Portfolio: Essay #1

----Bacon's Rebellion was believed to be the first stirring emotional response to later cause the Revolution of America. The rebellion began as a dispute among English settlers in Virginia over American Indian policy. It was also over power conflicts between a concerned colonists Nathaniel Bacon and the governor of Virginia William Berkeley. “Governor Berkeley strove to treat American Indians equitably and to distinguish carefully between American Indian allies and foes”. Despite, Berkeley’s words many colonists were still not interested in associating with the Indians, and actually wanted the exact opposite. Virginia in the 1670’s was dealing with a lot of economic troubles. The colony was suffering from extremely low tobacco prices, restricted trade, stressed relationships with local Indians, possession of land and a Governor who didn’t always make the best decisions for the people he had power over.
----Governor Berkeley was a smart and successful man but also very sneaky in his own way. At the time tobacco prices were at their all time low. Virginia’s economy relied greatly on tobacco, so this caused a financial crisis. Berkeley did nothing to help his colony during their financial crisis, but he did manage to help himself and some of his friends. Unlike the rest of the colony, the Governor's Council was not liable for taxes. Berkeley even managed to benefit himself from trade with the Indians. A law was passed to make certain that no one was to do any kind of trading goods with any of the Indians. But secretly, the governor made special licenses for only a selective few to be allowed to trade with the Indians as long as he gets a part of the profit. Bacon issued his Declaration of the People on July 30, 1676 which stated that “Berkeley was corrupt, played favorites and protected the Indians for his own selfish purposes"(Pike). Berkeley cared more about money and materiel processions than he did the people he ruled in Virginia.
----The relationships between the Virginia colonists and the Indians were never very stable. Many colonists were granted land that Virginia did not own. Some of the land they were granting was already in the procession of Indians. So you can imagine how the resentment building up inside the colonists and the Indians. Because of the governments poor management the Indians and the colonists started despising one another. After conflict starting occurring the colonist’s starting complaining about the Indians poor behavior. Governor Berkeley didn't believe his colony’s accusations. A letter from Elizabeth Bacon to her sister "The Indians killing the people daily, the governor not taking notice of it for to hinder them, but let them daily do all the mischief they can" (document #9). In this letter Bacon's wife demonstrates how the Indians were misbehaving and their government didn't take control of the situation and give the Indians any consequences. The way the Virginia government was being run at this time caused a lot of unnecessary hardships for the English colonists.
----As a result of many Indian hostile breakouts Governor Berkeley came up with a plan of action. He thought it would be a good idea to build forts along the frontier boarder. This was not a very thought out plan considering attacking tribes could go right between the forts. Although Governor Berkeley may have made it seem like he cared and was trying to protect his people. The colonists were not fooled by his actions, because they soon found out that the government was taxing them for the forts that gave them no fortification or security. It was all just another way for Berkeley to get more money out of his people.
----After all of Governor Berkeley’s conniving tricks, the colonist needed someone to help stand up for their colony. They found that support in Nathanial Bacon who did not believe in how Berkeley was running Virginia. Bacon was the last hope for the colonists in Virginia, and he was more then willing to lead them in a fight against Berkeley and the Indians. Bacon and his followers believed that the government favored the Indians needs over their own people’s which was the start of the rebellion. Bacon wanted to get his people together to attack nearby Indians. When Governor Berkeley refused Bacon the permit to do so, he made threat to attack without his permission. Berkeley failed to defend and protect his people from native attacks. Nathanial Bacon was everything and more then the colonists were looking for. He stood up to the governor and led a revolt against the Indians.
----By focusing on Bacon and his followers attacks on Indians without a permit it over looks the deeper problem that the leaders during that time were not doing the things they were suppose to. Though I see other ways that Bacon could have reacted, he couldn't stand by and not stick up for himself and the other colonists. The government cared more about land, money, and power then the lives of the people they ruled. They took advantage of their fellow followers as well as Indians who they had no right to control. The government not taking care of the issues the colonists were dealing with caused the colonists to rebel. When they rebelled they took out their frustrations on the Indians. That caused a lot of agony and suffering to the Indians who had nothing to do with the English problems. They caused all these unnecessary perplexities and disputes only so they could better themselves. I believe if the government during the 1670’s would have been more concerned about their people the whole rebellion might have been avoided.



Citations:
---Pike, John. "Bacon's Rebellion." 04-27-2005 paragraph 14. 14 Oct 2008 .
---US Military History Companion, "Bacon's Rebellion." paragraph 4. 21 Oct 2008 .
---Zinn, Howard. "Columbus to the Spanish-American War." A Young People's History of the United States 1