Chapter 3: Persons of Mean and
Vile Condition
Colonies
in
Upheaval
Bacons rebellion was sparked by a difference in opinion about how to deal
with the threat of Indians on the frontier (Zinn 40)
The government was not adequately protecting those living on the frontier
from Indian attacks, creating conflict between local government and citizens
of Jamestown.
Bacons Rebellion 1676
Nathaniel Bacon
-He came from the upper class and had a-lot of land but
nonetheless became a symbol for resistance of the
existing order. (Zinn 41)
-He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1676 and
criticized the rich and expressed hatred toward the
frontier Indians (Zinn 41).
-Bacon was a strong advocate for protecting the frontier
using forces outside the existing structure of governance.
Causes of the Rebellion:
-How to deal with Indian attacks
on the frontier?
-Resentment toward the
aristocrats and frustration over
Indian aggression.
Governor Berkeley Challenges
Bacon
-Bacon organized groups to fight against the Indians and
he was declared a rebel by Governor Berkeley and arrested (Zinn 41.)
-tens of hundreds of Virginians march to Jamestown in support
of Bacon and Berkeley releases Bacon (Zinn 41).
Bacons defeat and death
-The last of Bacons forces were defeated by Thomas Grantham and the last of
the
rebels were hanged and the Africans were sent back to their slaves (Zinn 41).
-”Leveling” is the process of poor whites toward the rich to try to level the
wealth
and the slaves were part of this poor underclass (Zinn 42).
Indentured Servitude
•
•
-Many Africans were deceived into slavery by signing an indenture which
gave them passage to America that they paid for with 5-7 years of service
as a slave.
-In 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses, provided for enforcement of
treaties between servants and masters (Zinn 43). These treaties were
by nature unfair and required Africans to travel long voyages across vast
oceans
resulting in the death and sickness of many men, women
and children (Zinn
43.)
•
Servants faced terror and
oppression at the hands of their
Servants were subject
to routine humiliations
masters.
and cruelties from their masters as Zinn
explains that “Beatings and whippings were
common. Servant women were raped (Zinn
44).
•
Women servants were controlled closely by
their masters as Zinn highlights: “The master
tried to control completely the sexual lives of
the servants…Servants could not marry
without permission (Zinn 44). This kind of
Legislation is passed punishing
servants who rebel
•
•
After Bacons rebellion the Virginia legislature
passed laws punishing servants who are
caught rebelling against their masters (Zinn
45).
Many servants decided that escape was easier
than rebellion and during the 1600’s and into
the 1700’s their were reports of mass
desertions by white servants in the southern
colonies.
Throughout the colonial period the
rich got richer and the poor got
•
•
•
From 1630 at the start of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony the rich dominated over the lower
class and the best land was given to the rich
(Zinn 48).
A study showed that by 1770 the top 1
percent of the population owned 44 percent
of the wealth in Boston (Zinn 49).
This great disparity between rich and poor
caused much resentment and bitterness
Poverty continued to increase
within the colonies
•
•
•
•
From 1687 to 1770 the percentage of poor
impoverished males more than doubled from
14 to 29 percent (Zinn 49).
Free white workers began to rebel against
unfair treatment by the rich.
Protests were happening in Maine, New York,
and Boston (50-51).
Much of the divisions and conflicts were
strictly along class lines and involved the rich
England’s war meant poverty for
many in the colonies
•
•
England was fighting in Queen Anne’s war in
the early 1700’s and King George’s War in the
1730’s (Zinn 52).
For merchants, according to Zinn, this meant
profits, but for most it meant higher taxes and
Serious problems began to develop
for the wealthy elite in the
Indians were toocolonies.
difficult to control, slaves
•
were rebelling and the impoverished whites
were becoming increasingly dissatisfied (Zinn
53).
•
Fears began to rise among the elites that
these groups could some how get together to
overthrow the system of rule established by
the British in the American colonies.
There fears were high in the
Carolinas
•
Black slaves outnumbered whites by 15,000
and Indian tribes were scattered all around in
the Carolinas (Zinn 54).
–
This led to the passing of laws that prohibited free
blacks from traveling in areas that were
designated as Indian country (Zinn 54).
Despite repeated attempts to stop
them slaves continued to rebel
•
Around the 1760’s slaves that ran away, in
many cases, fled to Indian villages and found
refuge and sometimes married and had
children (Zinn 55).
–
Yet deals were made and bribes were given to
•
Divisions between rich and poor
would continue, however
something new was developing.
There began to develop a class of middle class
planters that would help the elites create a
buffer between them and slave and Indians on
the frontier (Zinn 56).
-Concessions were made to the middle class
whites, but at the expense of slaves, Indians
and poor whites.
-This class struggle would continue to divide
Works Cited
•
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United
States. New York: HarperCollins.
(2005).
Book.