Causes Of Bacon's Rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 was a rebellion against William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia and also the British Crown. Bacon’s rebellion essentially resulted from class division between the wealthy and the poor. Nathaniel Bacon was born in English from a noble family and later made his journey to Virginia where he would inhabit two plantations. Upon Bacon’s arrival in Virginia, a political and social structure had already been developed in the newly formed colony. The upper class consisted of the rich, and powerful with close alliance to William Berkeley. Governor Berkeley represented and ruled over Virginia as the royal representation for the British Crown oversees. The other, lower class consisted of poor tobacco planters who inhabited…show more content…
They suffered economic hardships under Berkeley’s government. Territorial issues became more and more problematic for the poor. Additionally they were faced with violent Indian interaction, without any support from Berkeley. Finally, the division of class and representation in the government became an increasing problematic issue. Consequently, Bacon’s Rebellion contributed to the development of colonial interactions and relations with Indians, as well as African slaves and England. The group of frontiersmen deeply criticized Governor Berkeley’s rule and were longing for change, political reform. Thus Bacon’s rebellion was certainly far more than a rebellion against Governor Berkeley; rather it was an inevitable precursor to the liberation of the colonists from the despotic British rule through the American Revolutionary War. Bacon’s rebellion proved to the American colonists that independence from oppression was achievable and it became a paradigm for the American revolutionists, a century later. Nathaniel Bacon may not have suffered the same plight as the workers; he was however, successful in uniting and fighting the despotic rule of Berkeley and the British, becoming an American icon for…show more content…
9
4 Ibid.
5 Lester J. Cappon, "Review of Torchbearer of the Revolution: The Story of Bacon's Rebellion and Its Leader, by Thomas J. Wertenbaker," The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1941): 245 - 246. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.
6 Samuel Wiseman, Book of Record: The Official Account of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia, 1676 - 1677, ed. Michael Leroy Oberg (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005), 11.
7 Ibid. 10
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (New York: Norton, 1995), 255.
12 - Samuel Wiseman, Book of Record: The Official Account of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia, 1676 - 1677, ed. Michael Leroy Oberg (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005), 5.

13 Nathaniel Bacon, "Declaration in the Name of the People," Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 4th ser, 1871, Vol. 9 (1676): 184 - 87.

14 "Bacon's Rebellion," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1 (1900): 1 - 10. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.
15 Alan Axelrod, America's Wars (New York: J. Wiley, 2002), 45.
16 Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (New York: Norton, 1995),