Bacon's Rebellion Research Paper

Who Were the Colonists?

The rebellion of the colonists made a great revolution in Virginia. The rage inside the colonists fueled their rise to power. Angry and hungry for justice they got together and fought to stop the unfair actions of the rich and poor classes. The fire inside of the colonists grew to expression on their capital, Jamestown as they engulfed it in flames. They were angrier than ever and made sure everyone knew it. There were 40,000 colonists and 1,000 soldiers, that were sent to keep them at bay. They called this the Bacon’s Rebellion. “It was not a war of American colonists against the British. Instead, Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies”(Zinn 39). …show more content…
“Bacon's rebellion started with trouble on Virginia’s western frontier. By the 1670s rich landowners controlled most of eastern Virginia. As a result, many ordinary people felt that they were pushed toward the frontier. Life was more dangerous there”(Zinn 40). Bacon himself didn't care for the poor people as much as he did fighting the Indians. Yet, the people still believed he was on their side. The people trusted him to be part of the colonial government. He sent many soldiers to fight the Indians. A man named William Berkley had Bacon captured. Then set him free after Bacon's supporters came to protest. The poor that joined Bacon’s Rebellion were punished by new laws passed in England. Stating, that they will be captured and imprisoned or forced to work. This made many of the poor leave their homes to come to America. The upper class however seemed to grow and grow. They got all political power and the best benefits. “Rich merchants built mansions. People of the upper classes had their portraits painted and traveled in coaches or in chairs carried by servants and slaves”(Zinn 50). The upper classes got an obviously different treatment than the poor. The poor struggling in the cold with no …show more content…
They were very crafty in making people believe what they wanted, but it didn't stop all the anger. By 1760 there was 18 situations where the people tried to take over the government. Yet, that’s not the last of it, there had been 8 rebellions brought by the blacks and over 40 riots. Around the same time there were elites in the colonies. They are the political and social leaders of the region. They were highly educated and had high rank jobs. “These local elites were distributed by the rising disorder. They feared that if the social order of the colonies were overturned, their own property and importance could be harmed”(Zinn 58). The elites came up with a way to ensure nothing would happen to their power. They used a tactic to turn the rebellious action and frustration against Britain. Unfortunately, it didn't go so smoothly as planned, there were many flaws. Anger and violence struck when Britain won the seven years war against France. There was a mass number of unemployment and poverty. The rich were still rich, but there were only a few of them. This resulted in rebellious actions. This wasn't only happening in Britain and France, but all over. In Boston, meetings were called to express the lower classes frustration. “One governor of Massachusetts wrote the Boston’s poor people and common folk came regularly to the meetings. There were so many of them that they outvoted the