Bacon's Rebellion Final Draft

Politics in bacon’s Rebellion
By: Paul Headman

When you hear about Bacon’s rebellion, at first you might think about a children’s story where an army of pigs fights back against humans. That of course is quite absurd. Bacon’s Rebellion was actually about the people of Jamestown rebelling against the town’s government. There were four factors that contributed to the rebellion: politics, economics, race, and class. I will be focusing on the political aspect of the rebellion. I will start with how politics were reflected in the rebellion itself and then how the resolution transformed Chesapeake society. Finally I will talk about how the political theme relates to my life today.

Very few know about Bacon’s Rebellion and even less about the factors that caused the rebellion. Indian raids on plantations forced colonists to call for action. The governor, William Berkeley, did nothing to solve the problem. He wanted to stay on good terms with the Indians and called for the colonists to restrain themselves. Berkeley wanted to continue being able to trade with the Indians. “Berkeley's policy was to preserve the friendship and loyalty of the subject Indians while assuring the settlers that they were not hostile.” (http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jthanout/BacRebel.html) I would think that if Indians were attacking the people that Berkeley governed over, he would have done something about it but perhaps he was just in it for is own gain. Of course, there is a chance Berkeley thought that the more allies he had the better. But then again what is the point of having allies if all one’s “underlings” are dead? Luckily though, Berkeley did do something. He took the Indians powder and ammunition away. He tried to set up a meeting with the chiefs of the tribes but it ended with many of them being killed. If the situation was not bad enough, it was going to become worse seeing as many of the chief’s were now dead. Berkeley tried to resolve the situation but everything just seemed to backfire.

The situation continued to decline after Nathaniel Bacon retaliated against the Indians. In his attempt to get back at the Indians, Bacon attacked the wrong Indians, which in turn caused large raids on both sides. I assume that Bacon accidentally attacked the wrong Indians because I would think that he did not want anymore Indians against him or the rest of the colonists. Usually in war, one would strive to keep away from gaining more enemies to help lessen problems. Bacon went to Berkeley to try and get a commission to lead the local forces against the Indians. Berkeley denied him the commission and Bacon accused Berkeley and the rest of the government of being corrupt. In The Declaration of the People, which Bacon later wrote, he said, “For having wronged his majesties prerogative and interest, by assuming monopoly of the Beaver trade, an for having in that unjust gain betrayed and sold his Majesties Country and the lives of his loyal subjects, to the barbarous heathens.” (http://www.constitution.org/bcp/baconpeo.htm) Bacon finally had enough, surrounded the statehouse, and demanded that he get his commission or else he would shoot several of the Burgesses. Bacon, I feel, was a little too drastic in his actions to get a commission. A short time later, all of the old Burgesses were voted out and Bacon was brought in along with other “common” people. He was of course kicked out by Berkeley and branded a traitor. Bacon then issued The Declaration of the People. In article two it says, “For having abused and rendered contemptable the Magistrates of Justice, by advancing to places of Judicature, scandalous and ignorant favorites.” (http://www.constitution.org/bcp/baconpeo.htm) I believe this means that Berkeley was playing favorites and I completely agree with it. After he captured Jamestown, Bacon wanted to make his success whole. I believe he wrote the Declaration of the People to get every person in Jamestown on his side who was not already. Bacon’s mistake though was letting Berkeley go free after the capture of Jamestown. In an act of rage, Bacon burned down Jamestown on September 19, 1676.

Not much later after Jamestown was burned, Bacon became ill and died. After Bacon’s death, Berkeley was able to regain control of the government. He hung all the major contributors of the rebellion. “All in all, twenty-three persons were hanged for their part in the rebellion.” (http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jthanout/BacRebel.html) I do not think that it was exactly twenty three people who were hanged. In one source I read it said that twenty one people were hanged and another said twenty two people were. I think he did this because he disliked having his power taken away from him and then went overboard when he got his power back. Berkeley, I feel, went out of line with how many people he hung. Very soon afterwards, an investigation committee arrived from England to look into the matter and relieved Berkeley of his position as governor. He was ordered to return to England but he died before he was able to give his report to the king about what happened. I find it ironic that Berkeley went so far to keep the power that he had and then did something foolish which lost him his power.

One would think that Bacon’s Rebellion would have transformed the society of the Chesapeake. In actuality, the resolution of the rebellion did very little or nothing to change Chesapeake society depending on how one looks at it. The only true benefit was that the Indians stopped attacking the colonists. I would say that the cease of Indian raids would be a great thing because the colonists would not have to worry as much about being attacked or killed by them. Politically, the Chesapeake was not transformed after the rebellion. Even though Berkeley was relieved as governor, the Tidewater aristocracy continued to maintain its power. I find it rather sad that the colonists had to trade one poorly run and at least semi corrupt government for another. Also, there was less of a need for the servant-labor system after the rebellion which was able to help stabilize the government. “In the long run, however, the most important contribution to political stability was the declining importance of the servant-labor system.” (The American Promise Volume A: To 1800 by James Roark, Micheal Johnson, Patricia Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and Susan Hartmann) How it did this though, I am not sure. Maybe it was because permanent slaves were now easier to have instead of people who were only temporary servants. I think that in a political sense, more could have been done to change the Chesapeake but what exactly, I am not sure. As anyone can see, the resolution of Bacon’s Rebellion did very little to change Chesapeake society. The few changes that were made though generally were not for the better.

Politics can be very hard thing to relate to in this day and age, especially seeing as how I am not officially an adult yet. Politics and the government seem almost as bad today as they were back before, during, and after Bacon’s Rebellion. Our government is almost, or just as corrupt, as it was back in Bacon’s time. As I said, in terms of personal experience, I am still too young to have the government affect me on a larger scale. I can though relate the theme of politics to what I know about and see in them today. Often it seems that the government raises taxes and grants favors only to give themselves more money and help themselves in any way they deem fit. They do not seem to care that regular, hard working adults do just as much work as themselves for only a portion of the pay. Government and political officials work just as hard as regular people so I believe that they should get no special treatment or privileges. As the government becomes more and more corrupt, society seems to get worse and worse. People do not seem to have respect for the laws nor do they seem to care. It seems to me, that the government severely punishes people who commit little crimes but let people who commit large crimes off easy. Eventually people are going to get tired of all the problems and take matter into their own hands. At least I think that is what is going to happen.

People do not like being treated unfairly. Our history and our society is proof of that. If our government keeps heading in the direction it is, people are going to start having a problem. Eventually the American people may rebel against the government, as they did in Bacon’s Rebellion, for their unequal and unjust ways. An example would be how we are giving illegal’s most or all services for free while we Americans having to pay and work for everything we want. If such a time comes, it may not be exactly like Bacon’s Rebellion but it will be similar. People will rise up because it is human nature to want better for themselves. I hope that it will not come to that but if it does I can only hope it ends for the better. Many believe that Bacon’s Rebellion was the starting point for what has become America today and this, I firmly believe to be true.