The few records from Bacon’s rebellion in the English colony of Virginia allows historians ample room to interpret the event. Some regard Bacon as an American hero for initiating the largest and most multicultural rebellion prior to the revolution while others entitle him as an irrational, barbarous anti-hero for his violent actions; however the more I learn about 17th century Virginia, I see Bacon as more of a misunderstood leader and visionary that controversially took matters of the people into his own hands and built the cultural foundation of America.
By the height of the rebellion, Sir (knighted by the throne) William Berkeley had been a resident of the colony for 34 years, owned a coastal plantation, experimented with new crops, and signed a treaty to end the Third Anglo-Indian war in 1446 to establish peace and reservations for the tribes involved. In the year 1660, he is re-appointed Governor of the restored Virginian English colony. When endowed English aristocrat named Nathaniel Bacon arrives to the colony and purchases a plantation on the western edge of Virginia, he finds a trade outlet in the natives. He enacts in friendly trade with the natives and is named by the Governor one of several new members of the Virginia Council of State (upper house of legislature) and later elected to the House of Burgesses. In the tensions building to the rebellion and even during, Bacon does not implore himself as an aristocrat, or a natural-born leader but rather as a commoner. As Anglo-Indian trade continues on the western border, tensions mount from unbalanced intercourse. By middle 1676, volleyed attacks become more common a result in the forceful overtaking of Bacon’s plantation. He and others demand the government remove the neighboring Powhatan tribe from the treaty-protected reservation. Governor Berkeley has no intentions of violating the treaty of displacement or violence and instead proposes forts be built in concerning areas by means of higher tax for the complainants. Outrage from the proposal leads to the townspeople naming Bacon as the militia leader to which his attacks on friendly tribes account success. In this instance, I believe the militia and their leader kept the government accountable for their role in protecting the colonists and though handled poorly and violently, took the action that the governor was not willing to take in effort to restore order to the colony. Upon Berkeley’s findings of the slaughtering, the governor expels Bacon from the councils, declares him a rebel and accuses him of treason. Berkeley’s attempt to incriminate Bacon includes leverage of position, loyalty to the King Charles II, and tenure in Virginia as well fallacies of poor leadership, pride in massacre, and support of “the lowest people”. This particular document is ordered to be read in every county courthouse and shortly after, Bacon returns to …show more content…
Bacon never held himself to a higher standard than his followers due to his status or wealth, he kept the government accountable on all fronts, he was a voice of the people, and he held Governor Berkeley responsible for his negligence of the people and did so publicly. Though he violently took matters of the people into his own hands, Bacon instilled the principles of security, equality, and democracy within the English colonists. It would not be outlandish to credit Bacon with founding the ideals for the 1st and 2nd amendment and the form of a three-branch
By the height of the rebellion, Sir (knighted by the throne) William Berkeley had been a resident of the colony for 34 years, owned a coastal plantation, experimented with new crops, and signed a treaty to end the Third Anglo-Indian war in 1446 to establish peace and reservations for the tribes involved. In the year 1660, he is re-appointed Governor of the restored Virginian English colony. When endowed English aristocrat named Nathaniel Bacon arrives to the colony and purchases a plantation on the western edge of Virginia, he finds a trade outlet in the natives. He enacts in friendly trade with the natives and is named by the Governor one of several new members of the Virginia Council of State (upper house of legislature) and later elected to the House of Burgesses. In the tensions building to the rebellion and even during, Bacon does not implore himself as an aristocrat, or a natural-born leader but rather as a commoner. As Anglo-Indian trade continues on the western border, tensions mount from unbalanced intercourse. By middle 1676, volleyed attacks become more common a result in the forceful overtaking of Bacon’s plantation. He and others demand the government remove the neighboring Powhatan tribe from the treaty-protected reservation. Governor Berkeley has no intentions of violating the treaty of displacement or violence and instead proposes forts be built in concerning areas by means of higher tax for the complainants. Outrage from the proposal leads to the townspeople naming Bacon as the militia leader to which his attacks on friendly tribes account success. In this instance, I believe the militia and their leader kept the government accountable for their role in protecting the colonists and though handled poorly and violently, took the action that the governor was not willing to take in effort to restore order to the colony. Upon Berkeley’s findings of the slaughtering, the governor expels Bacon from the councils, declares him a rebel and accuses him of treason. Berkeley’s attempt to incriminate Bacon includes leverage of position, loyalty to the King Charles II, and tenure in Virginia as well fallacies of poor leadership, pride in massacre, and support of “the lowest people”. This particular document is ordered to be read in every county courthouse and shortly after, Bacon returns to …show more content…
Bacon never held himself to a higher standard than his followers due to his status or wealth, he kept the government accountable on all fronts, he was a voice of the people, and he held Governor Berkeley responsible for his negligence of the people and did so publicly. Though he violently took matters of the people into his own hands, Bacon instilled the principles of security, equality, and democracy within the English colonists. It would not be outlandish to credit Bacon with founding the ideals for the 1st and 2nd amendment and the form of a three-branch