Walter Hind Essay: The Power Of Poverty

Improved Essays
The Power of Poverty I, Walter Hind, a Catholic captive of the English as a result of the Wars of Three Kingdoms, arrived in the colony of Virginia as an Irish servant in 1660. I was ordered to work as an indentured servant for a certain Mrs. Hannah Aston for a period of six years. With the decline of the economic power of Virginia, the favoritism shown towards wealthy landowners and the elite, and the injustice shown towards indentured servants such as me by making us work more years or pay huge fines to the already wealthy, I argue that joining Mr. Nathaniel Bacon in his efforts to rebel against the economy, the colony 's security and the prejudice of race and religion . First of all, the economy faced a lot of situations and have led to the frustrations of people who would later band together to form Bacon 's Rebellion. At this time, Virginia faces a lot of economic problems, such as declining tobacco prices, growing commercial competition from Maryland and the Carolinas, an increasingly restricted English market, and the rising prices from English manufactured goods (James Rice p.g 3). There is heavy loss in the latest series of naval wars with the Dutch and, closer to home, there are many problems caused by weather. Hailstorms, floods, dry spells, and hurricanes affect the colony all year round and has a damaging effect on the colonists. This makes the life of the poor even worse and there is no hope that the courts will make the situation better. Second of all, the colony 's security at this time in March of 1675, Nathaniel Bacon has appointed a new member of Council by his uncle, Sir William Berkeley, who is the Governor of Virginia (James Rice and Martha McCartney 7). He is of the mindset that the Virginia Indians should be eradicated because they are dangerous to the colonists and have in their possession land that can be useful to the colonists. Seeing as I am in need of land to provide for my family, his incentive resides with me. By the spring of 1676, a war is …show more content…
A lot of people like me who are captives or who voluntarily agreed to be indentured to wealthy landowners found out that they were not going to be receiving any land as compensation (James Rice 5). A vast majority of these people had come to the new world, hoping to find better lives and they did not see any way it was going to happen with the colony court pandering to the wealthy. It makes sense to us to take control of our enemies land and resources and use it for ourselves. They had cultivated the land so it could produce food for us and we could sell the food and make money for ourselves. This means, I will be able to afford the taxes imposed by Governor Berkeley. In conclusion, Mr. Bacon’s plantation which was converted into housing for all the people fighting was a refuge for all servants who had mistreated by their masters. It was a fortress for poor people. Slaves, indentured servants and poor people who saw the benefit of eliminating a potential treat and benefitting for ourselves in the process. It said to the governor that people like us who have a voice and weapons have power, although we are not as rich as the landowners. We overcame the powerful colonists and landowners to pave a way for ourselves despite opposition from the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    After Indians and slaves, tobacco growers are the next people class that Holton studies. They were angry at the passage of the Navigation Acts, which mandated that tobacco could only be exported to England. Thus the British merchants were able to get the prices down, which then forced tobacco growers into huge debt with the merchants of the mother country. Consequently, the mounting depression of the tobacco market led to protests and rebellions such as the Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, which was the most prominent uprising in the history of Virginia (48). The tobacco growers, Holton argues, were a powerful force that was united by their debts and their dependency of British merchants.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Race plays a major role in both excerpts from Virginia’s Statutes and the Bacon’s Rebellion Documents, a person`s race depicted what kind of life you are going to live. In Virginia’s Statutes the role that race was that if you were an English servant you were treated slightly better than if you were a negro. For example one of the codes express how the servants could not get whipped unless a justice of the peace agrees and if they are whipped without consent they will have to pay a fine.…

    • 90 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Just as Brown put forth, I conquer that Bacon used rhetoric such as “but if there bee as sure there is, a just God to appeal too, if Religion and Justice be a sanctuary here, If to plead y[e] cause of the oppresse, If sincerely to aime at his Mat [ites] Honor and the Publikc good…,” specifically to rally up both traditional Englishmen and new colonial men, who viewed divine justification from God as the most noble reason to do anything. Bacon continues on that “to indeavor to save the remaynders bee Treason God Almighty Judge and let guilty dye,” furthering building upon the religious platform, which still held a commanding prominence in colonial times (Bacon, 1676 & Brown, 1996). As Brown points out, Bacon drew upon the divide between Berkley and the elite and the lower class, who thought that they were not receiving adequate protection from attacks; as well as the division between the elite class over what qualified one to be a true leader (Brown, 1996). In Nathaniel Bacon’s Manifesto Concerning the Present Troubles in Virginia he uses the old English and new colonial patriarchal themes to incite the people to revolt against the governor and his inner circle.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the 17th century, many events caused tension in colonial society. Many of the events resulted in revolt, protest, and even execution. Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 and the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reflected the underlying tensions in colonial society at that time, mainly including economic inequality, the gap between the blacks and the whites, social differences, the wealth between the lower class and the high class, and religious influence, how the Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 wasn’t influenced by religion, but how the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was. The Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 and the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reflected the economic inequality of the colonial era through methods of scapegoating and large scale rebellions.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Instead, Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies”(Zinn 39).…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bacon's Rebellion Essay

