And now I will state the Question betwixt me as a Governor and Mr. Bacon, and say that if any enemies should invade England, any Counsellor, Justice of peace or other inferior officer, might raise what forces they could to protect his Majesties subjects. And yet further it is declared by this Parliament that the taking up Arms for the King and Parliament is treason, for the event shewed that what ever the pretense was to seduce ignorant and well affected people, yet the end was ruinous both to King and people, as this will be if not prevented, I do therefore again declare that Bacon proceeding against all Laws of all Nations modern and ancient, is Rebel to his sacred Majesty and this Country, nor will I insist upon the swearing of men to live and dye together, which is treason by the very words of the Law.
Bacon hath none about him, but the lowest of the people. Lastly my most assured friends I would have preserved those Indians that I knew were hourly at our mercy, to have been our spies and intelligence, to find out our bloody enemies, but as soon as I had the least intelligence that they also were treacherous enemies, I gave out Commissions to destroy them all as the Commissions themselves will speak it.
Bacon three pardons , which he hath scornfully rejected, supposing himself stronger to subvert then I and you to maintain the Laws , by which only and Gods assisting grace and mercy, all men must hope for peace and safety.
Why does Bacon call Governor Berkeley a traitor to the colony? What does Bacon demand of Governor Berkeley and his supporters? How does Berkeley defend his actions as governor?
How does Governor Berkeley compare his record to that of Bacon? How does he insult Bacon? How does Governor Berkeley promise to treat friendly versus hostile American Indians What principles does Berkeley claim to value as a governor? What caused social and economic conflict in Virginia in the mids? Why did tensions and fighting with American Indians cause a split in the colony? Did realistic alternative solutions to civil war exist in the colony between the Bacon and Berkeley factions?
Could the divisions in Virginia be described as rooted in the perspectives of different social classes, or did other factors complicate the story? Berkeley reluctantly agreed. A war of words followed, with each side making its case in public proclamations and appeals to key officials in London. After a halfhearted gesture toward the Occaneechis and Susquehannocks, whose location was a mystery at this point, Bacon went in hunt of the Pamunkey Indians.
Once led by the fearsome Opechancanough , the Pamunkeys had been close allies of the English since their defeat in the Third Anglo-Powhatan War — Now they fled their lands on the Pamunkey River above West Point and led the rebels north into the woods and swamps.
Early in September they finally stumbled upon the Pamunkey encampment, killing some, capturing forty-five, and scattering the rest. Suddenly, Berkeley controlled the Chesapeake and its watershed. Berkeley arrived first, retaking Jamestown without a shot on September 8. Six days later, Bacon laid siege, forcing Berkeley, on the evening of September 18, to abandon the town for the Eastern Shore. The rebels entered Jamestown the next morning, but decided they could neither hold the capital nor allow the governor to retake it.
Berkeley and the loyalist refugees, anchored just downstream, watched the glow of the flames. With the governor safely on the Eastern Shore, Bacon plunged back into the woods and swamps in a fruitless search for Indians while other groups of rebels looted the estates of suspected loyalists.
Then, suddenly, on October 26, , Bacon died. He and the bulk of his following were in Gloucester County at the time, with Bacon staying at the house of Thomas Pate. The most bitter and sustained fighting of the rebellion commenced in November.
There were local struggles between neighbors in northern Virginia and on the Southside, and a series of loyalist raids on the York River garrisons that brought back dozens of rebels to hang or languish in jails on the Eastern Shore. Despite these raids, however, rebels retained control of nearly all of Virginia outside the Eastern Shore. Then, late in December, the loyalists gained the upper hand, first routing a garrison of rebels on the Southside on Christmas Day, then convincing the two main rebel commanders to switch sides.
Although the fighting continued, the holdouts increasingly were comprised of leaders who expected to hang if captured, or of servants and slaves who did not wish to return to servitude. When Berkeley at last returned to Green Spring on January 22, only a few rebels remained. Royal commissioners Berry and Moryson sailed into the mouth of the James River on January 29, and Jeffreys arrived on February 11 at the head of the English troops.
Friction between Berkeley and the commissioners began almost from the outset. Although they sat with Berkeley as a court, condemning the last eight of the twenty-three rebels to hang, they castigated him for his harshness in suppressing the rebellion. For his part, Berkeley noted that the commissioners incorrectly dated the end of the rebellion to late December, so that confiscations during the last month of fighting did not count, for them, as wartime actions. He also denied enriching himself with confiscated goods, insisting that the proceeds had fed loyalist forces fighting for the king.
Personal slights and insults increasingly crept into correspondence between Berkeley and the commissioners, culminating with an April 22 incident in which the commissioners visited Green Spring to say farewell to Berkeley. Berkeley sailed for London several days later, vowing to tell his side of the story to Charles II. He had been in poor health for some time, however, and the voyage did him no good. Jeffreys, still serving as interim governor, died in office two years later, having made himself profoundly unpopular with Virginians during his term in office.
Since the s, however, historians have soundly rejected this interpretation for the simple reason that there is no evidence to support it and much evidence to the contrary. Jamestown had once been the bustling capital of the Colony of Virginia.
Now it was a smoldering ruin, and Nathaniel Bacon was on the run. Forces would be coming soon from England in an attempt to take his militia down. Hunker down, he told them. Hide in the woods for the time being, but keep up the fight when they arrive. Soon Bacon would be dead and his militia defeated.
The rebellion he led is commonly thought of as the first armed insurrection by American colonists against Britain and their colonial government. Many were executed for their actions. Right after the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson and others upheld the event as a brave stand by embattled colonists. Today, though, historians see it as a tussle over the ownership of the colonial frontier and an effort to further drive Native Americans off their lands.
Settlers roll barrels of tobacco up a ramp and onto a ship in preparation for export from Jamestown, Virginia. At the time, wealthy settlers had built profitable tobacco plantations and used their crops to pay high colonial taxes. But for poorer Virginians, times were lean. Few people responded to Bacon's appeal to capture Berkeley who had since returned to the Eastern Shore for safety reasons. It is possible his soldiers burned his contaminated body because it was never found.
His death inspired this little ditty; Bacon is Dead I am sorry at my hart That lice and flux should take the hangman's part". Shortly after Bacon's death, Berkeley regained complete control and hanged the major leaders of the rebellion. He also seized rebel property without the benefit of a trial. All in all, twenty-three persons were hanged for their part in the rebellion. Later after an investigating committee from England issued its report to King Charles II, Berkeley was relieved of the Governorship and returned to England where he died in July Thus ended one of the most unusual and complicated chapters in Jamestown's history.
Could it have been prevented or was it time for inevitable changes to take place in the colonial governmental structure? Obviously, the laws were no longer effective as far as establishing clear policies to deal with problems or to instill new lifeblood into the colony's economy. The numerous problems that hit the colony before the Rebellion gave rise to the character of Nathaniel Bacon.
Due to the nature of the uprising, Bacon's Rebellion does seem at first glance to be the beginnings of America's quest for Independence. But closer examination of the facts reveals what it really was: a power struggle between two very strong personalities. Between them they almost destroyed Jamestown. Neville, John Davenport. Bacon's Rebellion.
Abstracts of Materials in the Colonial Records Project. Jamestown: Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Washburn, Wilcomb E. The Governor and the Rebel. Webb, Stephen Saunders.
New York: Alfred A. Knope, Box Yorktown , VA Explore This Park. Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Pen and Ink drawing of Bacon's troops about to burn Jamestown Drawing by Rita Honeycutt Bacon's Rebellion was probably one of the most confusing yet intriguing chapters in Jamestown's history.
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