User:Meflynnpstcc/sandbox

Bacon's Rebellion

Motives
The immediate cause of the rebellion was Governor Berkeley's refusal to retaliate for a series of Native American attacks on frontier settlements. In addition, many colonists wished to attack and claim Native American frontier land westward, but they were denied permission by Gov. Berkeley. Many of these colonists were former indentured servants whose contracts had terminated and who were now free, looking for land.

Modern historians have suggested the rebellion may have been a power play by Bacon against Berkeley and his favoritism towards certain members of the court. While Bacon was on the court, he was not within Berkeley's inner circle of council members and disagreed with him on many issues. Bacon's financial backers included men of wealth from outside Berkeley's circle of influence.

Historian Peter Thompson argues that Bacon's motivation was a personal vendetta between Berkeley and him. However, Bacon's followers used the rebellion as an effort to gain government recognition of the shared interests among all social classes of the colony in protecting the "commonality" and advancing its welfare.

The county grievances were some of the colonists’ political complaints to Berkley that lead to the rebellion most of the grievances were not about Indian relations, instead they were about high taxes. The results of Bacon’s rebellion show that radicalized race-based slavery was a deliberate choice of the English elites that developed over time; before the rebellion the prospect of slavery was not predetermined by race.