Bacon's Rebellion: Basis For A White Identity

The American Revolution resonated with all classes of society, as it stood to divide a nation’s loyalties and recreate the existing fabric of society. During the 1770s to mid 1780s, no group living in the British American colonies was left unaffected. For blacks enslaved in America, the war presented the fleeting possibility of freedom in a nation that was still dependent on an economic structure of oppression and bondage. For those blacks that were free, they chose their alliances wisely in hopes of gaining economic opportunities and improving their status in the American colonies. The American Negroes, whether free or enslaved, could be found on either side of the battlefront. They took on many different roles, some fighting on the

“Virginia Laws Governing Servant and Slave” reveals the rebellions of servants and slaves who united to fight against their masters. Bacon’s Rebellion, in 1676, occurred in the Virginia Colony in opposition to Virginia's Indian policy (Roark, The American Promise, p. 79). Bacon’s Rebellion demonstrated that poor whites and poor blacks could be united in a cause, and it shows that they are capable of challenging the ruling class together. Virginia lawmakers enacted the laws to prevent the servants and slaves from uniting to fight against masters. According to "Document 2: Law Making Slave Status Inherited from Mother, 1662" the Virginia legislators punished interracial sexual relations, "And that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a negro man or woman, hee or shee soe offending shall pay double the ffines imposed by the former act"

In reviewing the book American Slavery, American Freedom, historian and author Edmund S. Morgan provides a chronological approach to the growth of slavery in North America. Morgan starts his journey with the first settlements in Virginia and continues until the start of the American Revolution. Morgan gives explanation of how ideals of freedom and English sense of superiority came to be a major stepping stone for independence and racism. Morgan’s question of how a country that proclaims liberty, equality and religious virtue can at the same time foster the opposing ideals of slavery and subjugation is the underlying question throughout the book. Morgan puts the critical issue on display, broken down into four areas or books, to guide our understanding of colonial Virginia, the development of slavery, and the link between racism and equality.

In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon rebelled and held a revolt in Colonial Virginia. High taxes, low prices for tobacco, and resentment against special privileges given those close to the governor, Sir William Berkeley, provided the background for the uprising. These factors made the rebellion inevitable. All of the chaos was precipitated by Governor Berkeley's failure to defend the frontier against attacks by Native Americans. Bacon commanded two unauthorized but successful expeditions against the tribes and was then elected to the new House of Burgesses, which Berkeley had been forced to convene. Berkeley then sent out a warrant for his arrest and Bacon was put in jail. Bacon soon was released and he immediately gathered his supporters,

Previous to the American Revolution, Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the largest revolts in history, and accordingly its consequences include the American Revolution. It was the war between the English and the Indians, and the civil war between the colonists of Jamestown and their government. But it was also the fierce struggle between two powerful leaders with very different beliefs. The African slaves and white indentured servants joined together to fight side by side against their common "enemies."

Third, Bacon’s Rebellion, involving rebellious former seeking land, led white planters force a looking more flexible force .Moreover it was more profitable to purchase Negro man. Their price was a little expensive, but they worked for whole life. According to labor owned by a Virginia planter, 1648 the cost white slave for instance, Thomas Groves was 1300(in lbs tobacco) for 4 years of service, however a cost of Negro man for instance, Mingo was 2000(in lbs tobacco) for whole life. This is another reason of increasing population and demand for black skin slaves. The rapid increase in the slave population led to strict control, cruelty and justification to brutality. Englishman called slave the” strength and the sinews of this western world . The slave trade horrors were inconceivable. Oladah Equiano, a slave from Nigeria described some horrors of slavery the “Middle passage”. Equiano and his youngest sister were seized by raiders. They passed from one trader to another. Majority of their slave group died, because of exhaustion or hunger. They were gathered in the merchant’s yard, like so many sheep in fold, without taking into account the sex or age. After signal given, the buyers rushed into the yard and choose for the best one. Furthermore, without scruple, relations and friends separated. In the vessel where Equiano was, there were two brothers which were sold in different slots. This is obvious example of new refinement in cruelty, which adds horrors to

