U.S. History Honors Mr. Goodman Name: ____________________________________ Mastery Assignment Part 1: “Bacon’s Rebellion”, from Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial, 1980. (Modified) In 1676, seventy years after Virginia was founded, a hundred years before it supplied leadership for the American Revolution, that colony faced a rebellion1 of white frontiersmen2, joined by slaves and indentured servants, a rebellion so threatening that the governor had to flee the burning capital of Jamestown, and England had to send a thousand soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean. This was Bacon’s Rebellion. After the uprising was suppressed3 and its leader, Nathaniel Bacon, was dead, a Royal report described him this way: He was about thirty-­‐four or thirty-­‐five years old. He seduced4 the common and ignorant people, who made up about two-­‐thirds of Virginia, to follow him. Next, he accused the Governor of Virginia of being negligent5 and wicked, treacherous and incapable, and of creating unjust and oppressive laws and taxes. He got the common people drunk on brandy and his charm, and encouraged them to rebel. Bacon’s Rebellion began with a conflict over how to deal with the Indians on the other side of the frontier6. The Governor had given away most of the land in Virginia to a handful of powerful people. Poor whites, who had been ignored when land was given out, had gone west, past the frontier, and there they encountered Indians. Were those frontier Virginians resentful7 that the powerful people who controlled the colony’s government in Jamestown first pushed them westward into Indian territory, and then seemed indecisive8 in fighting the Indians? That might explain the character of the rebellion, which was not easily described as simply anti-­‐aristocrat9 or anti-­‐Indian, because it was both at the same time. Were the Governor, William Berkeley, and his powerful allies more conciliatory10 to the Indians now that they had claimed the land in the east for themselves? Were they using the frontier whites as a buffer11 between themselves and the Indians? The desperation of the government in suppressing the rebellion seemed to have a double-­‐motive: developing an Indian policy which would divide the Indians in order to better control them, and 1 rebellion – an uprising against the rulers 2 frontiersmen – people who live on the frontier, the border separating European-­‐controlled territory from Indian-­‐controlled territory 3 suppressed – forcefully ended 4 seduced -­‐ attracted 5 negligent – neglectful, unconcerned, failing to properly perform one’s duties 6 frontier – the border separating European-­‐controlled territory from Indian-­‐controlled territory 7 resentful – feeling bitter or angry about being treated unfairly 8 indecisive – unable to make up their minds, unable to decide on a course of action 9 aristocratic – elite, relating to the most privileged people in a society 10 conciliatory – friendly, working to maintain peace and avoid conflict 11 buffer – a barrier that protects something by preventing it from coming in contact with something else 1 U.S. History Honors Mr. Goodman Name: ____________________________________ teaching the poor whites of Virginia that rebellion would not pay off – by showing the local government’s superior military force, by calling in troops from England, and by hanging the rebels. Violence between the Indians and the frontiersmen had been escalating for some time before the rebellion. The government in Jamestown had declared war on the Indians, but had also decided not to fight those Indians who cooperated with them in trade. This angered the frontierspeople, who wanted total war and who also resented the high taxes collected by the government to pay for the war. Times were hard in 1676 when the rebellion broke out. “There was genuine distress, genuine poverty… All contemporary12 sources speak of the majority of colonists living in rough economic conditions,” writes Wilcomb Washburn, a historian who, using the British colonial records, has done a thorough study of Bacon’s Rebellion. It was a dry summer, which ruined the corn crop that the colonists depended on for food, as well as the tobacco crop, which the colonists sold for income. There was an upper class in Virginia that was not so impoverished. Bacon himself came from this class, had a good bit of land, and was probably more interested in killing Indians than in helping the condition of the poor. But he became a symbol of the mass resentment that the poor majority felt against the Virginia elites, and he was elected by them in 1676 to the Virginia legislature.13 When he insisted on organizing small armies to fight the Indians, Governor Berkeley proclaimed14 him a rebel and had him captured, at which point 2,000 Virginians marched into Jamestown to support him. Berkeley let Bacon go, in return for an apology, but Bacon went off, built his own army, and began attacking the Indians. Bacon’s “Declaration of the People”, written in July 1676, shows a mixture of poor resentment against the rich and frontier hatred of the Indians. The Declaration accused Governor Berkeley of unjust taxes, putting his favorite people in high positions, monopolizing15 the beaver trade with the Indians, and not protecting western farmers from the Indians. The rebellion didn’t last long. A ship armed with 30 guns, cruising the York River, restored order. Captain Thomas Grantham, the ship’s commander, came upon the main base of the rebels, where he found about 400 armed men, both white and African, a mixture of free men, indentured servants and slaves. He promised to pardon16 everyone and to give freedom to the slaves and servants. When they gave up their weapons and got on the boat, however, Grantham turned his guns on them and eventually returned the slaves and servants to their masters. Twenty-­‐three rebel leaders were hanged. There was a complex chain of oppression in Virginia. The Indians had their land stolen by white frontiersmen, who were themselves taxed, controlled and pushed into Indian territory by the Jamestown elite. All of Virginia was exploited17 by England, which paid the colonists very little money for the tobacco they grew and made it illegal for them to 12 contemporary – belonging to the same time as the event being discussed 13 legislature – the branch of government that writes laws 14 proclaimed – declared, officially named 15 monopolizing – blocking out other people in order to keep something all to one’s self 16 pardon – to officially forgive somebody for a crime 17 exploited – taken advantage of in an unfair way
