Bacon's Rebellion wikipedia edit

Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony, led by Nathaniel Bacon. It was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part. The uprising was a protest against the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley. The governor was not supplying the pilgrims and people in the new America with the supplies they needed.

Bacon's Rebellion was the result of discontent among backcountry farmers against corruption in the government. Rather than adhere to the law, they chose to push it aside. The reason Bacon and the colonists rebelled in the first place was because the taxes were high and the price for tobacco was constantly decreasing. This is why Bacon, and the colonists were rebelling. They wanted the taxes lower, and the price for tobacco to return to a reasonable price. I suppose you could call it mutiny.

Historians have pointed out that one of the most important reforms made during Bacon's government was the recognition of the right to keep and bear arms, so that the common man could defend himself from hostile Indians but also to oppose a despotic regime. You see, the right to bear arms was meant only for protection against the Native Americans. But now, the weapons served another purpose. Historian Stephen Saunders Webb suggests that Bacon's Rebellion was a revolution, with roots in the English Civil War and with consequences including the American Revolutionary War.

It was largely the indentured servants and poor farmers (most of whom were former indentured black servants or their descendants) who rebelled. Africans were often brought as indentured servants, becoming free after serving their term of labor. Indentured servants from Europe continued to play a role in Virginia after the rebellion. New Virginia laws made slavery lifelong and a status inherited by one's children, creating a racially based class system with Africans at the bottom. Even the poorest European indentured servants were above them. This broke the common interest between the poor English and Africans of Virginia, which had existed during Bacon's Rebellion.

We still have to remember that the rebellion was not only against William Berkeley, but also against the Indians. The other issue, aside from the tobacco and tax prices, was the Indian attacks. Berkeley was not providing the supplies to fight against them. So the Indians would commonly raid the English camps for tobacco and supplies. So when Bacon led the rebellion, it was also against the Indians.