Nathaniel Bacon Bacon's Rebellion:

An Examination of a Primary Source

The beginnings of our great country were not without bloodshed or sacrifice. Many a great hero fought in the War for Independence, for instance, and this is known to all, but there were other people who fought much smaller social, political and economic battles who must also be remembered. Nathaniel Bacon was certainly one of these people, and this paper will spend time introducing the reader to Bacon and his beliefs, as well as examining his own writing, found in the "Proclamations of Nathaniel Bacon" pamphlet in order to see what the main complaints that Bacon presented against the government of Virginia were, as well as find to what end Bacon's rebellion helped change relationships between the rich and poor; Blacks, Native Americans, and Whites; and free and enslaved early Americans.

Who was Nathaniel Bacon?

Nathaniel Bacon was a wealthy, well-educated Virginia colonialist. He was born a patriot, in England, and came to America in the early 1670's with a considerable fortune. Bacon was a lawyer by profession so he was very eloquent and began to have considerable influence over the inhabitants of his new town from the start. He became a member of the Gloucester council shortly after his arrival in the New World, and began to publicly and strongly...

Bacon did this due to the fact that he saw discontent in that which regarded taxation and relations with Native Americans, and aimed to do his best to help the people, not the Crown or those who served it. It was due to these events that Bacon eventually led the people in a full rebellion.
What History Writes

One can not discuss Bacon's writings of what, in his opinion, caused him to lead the rebellion without putting them into a larger historical context. For this reason, it is important to examine what other sources state about Bacon's Rebellion prior to examining the man's own account. The reason the rebellion started, history claims, is due to high taxes, low prices for tobacco and anger towards Governor Berkeley for his corrupt nature (i.e. he favoured those close to him and refused to defend the frontier against Native American attacks). Bacon thus organized two fights against the tribes to at least quell the situations but was unsuccessful without any help from the Governor. Eventually, Bacon decided to take up the seat as Governor himself, but was arrested for his actions. Once released, however, Bacon and his supporters marched to Berkeley and were able to pressure him into obtaining a commission for continuing…