2 U.S. History Honors Mr. Goodman Name: ____________________________________ sell their tobacco to anybody else. The indentured servants who joined Bacon’s Rebellion were the poorest class of white people in North America, and they had already been pushed out of England by poverty. Because it was too difficult to control Indians as slaves with so many Indian tribes nearby, African slaves, separated from their homeland by an Ocean, became a much more attractive alternative. Along with the problem of Indian hostility and the danger of African slave revolts, the colonial elite also had to consider the anger of poor whites. As the colony passed into its hundredth year, the gap between the rich and the poor widened, and the threat of violence increased. What if these different groups – the Indians, the African slaves, the poor whites – should join forces? What made Bacon’s Rebellion especially fearsome for the rulers of Virginia was that black slaves and white servants had joined forces. After Bacon’s Rebellion, the Virginia government decided to give amnesty18 to the white servants who had rebelled, but not to the Africans. Blacks were now forbidden to carry weapons, while whites finishing their servitude were given muskets19. The distinctions20 of status between white and black servants and slaves started to become more and more clear. In the 1720, with fear of slave rebellion growing, white indentured servants were allowed to join the militia21 in exchange for their freedom. Slave patrols were created, providing jobs for unemployed poor white men. Historian Edmund Morgan sees racism in Virginia not as natural, but rather as something created and used to control the entire population: “If freemen with disappointed hopes should make common cause with slaves of desperate hope, the results might be worse than anything Bacon had done. The answer to the problem was racism, to separate dangerous free whites from dangerous blacks by building a screen of racial contempt22.” ASSIGNMENT PART 1:
1. In this reading (which is a secondary source) the author cites one primary source and two
secondary sources. Identify these sources by writing “Primary Source” or “Secondary Source” on
the margin (side) of the reading next to each citation.
2. The author says that Bacon’s Rebellion started because of both conflicts between English
colonists and Native Americans and conflicts between wealthy and poor English colonists. Which
of these two types of conflicts do you think was the most important for getting the rebellion
started? Cite two pieces of evidence to defend your answer.
3. Why and how did the leaders of Virginia start to make distinctions between white servants and
black slaves more clear? Cite one piece of evidence to help you explain why and one piece of
evidence to help you explain how.
18 amnesty – official forgiveness for a crime 19 muskets – a type of gun popular in the 1600s 20 distinctions -­‐ differences 21 militia – a small local army made up of civilian volunteers that is ready for emergencies 22 contempt – the feeling that a person is worthless, beneath consideration, deserving of disrespect hatred 3 U.S. History Honors Mr. Goodman Name: ____________________________________ Mastery Assignment Part 2: “Declaration of the People of Virginia” By Nathaniel Bacon, July 30, 1676 (Modified) We accused Sir William Berkeley of being guilty of each and every one of the following, as one who has traitorously violated an injured His Majesty’s interest here: 1. For having, upon the pretense of public works, raised great and unjust taxes upon the commonality for the private advancement of his favorite people, but for not, during the time of his government, advancing this hopeful colony with either fortifications, towns or trade. 2. For having abused the courts of justice and made them contemptible by advancing to offices of judgeship his scandalous and ignorant favorites. 3. For having wronged His Majesty’s interests by assuming a monopoly over the beaver trade and for advancing his own profits by selling His Majesty’s country and the lives of his loyal subjects to the barbarous heathens. 4. For having protected, favored and emboldened the Indians against His Majesty’s loyal subjects and for never having done anything to prevent their many invasions, robberies and murders committed against us. 5. For having commanded our army, just when we were upon the track of those Indians and might easily have destroyed them, to turn around and make peace with those Indians, who immediately committed horrid robberies and murders in all places, being protected by the word of Sir William Berkeley. 6. And recently, when, upon a loud outcry, the Assembly had, with all care, raised and framed an army for the preventing of further mischief and for safeguarding His Majesty’s colony. 7. For having, with only advice from a few of his favorites and without consulting the people, forged his own army designed to effect civil war and destruction by sending it out against our own people defending the frontiers and weakly exposed places. We demand that the said William Berkeley and his allies surrender themselves within four days, or otherwise, we declare as follows. That in whatever place, house or ship, any of these people live, hide, or be protected, that place will be confiscated. And this we, the commons of Virginia, do declare, desiring a firm union among ourselves that we might defend ourselves against the common enemy. In His Majesty’s name, seize these people, abovementioned as traitors to the King and country, and bring them to Middle Plantation and secure them until further order. ASSIGNMENT PART 2:
This is primary source that the author of the first source references but does not actually cite (pg.
2). Does Howard Zinn provide an accurate or inaccurate description of this document? Cite three
pieces of information from this source to support your answer.
4