the revolt in 1676 Virginia. Helping Bacon in the uprising was an assortment of poor settlers, former indentured servants, and slaves. Bacon himself wasn’t poor. He came from an elite family and received acres of land when he first arrived in Virginia. He was very well connected in the colony and his cousin was the governor. Governor William Berkeley had a great deal to do with Bacon’s Rebellion. Some would even say he was the cause of it.
Bacon repeatedly went to Berkeley to gain commission to fight against the Native Americans. Each time the governor refused. “Berkeley’s policy was to preserve the friendship of tributary Indians” (The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia, pg. 22). Governor Berkeley wanted peace with Native Americans so that it wouldn’t affect trade with them. This was the only reason he wouldn’t allow commissions for attacks against them. Native Americans would often attack and raid the colony. Colonists claimed that the government was favoring the Native Americans over them. It angered many colonists that their own governor refused to protect them against the Native Americans. They were not only fighting for policies about Native Americans to change. They also wanted lower taxes and all of corruption within the government gone. Throughout all of this, Native Americans were treated harshly.
Before Bacon’s Rebellion even occurred, Native Americans were being misused and mishandled. Colonists wanted land from Native Americans. They took advantage of the Indians and did whatever they could to get it from them. Colonial governments slowly became more controlling of native tribes and began to direct everything that they did. “Living on assigned lands at the will and direction of the provincial governments” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 76). Colonists wanted the Native Americans to live on as little land as possible so that they could have more of it. Some Native Americans still trusted the colonists so they listened when they were told where to live. Native Americans trusted settlers even as their land got smaller and smaller. Colonists used different methods to gain control of Native Americans.
Colonial governments sometimes made peace treaties with Native Americans to get something or to make natives do something. A peace treaty was an agreement between a native tribe and colonists agreeing that neither would attack nor in any way harm the other group. Colonists often used these if they wanted something. If they got what they wanted, the treaties were broken soon after. “The…peace treaty between colonists and natives…stripped Powhatans of their independence…lands…freedom of movement” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 76). Colonial governments tried to restrict what Native Americans did in any way they could. Native Americans were occasionally forced to work for the colonists. Most of the natives that were used were the ones that colonists still considered trustworthy and who still trusted colonists. “Praying Indians…had served as spies, scouts, and soldiers” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 82). The tasks that colonists forced Indians to perform often put them in danger. It also made that tribe an enemy of other tribes who considered them traitors by working with colonies. While it appeared that colonists trusted certain native groups, tribes were rarely completed trusted by them.
Most colonists and their governments didn’t trust the Native Americans and were prejudiced against them. Colonists assumed that if one tribe acted one way then that’s how all Native Americans acted. Native Americans would sometimes be accused and persecuted for crimes that they didn’t commit. “Nathaniel bacon disregarded the Governor’s direct orders by seizing some friendly Appomattox Indians for “allegedly” stealing corn” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/bacon.htm). Colonists would sometimes assume that if a tribe was in the area at the time the crime was committed then they were the ones that committed the crime. Native Americans would be accused even if there was no evidence. Colonists often didn’t trust Native American tribes even if they were on good terms with them. Those tribes would still be looked upon with suspicion even if they had done nothing wrong. The tribes that were at times on good terms with the colonists were at times the ones that suffered the most. “In a dispute over the nonpayment of some items…”[it led to]“a retaliatory strike by the colonists, they attacked the wrong Indians” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/bacon.htm). Colonists would attack Native Americans if they didn’t like how they acted. Tribes were also attacked if they did something that the settlers found disrespectful. Mistreatment of Native Americans became worse when Bacon’s Rebellion occurred.
In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon and his followers attacked Jamestown and Native American tribes in the area. Their goal was to drive the governor out and to slaughter the Native Americans. His forces spared no one. Native men, women, and children were brutally killed. “The native suffered heavy losses, including their chief” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 77). They even attacked natives that they got along well with. “The English shot as many as they could…Col. Mason…ran amongst his Men, Crying out, ‘For the Lords sake Shoot no more, these are our friends the Susque-hanoughs” (Document #3, Thomas Matthews, The Beginning, Progress, and Conclusion of Bacon’s Rebellion, 1675-1676). They attacked without commission from the government, which was part of the reason why they attacked Jamestown in the first place. Native Americans were treated viciously and hardly lightened up even when Bacon died suddenly. Bacon’s death stopped the rebellion and allowed the government to take control again. Governor Berkeley may have taken back Jamestown but the treatment of Native Americans didn’t change at all. While some people think that Native Americans deserved what happened to them, Native Americans suffered at Virginian colonists’ hands after Bacon’s Rebellion.
Native Americans have always been treated severely, but after Bacon’s Rebellion it reached an all-time high. Before the rebellion occurred colonists would limit the amount of land natives could live on. This was so that colonists could have more land and the natives would be as far away from then as possible. After the rebellion colonial governments began to limit the natives’ land even more. “The Indians were sent to assigned towns, placed under the supervision of militia officers or selectmen…” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 83). Native Americans were placed in towns and settlements, by colonial governments, which separated them from the colonists. The government claimed it was for “security” but it didn’t make a difference, safety wise. After Bacon’s Rebellion colonists started using the small land that Native Americans were forced to live on for their own purposes. “Some military leaders suggested fortifying the Praying Towns ‘as a wall of defence’ for the colony…that…strategy would have protected more populous towns from attack” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 79). Towns were natives were living were used by colonists as a defense blockage in case they were ever attacked by outside forces. Colonists were willing to sacrifice natives, even the ones they got along with, as long as it meant they were safe.
After the rebellion colonial governments became more controlling over what Native Americans did for them. Colonists would force tribes to provide them with warriors for their militia. Many of the tribes that were asked had suffered heavy losses at colonists’ hands. “Tottopottomoy’s widow…was…pressed on the issue of supplying men to support the militia” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 78). It is unbelievable to think that colonists would even consider doing this when they had just slaughtered so many people from the tribes they were asking. The colonial government thought that it wasn’t enough for Native Americans to be living in separate towns. They thought natives should be moved somewhere else completely. “‘For their own & country’s security.’ the Praying Indians should be moved to islands in Boston Harbor” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 80). Colonists wanted to move the Native Americans away from the land that they had known their entire lives. “Torn from their livelihoods and left with no means to provide for themselves” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 81). Colonists left the natives on an island where they had no food or shelter. They were unfamiliar with the new landscape so they didn’t know where or if they could hunt for food. While the Native Americans were living in those islands, they almost starved. The way that colonists were treating the Native Americans was inhumane.
While attacks on Native Americans by colonists were common before the rebellion, after the rebellion they became more harsh and frequent. After Bacon’s Rebellion, colonists found new ways to attack the Native Americans. “A series of unfounded indictments against Praying Indians by their white neighbors” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 79). Colonists were accusing and putting natives on trial for crimes that they did not commit. Most of the accusations had no evidence that a Native American had anything to do with it at all. Native Americans were suffering for mistakes made in the past. Mistakes they were often encouraged to make by the colonial government. “Governor Berkeley’s policy…encouraging the Indians to terrorize the frontier” (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2191476). Before Bacon’s Rebellion took place, Governor Berkeley would encourage attacks on the colony by Native Americans. Native Americans were suffering for something that wasn’t entirely their fault. Colonists also used different methods to attack the natives. “Colonists added racist words of attack to the weapons of war” (Michael J. Puglisi, pg. 79). They began to attack Native Americans not only physically, but also verbally and psychologically as well. Native Americans suffered more than ever after Bacon’s Rebellion.
Nathaniel Bacon isn’t the big hero that many people think he is. He manipulated and used countless people just to get what he wanted. While Bacon made it seem like all he wanted to do was help the oppressed settlers, he also had ulterior motives. “Bacon…probably cared more about fighting Indians than about helping the poor” (Howard Zinn, pg. 37). Bacon hated Native Americans and he twisted the colonists’ anger so that he could get the chance to kill them. Bacon is the hero of nothing. He saved no one and helped no one. Nothing for the colonists changed after the rebellion. The taxes didn’t change and some Native Americans continued to attack them. It almost seems like they fought for nothing.
My sources for this essay are very credible. Some of my information was from the handouts I received in class. My other information came from a reliable database. Other information I received was from the Internet. Information from my sources are logical and free of fallacies.
Bacon’s Rebellion had a disastrous effect for all Native Americans after it occurred. The rebellion led to assumptions made about Indians that weren’t true. It also cast an aura of suspicion around all Native Americans, even the ones that were previously considered trustworthy by colonists. Men, women, and children were slaughtered during the rebellion and the ones that remained suffered greatly at colonists’ hands. They were forced off their land, forced to work, and almost starved because of the colonial government. One person isn’t to blame for what happened. It is the colony and their governments’ fault. So many people suffered because of what they did. Further research needs to be done about what else colonists forced natives to do. I want to know what else happened besides Native Americans being forced to live on separate land and a completely new area. It needs to be made clearer that Native Americans were the real victims of the rebellion, not unhappy colonists. Native Americans did nothing wrong, but the colonists killed and terrorized them anyway.
Works Cited:
1. Bacon’s Rebellion. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/bacon.htm,
October 15, 2008
2. Bacon’s Rebellion. http://www.wikipedia.com, October 2, 2008
3. Howard Zinn. “Who Were the Colonists?.” A Young People’s History of the
United States Columbus to the Spanish-American War Vol. 1: pg. 37
4. Michael J. Puglisi. ““Whether They Be Friends or Foes:” The Roles and Reactions of Tributary Native Groups Caught in Colonial Conflicts”.
5. Title: Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Lester J. Cappon
Reviewed Title(s): Torchbearer of the Revolution: The Story of Bacon's Rebellion and Its Leader.
Reviewed Authors(s): Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker
Source: The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 7, No. 2 (May, 1941), pp. 245-246
Publisher(s): Southern Historical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2191476
6. Title: Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Susie M. Ames
Reviewed Title(s): The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia
Reviewed Authors(s): Wilcomb E. Washburn
Source: The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jun., 1958), pp. 122-123
Publisher(s): Organization of American Historians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1886705
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