2
The mood of the colonists in the spring of 1676 was tense. Multiple incidents with the
native populations spelled trouble for the primarily rural communities. In the north, King
Phillip’s War was picking up steam, and the House of Burgesses was worried that it might spill
over into the Virginia Colony as well. Into this setting, we place our two key players: Governor
William Berkeley, an old statesman renown for his calm handling of tenuous native situations in
the past, and Nathaniel Bacon, a cocky young Englishman desiring to make a name for himself
in the New World. Their choices would resonate throughout America history, labeling Bacon as
both hero and villain.
Just the previous year, conflict with the Susquehannock tribe had begun over a
misunderstanding. Thinking them to be members of the Doeg tribe, settlers had attacked and
killed multiple Susquehannock tribesmen, starting a chain of reprisals in motion. When hot heads
prevailed, the colonists attacked a Susquehannock fort, and failed to capture it. The
Susquehannock tribe then engaged in multiple small-scale attacks on settlers throughout the
Virginia territory, killing between 30 and 60 people.
Throughout all this turmoil, the people of Virginia had one authority figure to turn to in
their time of need, Governor William Berkeley. Now somewhat advanced in years and foul-
tempered from multiple health conditions, Berkeley was still a much-admired personage in the
colonies, especially considering his proficiency dealing with Native American uprisings in the
past. James Rice puts it thusly in his book Tales from a Revolution: Bacon’s Rebellion and the
Transformation of America: “Few colonial governors had enjoyed so much success and
popularity.” Berkeley, though, was now governing a population that was too young to remember
his prior triumphs.
3
Unhappy with Berkeley’s response to the perceived Indian menace, the colonial
population began looking for alternative solutions for their dilemma. They found a charismatic
leader to rally around in the form of Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon’s own personal history was
unsavory, however, and Berkeley and others loyal to him saw Bacon as being an arrogant and
impertinent man.
Bacon was a recent immigrant from England. His father originally sent him to complete a
law degree, which Bacon did after a few years of behavior much more befitting a slothful
playboy. Upon completing his education, he promptly became embroiled in an accusation which
said that he was “using his legal training to defraud a wealthy young neighbor of his
inheritance”11. Fearing for his son (or just as likely, fearing the bad publicity of a scandal),
Bacon’s father sent him to the American colonies, just in time to avoid prosecution.
Bacon arrived in the colonies with 1,800£. Taking his place as a wealthy and therefore
powerful member of the colonial aristocracy, Bacon began turning heads with his arrogant
manner. He purchased for himself a property on the leading edge of the frontier, which placed
him as far from Jamestown’s authority as possible, while also placing himself at risk of Indian
attacks.
Bacon then attacked and imprisoned a group of peaceful Appomattox Indians after
catching them stealing some of his corn, causing great concern in Jamestown. Governor
Berkeley was attempting to be diplomatic with the Indian populations, fearing that too much
pressure would ignite a struggle between native and colonial populations alike to what they were
1 Rice, James D.Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early
America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2012. Accessed February 20, 2024.
ProQuest Ebook Central.
4
witnessing in the northern states with King Philip’s War. Berkeley opted for a defensive war
instead, viewing actions like those of Bacon to be the pinnacle of foolishness.
Bacon was able to use the “inaction” of Berkeley to bring others to his cause, inciting
them with fearful stories and expounded tales of murder and mayhem. He convinced many of his
followers to join him in attempting to remove the Indian menace, since the government in
Jamestown was clearly unable to protect their own borders. Bacon defied Berkeley’s orders and
decided that the best course of action was to go on the offensive against the native threat.
Berkeley conversed with Bacon regularly for quite some time through letters, and once
Berkeley determined that Bacon was simply making excuses and stalling for time, he declared
Bacon a rebel, and demanded that he return to Jamestown to be called to account for his actions.
Throughout American history, this rebellion has captivated the minds of successive
generations, taught both as examples of liberty and criminality. “Early twentieth-century writers
painted a manly rebel who upheld the southern caste system and committed justified violence
against royal authority and nonwhite people”2. Bacon’s actions have been glorified and vilified in
turn, but which is the correct interpretation? Many moder scholars, including Jessica Taylor,
seem to view Bacon as a rebel, caught up in his own legend and making his own law. It is their
postulation that Bacon has been viewed as a hero to his fellow colonials mainly because of the
temperament of Americans after the Civil War, and the American desire to justify rebelling
against authority.
2 Taylor, Jessica. "Bully! Said Bacon: Seventeenth-Century History, Nineteenth-Century
Masculinity, and Literature about Bacon's Rebellion."The Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography130, no. 1 (2022): 2-37, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/bully-said-bacon-seventeenth-century-
history/docview/2640098039/se-2.
5
The historical context suggests a different interpretation. Based upon Bacon’s upbringing,
his arrogant persona that he maintained with leadership both in Europe and America, and his
headstrong decisions in relation to the native population, it seems that Bacon did not act out of a
love for liberty, but instead out of a prideful and vain desire to gain power, notoriety, and wealth
for himself. Bacon used his natural charisma to convince his fellow colonists that only he held
the solution to the Indian threat, and in doing so, manipulated them into following him into
rebellion against the due leaders of the Virginia colony.
6
Bibliography
Rice, James D.CTales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early
America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2012. Accessed February 20,
2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Taylor, Jessica. "Bully! Said Bacon: Seventeenth-Century History, Nineteenth-Century
Masculinity, and Literature about Bacon's Rebellion."CThe Virginia Magazine of History
and BiographyC130, no. 1 (2022): 2-37, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/bully-said-bacon-seventeenth-century-
history/docview/2640098039/se-2.
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