Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1675 in the Virginia Colony in North America, led by a 29-year-old planter, Nathaniel Bacon.
It was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part; a similar uprising in Maryland would take place later that year. About a thousand Virginians (including former indentured servants, poor whites and poor blacks) rose up in arms against the rule of Virginia Governor William Berkeley. Berkeley had recently refused to retaliate for a series of Indian attacks on frontier settlements. This prompted some to take matters into their own hands, attacking Native Americans, chasing Berkeley from Jamestown, Virginia, and ultimately torching the capital. Modern historians have suggested it may in fact have been a power play by Bacon against Berkeley and his favoritism towards certain members of court. Bacon's financial backers included men of wealth from outside Berkeley's circle of influence.
The alliance between former indentured servants and Africans disturbed the ruling class, who responded by hardening the racial caste of slavery. While the farmers did not succeed in their goal of driving Native Americans from Virginia, the rebellion did result in Berkeley being recalled to England.
Read more about Bacon's Rebellion: Background, The Rebellion, Effects
Famous quotes containing the words bacon and/or rebellion:
“Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
“The rebellion is against time pollution, the feeling that the essence of what makes life worth living—the small moments, the special family getaways, the cookies in the oven, the weekend drives, the long dreamlike summers Mso much of this has been taken from us, or we have given it up. For what? Hitachi stereos? Club Med? Company cars? Racquetball? For fifteen-hour days and lousy day care?”
—Richard Louv (20th century)