Bacon's Rebellion

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.