Alexis Vega
APUSH
During the Colonial Era, settlers faced many instances of conflict amongst the
differing groups of people inhabiting North America, these events reflected tensions
in colonial society. The Pueblo Revolt and Bacon’s Rebellion were both events of the
late 1600’s that exposed this conflict. The events shared many similarities and well as
differences. Both events were revolts against authority although the backgrounds of
people in each situation differ. Also, both occurrences were a response to some sort
of oppression of the lower classes, however the oppression the two groups
experienced were very different. Finally, a single leader coordinated both events. The
Pueblo Revolt and Bacon’s Rebellion represent two different conflicts in colonial
society during the late 17th century. They both reflect a reaction toward a group that
has oppressed however contain vastly different details.
Both the Pueblo Revolt and Bacon’s Rebellion were revolts by the governed
against those ruling over them. In the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Pueblo Native
Americans launched a coordinated attack on the Spanish Conquistadors, this shows
the tension between those in charge and the subordinates. In Bacon’s Rebellion of
1676, colonists rose up against their governor William Berkeley, showing the division
between government officials and the people under them. Both events highlighted
conflict between the ruling class and the subordinate class. The governed were
unhappy with the way they were being ruled, so they started a rebellion to change the
societies they lived in. However, the Pueblo Revolt was perpetuated by the natives
against the colonists while Bacon’s Rebellion showed tensions mostly between
colonists. The backgrounds and exact causes of these events differed, although they
both involved struggles between the government and the people.
Also, both events were caused by oppression of the lower class. The Pueblos were
forced to convert to Catholicism by Spanish missionaries, disregarding their original
religious practices. They were flogged and hanged if they disobeyed. The Spanish also
demanded corn and labor from the Pueblos, they took crops and livestock as payment for
allowing the natives to remain on their land. The Spanish enslaved tribesmen, took their
women as concubines, and introduced terrible sicknesses. The removal of Pueblo religion
suppressed Pueblo culture because the Pueblos believed that their religion governed all
aspects of their life and wellbeing, including the success of things like agriculture. So, the
Pueblos felt as though the Spanish has stripped them of everything they knew and valued.
Similarly, the colonists of Virginia led an armed rebellion against Governor William
Berkeley due to their discontent with his policies. They opposed his friendly trade and
policy with the American Indians. Tobacco prices were extremely low and taxes were
increasing, the colonists faced trade restrictions created by Berkeley. Indians benefitted
from trade more than the colonists. Colonists thought Berkeley was oppressing their
opportunities, and as they were struggling to get by they felt like their governor cared
more about the Native Americans than he did about his own people. The revolting
peoples faced oppression for different reasons in these two events. The Pueblos were
oppressed due to their race and religion. The Virginians faced restrictions by their
governor because he chose to help the Indians. The revolting peoples were suppressed in
different ways, but in both instances suppression felt by the lower class drove the revolts.
Lastly, both rebellions expressed tensions in colonial society through leaders who
organized huge revolts due to their anger and discontent with their leaders. There were
strong feelings of resentment towards those in power in both situations. In the Pueblo
Revolt, Pope was a medicine man and Pueblo leader who led a response to the
persecution and violence, he desired a return to native customs. He congregated the
Pueblos, Navajos, and Apaches to strike Santa Fe. He preached to his people that their
only hope of throwing off the Spanish was to unite against them. He had to obtain horses
and firearms, which was difficult since their masters denied them both of these things. He
planned to attack while Spanish supplies were low, to keep them bewildered and
uncoordinated. In Bacon’s Rebellion, Nathaniel Bacon acted as a huge driving force.
Bacon endorsed a policy of removing all Indians in the interest of unlimited territorial
expansion and as a revenge for earlier Native American attacks on the frontier
settlements. In defiance of Berkeley, in 1676 Bacon organized an expedition against the
Indians. At the start the governor branded Bacon a rebel, but he was soon forced by
public pressure to give Bacon a commission. Later Berkeley again denounced Bacon’s
activities as rebellious and launched several military expeditions against Bacon and the
60 or so colonists who had followed him in retaliatory raids on the Native Americans.
Bacon managed to seize control of the government for a time and called a reform
assembly to repeal low tobacco price scales and high taxes.
Bacon’s Rebellion and the Pueblo Revolt were both events that reflected tension in
the colonies. . They both reflect a reaction toward a group that has oppressed however
contain vastly different details. In both events, the lower class revolted against the upper
class, the revolting peoples felt oppressed, and one strong leader led them. They differed
because the lower classes were oppressed and targeted for different reasons.