Throughout history, rebellions have occurred in attempts to solve issues of discontent caused by wants or needs that were not met. Bacon’s Rebellion, the Stono Rebellion, the uprising of the Paxton Boys, and the Regulator Movement all represent situations of this kind. For Nathaniel Bacon and the Paxton Boys it was conflict of security; they were not receiving adequate protection from the natives. For the slaves and the western Carolinians, it was an issue of freedom and injustice.They resented the unfair treatment they experienced and wanted this inequality to change. These events represented just four in a long history of American conflicts and oppression where, as Bacon, the slaves, the Paxton Boys, and the Carolinians demonstrate, one

Slavery in America evolved from indentured servitude to a slavery system, consisted of kidnapped Africans, because of Bacon’s Rebellion. The Bacon’s Rebellion was started by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676 when white settlers desired to move west near the Appalachian Mountains, which was claimed by the Native Americans. With the desire to claim the land, they had a buildup of anger and altercations with the Native Americans who controlled the land by inhabiting it from coast to Appalachian Mountains. The House of Burgesses, or the government, tried to prevent conflict with the Native American people as best they could. However, Bacon still led white and African American men to the Native American land to claim it. He also had support from indentured servants who wanted rights such as voting and civics. Bacon’s men trudge through Jamestown and set it on fire. This represents that the people are rebelling against the government due to weak Indian policies. One of the many consequences rebels faced were executions from Sir William Berkeley, the governor of the colony, who was one of many that tried to prevent Nathaniel and his men. The following from virtualjamestown.org provides a list of those that were executed during Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia. For example the list states, “One Johnson, a stirer up of the people to sedition but no fighter.” This means that this individual is getting the people riled up but when it comes to the act of fighting, he takes no part in it. Another example being, “One Hall, a Clerk of a County but more useful to the rebels than 40 army men--that dyed very penitent confessing his rebellion against his King and his ingratitude to me.” This execution was powerful because Sir William Berkeley eliminated an individual who directly told him that he did not respect him. This man’s execution was significant because he was an important member of society that equivalated to army men.

Historians decide what parts of history are important, and those that are not. Historiography is how history is recorded, and it has a role in Bacon’s Rebellion. Historians chose what was important about it, and weaved it into a story. But, some facts may have been left out. Depending on what story is chosen, who tells the story, when it is told, and which evidence is selected to construct it, the historical account could have changed dramatically through historian’s interpretation. Through a compilation of reliable articles and facts, a story has been woven together. You will hear about the character of Nathaniel Bacon, the events leading up to the rebellion, the actual rebellion, and the aftermath of the rebellion.

Berkeley did not care about the farmers. It was obvious that the only thing he

Bacons’ Rebellion of 1676 was a rebellion by the Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley.There was a large amount of impoverished freemen, who were frustrated by their lack of land, drifting about the Chesapeake region at the end of the 17th century. In 1670, the Virginia assembly denied most of the landless the right to vote because they did not have interest in the country and were chaotic at the elections, which displeased Governor Berkeley. The Virginians were bitter against Berkeley for his friendliness towards Indians, and for monopolizing their thriving fur trade. When Berkeley refused to retaliate against Indian attacks on frontier settlements, about a thousand Virginians retaliated, lead by Bacon.

Rediker explains that captains of slave ships rationalized their brutality by stating that it was detrimental to chain the slaves in order to prevent rebellions where the salves might

Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 was the first rebellion in the colonies and it largely resulted in the hardening of racial lines with slavery. The plantation owners and farmers now saw it as a dangerous asset to have white indentured servants as workers and also saw having slaves as a much higher profit. By the establishment of the Virginia colony and its use of producing the tobacco cash crop, boatloads of slaves were brought to work and profit the upper class plantation owners. What became known as the Middle Passage became nothing more to the white upper-class than profit and population increase. At the end of the seventeenth century, it was established that 40,000 people lived in Virginia however the number of slaves brought to the colony was unknown.

It was said that in the aftermath of the uprising, the tavern keeper would become the king and the slave a governor. However, a white man would still have a more powerful position than a black one. Likewise, even as the black men imagined being more powerful than white men, they envisioned white women as “passive bodies to be handed over from one man to another…” They contemplated women as just pieces of property that did not serve any other purpose other than having children or sex.

Whether or not slave masters treated their slaves well, slaves all faced the possibility of excessive