NC REBELLIONS
Rebellions/Conflict
Bacon’s Rebellion
Culpepper Rebellion
 Cary Rebellion
Tuscarora War

Colonial Government and Rebellion

Few could vote
Only
men
White, 21 years old
Property owners (50
acres)
1. Bacon’s Rebellion
1676 in the Virginia
Colony
 Nathaniel Bacon –
Planter from England
 Angry with Governor
Berkeley

Bacon’s Rebellion



1676: Greed in Virginia for rich
farmlands pushes settlers into conflict
with natives
Settlers desire to move onto treatyprotected lands
29 year-old Nathaniel Bacon petitions
gov’t to approve war with natives
Bacon’s Rebellion
Unhappy about low
tobacco prices, limits on
voting rights, rule by an
aristocratic minority,
and lack of protection
from the Native
Americans

Bacon’s Rebellion





Governor refuses, Bacon attacks
anyway
Eventually, Bacon sees the Gov’t as a
obstacle
Bacon wages war on the gov’t and
burns down the capital (Jamestown)
Bacon dies of dysentery, rebellion
eventually fades out
Largely unsuccessful, but Berkeley
(governor) did step down
2. Culpeper’s Rebellion

1677 – rebellion against the
Navigation Acts
Monopolized
colonial trade for England
(only English merchants and ships to
England)
Tariffs/Export Taxes placed on colonial
products
Tobacco was usually shipped to Boston
and other goods to the West Indies
3. Cary’s Rebellion
The Vestry Act and Test Act

Designed
to ensure Anglican rule
Vestry Act – new tax used to build
Anglican Churches
Test Act – elected officials must
swear on bible to uphold Anglican
faith
Quakers, Lutherans, and Catholics
All offended and
angered
 Quakers protest by
petitioning Lord
Proprietors
 Thomas Cary (Governor)
is fired, Edward Hyde
replaced him
 Attempts to enforce acts

Cary’s Rebellion
Cary supported Quakers and
religious dissenters
 Hoped to get his job back
 Elections held (1708), Cary wins!
 1708-1711 – Cary allows
Quakers to hold office without
swearing

Thomas Cary
English Response



Cary replaced with Hyde
Cary sailed on Pamlico, fired on Hyde’s home
Caused major disruption in Carolina, represented a
diminished role for Quakers in state politics
4. Tuscarora
Native American territory to west
 Used as slaves by colonists
 Population decline from 120,000
to 16,000 in a century
 New technology = guns, glass
beads, clothing, alcohol, etc..

Buildup to War
1711 – New Bern settled in Tuscarora
territory
 John Lawson, Christoph von Graffenreid
and an African slave leave on
expedition into Tuscarora territory
 Captured, Lawson killed – others were
released later

The Tuscarora War
Tuscarora decide to try to push
Europeans out of Carolina
 Grievances:

Kidnapping
and enslaving their people
Alcohol
Cheated
during trade
Poor treatment by Europeans
The Tuscarora War
Native Americans attack Bath
County
 Plan to destroy all plantation
 Hundreds killed (even children)
 Women and children taken as
slaves
 Dead left for dogs and vultures

Results
NC calls for aid from South Carolina
and Virginia
 1713 – South Carolina responds with
Catawba and Yamassee Indians
 Tuscarora defeated at Ft. Neoheroka
 1000 were killed/enslaved, forced out
of NC to NY
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