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bacon soon saw an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. After being denied access to the House of Burgesses and the fur trade, he begins to formulate a plan. In his mind, he is entitled to everything because he is of noble blood, but in Berkeley’s mind Bacon needed to earn it. Bacon begins complaining about the way things are run, particularly about the ‘savages.’ He forms his own voluntary militia, at no cost to the people of Virginia, to go and hunt the Indians.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The book, “American Slavery: 1619-1877” written by Peter Kolchin and published first in 1993 and then published with revisions in 2003, takes an in depth look at American slavery throughout the country’s early history, from the pre-Revolutionary War period to the post-Civil War period. The first chapter deals with the origins of slavery within the United States. It discusses the introduction of slavery to the nation even before it was officially a nation. The colonies in the United States were agricultural and the cultivation of crops required labor.…

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Bacon's Rebellion

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bacon’s Rebellion occurred in 1767 over the issue of the land-reserved areas for the natives. Colonists were angered by the fact that land was taken away from them for the Indians. This attitude prompted a confrontation between the Indians and colonists, and promoted the colonists to order the extermination of the natives in Virginia’s western front. Berkeley, the governor, refused to act upon their request, and so the colonists took action for themselves and murdered Indians in rebellion towards him under the lead of Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon formed an army of his own who supported his ideas and promises.…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this essay we will be discussing the Quakers struggle with the issue of slavery. What beliefs prompted particular Quaker communities to protest slavery? How does the end of slavery in Pennsylvania impact slavery in colonial America? How does the legacy of the Quaker Abolition Movement impact future generations of Quaker leaders? What conclusion can be drawn about Pennsylvania's gradually instead of abrupt end of slavery?…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Slaves and indentured servants developed a relationship based upon similarity of duties in colonial America. Slaves and indentured servants preformed duties of housework and fieldwork. If these tasks were not preformed accordingly, both groups were beaten. Slaves and indentured servants could be bought and sold depending on their master’s preference. Both slaves and indentured servants also shared a similar relationship with their master; they were each viewed as property and as replaceable.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On May 28, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The law authorized Andrew Jackson to negotiate with Indians for their removal to federal land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands. Andrew Jackson was able to convince the American people that Indians could not coexist peacefully with them. He argued that the Indians were uncivilized and needed to be guarded from their own savage ways. As a result of his actions, thousands of Indians were forcibly ripped from their homes and onto a journey to a unknown territory, that was not as fertile as their home grounds.…

    • 2378 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both “Letter To His Father And Mother” and “Letter to Michael Willingsworth” illuminates important social economic and cultural differences in Puritan and Massachusetts society. “Letter to His Father And Mother” highlights the separation that one feels from the rest of society due to the plantations being far apart and the consequences of such actions, with not as much emphasis placed on societal benefits or rules. Instead, a heavier emphasis is placed on personal profits, with the poor and powerless being given the bare minimum in order to survive. In contrast, Puritans developed a communal rather than individualistic nature, with social standing in Puritan society being based off of religious beliefs. Citizens in puritan society are expected…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Desiree Ranshaw Dr. Yuxuf Abana AFAS 320 26 December 2014 Unit 1—(December 22—December 26) Worksheet Questions on The Origins of American Slavery. 1. In the opening chapter of Origins, Betty Wood asserts that “The adoption of chattel slavery by the English in their New World colonies had no clear precedent in either English law or social and economic practice” (The Origins of American Slavery 9). What does chattel slavery mean? Thoroughly analyze how does this term explain English ideas about slavery?…

    • 1944 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Cry for Help An indentured servant named Richard Frethorne, from the Virginia plantation Martin’s Hundred, wrote letters to his mother and father begging them to “redeem” his indenture.1 The letter written by Frethorne opened up his parents eyes and the eyes of other Englishmen to the unforsaken truth about indentured servants, the conditions they were living in, and what hardships America was going through (e.g. disease, starvation, and death.) Frethorne wrote his parents a letter in hopes of revoking his indenture and returning home to England. If the Frethorne family were unable to do that, alternatively, selling meals with “good folk” or sending him food to sell in America to pay back his indenture.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    War On Poverty Essay

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages

    While the programs of the War on Poverty were national initiatives and federally funded, areas of the country responded differently and geographic variations created unique needs across state lines. Most research in this field discusses state level antipoverty programs and initiatives as individual occurrences, as if a program in one state were not related to the program of the same name in a state across the country. While the implementation of programs varied across states, they all played a role in the success of the federal initiative. The freedom granted to state level government allowed them to design programs unique to their communities and its needs. These distinctions meant each state was successful l in its own right, which equated to a major national accomplishment.…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays