Bacon's Rebellion Draft 2

----Land was a key factor in being wealthy during the 1600s. Owning land gave you the ability to plant crops, sell them, and make profit from them. Many colonists that settled in the New World wanted more and more land, but they were lazy to work themselves, so they brought indentured servants and slaves to work for them. “Servant life was harsh by the standards of seventeenth-century England and even by the frontier standards of the Chesapeake.” (1) The colonists expected way too much from the workers only to get rich faster. While the colonists were trying the get rich, they interfered into the Native American lives, taking away their freedom and what belonged to them. Native Americans were mistreated by colonists because the Virginia government wanted full control over the Native American’s property and colonists wanted to ensure their safety. The need for land promoted Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676.

----The colonists were treated unfairly by the government and that is what caused them to go against the Native Americans. The colonial government and surrounding Native Americans agreed to a treaty in which Native Americans gave up all claims to the land already settled by the English. Since the colonists continued to multiply quickly, they became land-hungry. “In their quest for land, they pushed beyond the treaty limits of English settlement and encroached steadily on Indian land.” (2) Colonists desired more land, which meant more money. By focusing all their attention on the land, colonists overlooked the deeper problem of their interactions with the Indians. Throughout reading several articles, I observed that the colonists didn’t care for the Native Americans, only if it was for their own benefit. Instead of growing positive relationships with the Indians, the colonists stole their property, such as food when they needed it. Moreover, “Bacon accused the Berkeley government of wrong doing, including unfair taxes and not protecting the western farmers from the Indians.” (3) Berkeley wanted peace between the Indians and colonists, but because he did not allow colonists to take the Indians land, Bacon despised the government as well as the Natives.

----Native Americans knew how to get around in the New World because they lived there all their life, but colonists took that as an advantage by abusing the Indians for taking back what didn't belong to them. When the Native Americans would take back their hoggs, they were "beaten or kill'd and the hoggs retaken from them[.]" (4) In other words, the author states that the hoggs belonged to the Native Americans, but because the colonists claimed everything to be rightfully theirs, they took the hoggs. Indians took revenge by taking the hoggs back since they were theirs in the first place, and yet the colonists would still punish them. “[T]hey de-vised a hundred ways to torter and torment those poore soules with, whose reched fate it was to fall in to there unmercyfull hands.” (5) The author was very descriptive when writing this. The colonist's took it too far in punishing the Native Americans. I understand if the Indians took something that belonged to the colonists, and would be beaten for it, but torturing them for taking back what was theirs is just ridiculous.

----The government and colonists didn't like “sharing” the land with the Native Americans. The government wanted full control of the land and that caused the Indians to lose their freedom. “The ensuing peace treaty between the colony and the natives virtually stripped the Powhatans of their independence, their lands, and their freedom of movement.” (6) All the land belonged to the Natives, and the English came and took over claiming it because they believed it rightfully belonged to them. The colonists didn't just take the Natives land, but they took many poor souls; torturing them worse than animals. Even though, the government made it seem like they were not taking the natives land, they really were to get rich off of the Native Americans.

----In order to protect themselves, colonists mistreated the Indians to ensure their safety. “Berkeley had refused to react to the claims that the Indians were committing murders and thefts on the frontier.” (7) Because the governor was making a good profit from trading with the Indians, he was not willing to let anyone or anything disrupt that business. Colonists saw that Berkley was not doing anything about the murders of his people, so they continued to abuse Indians for their protection. However, from an article online, Bacon claimed that he was, “[A] champion for those who lived on the frontier and were exposed to the threat of harm by Indians.” (8) Bacon makes it seem that Indians were the only ones bringing harm. In my view from reading these articles, I noticed that it wasn’t only Indians threatening the colonists, but it was vice versa. Both Indians and colonists blamed each other causing war between them. Moreover, Bacon’s wife wrote to her sister stating, “The Indians killing people daily the Govern: not taking any notice of it for to hinder them, but let them daily doe all the mischief they can [.]” (9) She is making it sound like Indians are horrible, and that they didn’t do anything bad to deserve the mischief.

----I can see that Bacon’s Rebellion is relevant to the Indian reservations that are present today in United States. When Indians and the colonists signed the treaty, Indians were not allowed to have the land that the colonists already settled in. This makes me realize that Indian reservations that we have now in the United States are sort of formed the same way. The Indian reservations were formed by an agreement. In an article from Wikipedia, the author states, “It laid out new rights for Native Americans, reversed some of the earlier privatization of their common holdings, and encouraged self-government and land management by tribes.” (10) In my opinion, the laws and regulations that were created in our history have affected how we make our decisions today. We can learn a lot from the mistakes that the colonists have made in Jamestown. Because of Bacon’s Rebellion, it promoted other rebellions that happened later and changed the way people lived. Everyone can learn something from Bacon’s Rebellion. If it took one person to stand up and change the way the government was running, imagine what a larger group of people can do.



Works Cited:
(1) “The American Promise” by James L. Roark (pg.83)
(2) "The American Promise" pg. 91
(3) "A Young People's History of the United States, by: Howard Zinn
(4) Document #2 "A True narrative of the Late Rebellion in Virginia, By the Royal Commissioners, 1677, excerpt."
(5) Document #5 "The History of Bacon's and Ingram's Rebellion, 1676, excerpts"
(6) "Whether They be Friends or Foes:" by Michael J. Puglisi
(7) http://www.virginiaplaces.org/military/bacon.html
(8) http://www.virginiaplaces.org/military/bacon.html
(9) The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 1 (July., 1990) pp.4
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1914836
(10) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation