Characteristics Of Bacon's Rebellion

Nathaniel Bacon of Jamestown, Virginia, a social elite of the time and a leader of a civil conflict in 1676 which dubbed it “Bacon Revolt,” a rebellion that led to uneasiness in the region with oppression towards the native Indians and the Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley. Many scholars have differing opinions relative to the characteristics of the people and the region where the rebellion took place, but there is a mutual understanding that “Bacon’s Rebellion was set of by a disagreement over how best to handle a conflict between Indians and colonists in the Potomac Valley” (Rice, 2014, p. 728). Nevertheless, the conflict remains an historical event, as it was the first rebellion during the colonial era as tensions rose among the citizens of Jamestown.
As Virginia established frontier settlements, native Indians attacked some of these towns, however, Virginia Governor Berkeley refused to retaliate against them. This began a series of conflict among the people of Jamestown and the Governor. Consequently, Nathaniel Bacon united with our Virginians against Berkley and sought for retribution by attacking native Indian settlements as well. This forced Governor Berkley to leave town. …show more content…
The characteristics of colonial America may present a better understanding with a focus on native Indians in the area where Bacon’s Rebellion originated. The perspective of the native Indians among the Susquehanna Valley, Potomac Valley, as well as those tribes within other regions of Virginia and Maryland involved in the Indian slave trade. According to Rice (2014), “from this perspective the rebellion appears to have been a manifestation of a much broader transformation, even a fundamental restructuring, of patterns of war, exchange, society, and diplomacy throughout eastern North America” (p. 729). The major conflict was over who had dominant control over the region, the Indians who settled on the region first, or the colonists who built a new civilized