BACON’S REBELLION

The American Colonies

Virginia, 1675

ORIGINAL 13 COLONIES

Picture It…

• You are an Indentured Servant in Colonial America

• Tobacco has become the cash crop savior of the colony

• Everyone is trying to make $$$ planting it

• It is EVERYWHERE!!!

Some Background:

• Indentured Servant:– Someone who agrees to work for 5 to 7 years in

exchange for • Food, clothing and shelter• Training in a skill• And/or passage to America• Possible land

• Headright System– A reward of 50 acres of land for bringing people to

America (Virginia). Sometimes given to an indentured servant upon completion of the indenture contract.

BUT…• Tobacco is incredibly harsh on the land

• The Colonial Economy & Labor Force has become one-dimensional

• Education is lacking

• Cities aren’t developing

• Indentured Servants are frustrated– high taxes– no more land left for them

• What if something goes wrong???

PRECURSORS TO BACON’S REBELLION

• 1. One crop economy

• 2. Indentured Servitude

• 3. Soil Dying

Something Does!!!

• As the market is flooded with tobacco, the price of tobacco plummets– Farmers not making much money– Go into debt– Still have heavy taxes

• As tobacco is harsh on the land, the soil needs time to replenish

What To Do???

• Colonists thought if they could just get more land…– Could grow more tobacco– Sell more– Make more money!!!

• But there is no more land…for colonists

• Who has the rest???

Native Americans • Treaties have been signed• Borders have been drawn

• So What!!!!!!!!!!

• Discontent boils over…• Farmers begin to invade Powhatan Lands

to the West• Group of Susquehannocks are killed• Retaliation comes

Cry for War!!

• VA Governor William Berkeley refuses to authorize a war (with Native Americans)

• Farmers are furious at Gov’t

• In steps…

• Nathaniel Bacon

• Led poor farmers, indentured servants, even slaves on a rampage

N. BACON

CAUSES OF BACON’S REBELLION

• 1. Tobacco Price Fall

• 2. Lack of Available Land

• 3. High Taxes

• 4. No Gov’t Help

Bacon’s Rebellion

• Makes war on Native Tribes for their Lands

• Begins looting wealthy white plantations as well

• Jamestown is burned

Bacon Organizing His Men

Jamestown Burned

EFFECTSOF BACON’S REBELLION

• 1. Farmers Start War

• 2. Invasion of Native American Lands

• 3. Attack Wealthy Planters

But Then…

• Bacon dies suddenly

• Rebellion fades out

• HOUSE OF BURGESSES – VA Assembly votes to lower taxes and open up some land

THE REALIZATION

• Indentured Servant Labor isn’t Working!!!– They become free and want things– Like land, freedoms, rights, money

• American Colonies Need a New Source of Labor

• One that won’t give them these problems

OUTCOMEOF BACON’S REBELLION

• 1. Some Gov’t Help– Lower Taxes

• 2. SLAVERY EXPANDS IN THE COLONIES!!!

– Indentured Servitude will not work

Colonial Diversity

Growth of Slavery1820

Slavery Growth 1860

What was Bacon’s Rebellion?

• Farmers expressing discontent, making war on Native Americans to get more land

What is the SIGNIFICANCE of Bacon’s Rebellion?

• The Significance of Bacon’s Rebellion is that African Slavery was expanded in the American Colonies

• (Cause and Effect!!!)• (Changes over Time!!!)

Historical BackgroundWhat caused King Philip’s War?1. What was happening to New England’s

Native American population before 1675?

2. Who was King Phillip?

3. What were the results of King Philip’s War?

4. Based on what you read, what do you think caused King Philip’s War?

Document A

Sourcing:

1.Who wrote this account? Was the author a colonist or a Native American?

2.When was this account written? (before or after King Philip’s War?)

3.Given who wrote it, do you think it’s fair to call the document King Philip’s Perspective? Why or why not?

Document A

Contextualization: Begin reading the document after you’ve sourced it.

4. What was happening in New England that led to this meeting?

5. What are 3 complaints that the Native Americans made to John Easton?

Document B

1. Who wrote this account? Why would the English government care about what was happening all the way across the ocean in New England?

2. When was this account written? (before or after King Philip’s War?)What do you predict the author will say were the causes of King Philip’s War?

1. What are three different theories that the colonists have for why Indians attacked English settlements? Do the colonists blame themselves? Explain.

2. Based on Document B, how would you describe the colonists’ attitude towards Native Americans?

Compare Points of View

Using evidence from Documents A and B, what do you think caused King Philip’s War of 1675?

• What does King Philip’s War and Bacon’s Rebellion tell us about conflict in the colonies during this time?

Citations:

• Albert B. Hart, ed., American History Told by Contemporaries. Vol. 1, 458-60. (New York, 1897). http:/www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=206

• John Easton, “A Relation of the Indian War” in A Narrative of the Causes Which Led to Philip’s Indian War (Albany: J. Munsell, 1858), 5–15. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6226