They Say 2: Bacon's Rebellion

Based on what I have read, Bacon's Rebellion was basically about the poor getting their revenge to the rich and to the Natives. In the Howard Zinn document, he is telling us readers how and why the colonists decided to rebel. The rebellion "was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies. One was the Indians. The other was the colonists' own rich and privileged leaders"(35). The less fortunate felt like they were being cheated and that the rich and the Natives were being privileged for no transparent reason. As for others like Bacon, "[they] cared more about fighting Indians than about helping the poor"(37). When Bacon brought his ideas to the council, Berkeley denied his plan and Bacon and the other colonists felt betrayed. What Bacon wanted was "the colony's leaders to fight the Indians, but the politicians and big landowners who ran the colony wouldn't fight [...] because they were using some of the Indians as spies and allies against the others" (36, Zinn). Those who were living well did not have any issues towards the Indians living in Virginia.


From Berkeley's actions, Bacon and his followers "attacked the peaceful Indian village"(78,Puglisi). After Bacon attacked the neighboring Indians, it became a statues of colonists versus Indians. Indians felt threatened by the colonists attack. So, "Opechancanough, the Algonquian chief who had lead the Indian uprising of 1622 in Virginia, mounted another surprise attack in 1644 and killed about five hundred Virginia colonists in two days"(91). The Indians and the colonists fought for nearly two years and all that fighting led up to the colonists "gain[ing] the upper hand, capturing and murdering the old chief"(91). No matter what the Indians did, the colonists always had the higher advantages and gained more than expected. Once the treaty has been made, the Chesapeake population did not grow but, the policy worked on maintaining the peace between colonist and Indians.


Unfortunately, "the land-hungry colonists, especially [the] poor"(91) had to free their servants. More and more colonists had to let go of their servants and slowly was in desperate need of land. The colonists broke the treaty and went onto Indian territory to settle. Since the treaty had broke, the Indians flared in wrath and showed their emotions in violence. The colonists looked to their dear faithful leader Bacon for help and he started to show the colonists that the real enemies are "the Indians and the colonial rulers in Jamestown"(91). From this revolting action, "[Berkeley] called for [a] new elections of burgesses"(92). What Berkeley did not think of is, all of the old burgesses were voted off of office and were now replaced by other local leader which also included Bacon. After Bacon has the power of the legislature, he could change what he liked and what he did not like. Bacon had "[fought] for three months, [and] Bacon's forces fought the Indians, sacked the grandees' plantations, and attacked Jamestown"(92). Bacon is the worst thing that could ever happen in Virginia.


Unexpectedly, Bacon died at the age of twenty-two. Once Bacon died, so did the rebellion. Berkeley started to gain power again, and things started to come back into order. Berkeley ended up killing twenty-three rebel leaders, took all weapons away from the rebels and returned the servants and slaves back to their masters. Things started to clear up once again in Virginia. As for the economy, " [t]he frontiersmen were taxed and controlled by the rich upper classes in Jamestown. And the whole colony, rich and poor, was being used by England. The colonists grew tobacco to sell to England"(38,Zinn). The king of England made a humongous profit from the colonies in Virginia. In the eighteenth century, the population grew to about a million and a half. Factories , agriculture,shiping and trading grew. From Bacon's Rebellion, we have all learned that "the language of liberty and equaliity"(51,Zinn) is the best tool of all.