Appointed in 1641 by the crown, Sir William Berkeley governed Virginia for most of the following 35 years. He implemented policies that favored the large planters and used dictatorial powers to govern on their behalf. For 15 years, beginning in 1661, Berkeley refused to allow any new election to the assembly, perpetuating his cronies in power. The right to vote was a crucial part of democracy for the colonists, for it meant that the person they elected was the person they felt most responsible to support them. Unfortunately, Berkeley’s government was unresponsive to the colonist’s needs and also denied them social equality. Their salaries came from unbearable taxes levied on the common planter. Berkeley’s favorites also received disproportionate shares in grants of land and licenses to trade with the Indians (Taylor …show more content…
In July 1676, Bacon issued the Declaration of the People of Virginia, a list of complaints against Berkeley. Berkeley tried to rally public support by holding new assembly elections and extending the vote to all freemen, but the new assembly went against the governor, instead passing laws to make government more responsive to the common people and to end greedy office holding (Nash 59). In September 1676, Bacon’s men drove the governor and his supporters across Chesapeake Bay to refuge on the eastern shore and burned Jamestown to the ground to discourage their return. A few weeks later, Bacon suddenly died of dysentery, leaving the movement leaderless. Soon thereafter, an English naval squadron arrived to restore order (Garraty 43). Berkeley hanged 23 rebel leaders without giving them a trial. Even so, Bacon’s Rebellion and the Declaration of the People set a precedent for Americans to fight for equality and a more responsive government. Fear of another such uprising prompted the hardening of racial lines as the region became committed to black
In this document Bacon declares himself General by the consent of the people and asserts that Governor Sir William Berkeley and his supporters have used their power to commit crimes against the people of Virginia and the English Crown. The document cites eight grievances related to unjust taxes, inadequate protection from the Indians, and government corruption. Bacon calls for the immediate surrender or capture of Berkeley and 23
While writing the declaration the problem Thomas Jefferson was trying to address was the unjust treatment of the English colonies. For the most part, the English colonies where bullied and not given the right treatment by England. As a solution to this miss treatment Thomas Jefferson decides that the colonies should run them self as a completely separate country. Even if that means going to war. Jefferson chose the evidence he did to highlight the unfair treatment of the colonies.
Though they came from the same origin, the New England and Chesapeake Regions both separated, and with different goals for each colony. By the 1700s the Chesapeake and New England regions were distinctively different even though both were made from English colonies based on, the people whom settled the land, the governing goals and the religions brought to the new land. After arriving in the New World, the New England and Chesapeake Colonies began to thrive, but from ideas that came from very different people. Though both were trying to escape religious persecution, the differences in the people whom settled the land is noticeable.
When Berkeley arrived, Nathaniel Bacon left with 200 of his men looking for a better place to hold a meeting. Berkeley then declared Nathaniel Bacon a rebel and issued a pardoning to Bacon's fleet if they went home and didn’t provoke conflict. Berkeley said that if Bacon did go home peacefully that he would have to give up his place in the council, but he was going to be given a just trial for his actions. However, Bacon refused to quit his fight. Instead, he attacked the village of some friendly Indians.
At the dawn of the 1770s, American colonial resentment of the British Parliament in London had been steadily increasing for some time. Retaliating in 1766, Parliament issued the Declaratory Act which repealed most taxes except issued a reinforcement of Parliament’s supremacy. In a fascinating exchange, we see that the Parliament identifies and responds to the colonists main claim; Parliament had no right to directly tax colonists who had no representation in Parliament itself. By asserting Parliamentary supremacy while simultaneously repealing the Stamp Act and scaling back the Sugar Act, Parliament essentially established the hill it would die on, that being its legitimacy. With the stage set for colonial conflict in the 1770s, all but one
In 1676 an uprising occurred known as Bacon’s Rebellion. This Rebellion was lead by Nathaniel Bacon. Virginians who resented Governor William Berkley’s friendly policies towards the Native Americans rose against him by joining the rebellion. “.. For then having expressly countermanded and sent back our army by passing his word for the peaceable demeanor of the said Indians, who immediately prosecuted their evil intentions, committing horrid murders and robberies in all places, being protected by the said engagement and word past of him the said Sir William Berkeley.” (Bacon’s Rebellion: The Declaration)
These men sought for a greater sense of autonomy they experienced before the end of The French and Indian War. This autonomy, or benign neglect, led to the creation of a unique self-governing system with cultural differences between Colonial America and England. After Parliament’s lengthy absence, followed by abrupt reappearance, `The threat to colonial American lifestyle was the main reason for rebellion within Boston making the subjects conservative reactionaries because they fight for the way of life that was robbed from them. Some might argue the New England Whigs are radical revolutionaries, but a radical revolutionary must believe they are revolutionizing their society’s political and social structure. Generally, in 1775, most who opposed the Crown did not yearn for a new society; rather, they defended their traditional form of self-government.
The right to vote in the colonies was almost everywhere restricted to white male property owners (Crews, “Voting in Early America”). This was to insure that they were independent and active in the colonial economy. A high percentage
The New Englanders took religion seriously, making unitary laws according to Puritan standards. John Winthrop, later chosen as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor, was seeking religious freedom. Wishing to inspire the colonists to dwell in brotherly unity, he summoned them together to remind them “that if we [colonists] shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” On the other hand, those in the Chesapeake region came for the wealth that America promised. They were there to become prosperous or die trying.
They went on a rampage and fell murderously upon the Indians. Bacon suddenly dies of disease. Berkeley crushed the rebellion with brutally hanging more than twenty of the rebels (Document B). Later on both Virginia and Maryland employed the “headright” system to encourage the importation of servant workers (Document C). Under its terms,
The result of the Bacon’s Rebellion made a establishment of hierarchies based on class, but hidden by race. The Bacon’s Rebellion had to do with the environment because there was a significant deal of social mobility, but this gave the colonist anxiety. The colonists faced lack of stability and an uncertain future, plus a chance of social mobility. Therefore, this became a conflict as individuals fought for nature's
Reading this chapter develops a unified analytical fundamentals, delineation on and expanding the existing comprehension on American Indian economies and property rights. A question lingers in the air about what really determines whether or not an economy is rich or poor? What made the European Americans think they were smarter than the Indians? It is clear that our people supported themselves for thousands of years. Could you believe that in the 1600s the Native Americans in the New England area produced 65 percent of their food from agriculture.
Holton divides his book into four chronological sections. The first segment of book is entitled “Grievances, 1763-1774”. This is where Holton expands on the history between Land Speculators, Indians, and Privy Council. Holton highlights how natives resisting colonial expansion combined with British officials tactically avoiding another expensive Indian war frustrated Virginia 's many land speculators. Those same Virginians, as tobacco planters and slave-owners, were also deeply upset by imperial trade policy The governments response’s to the burgesses petitions would affect the allegiance to Britain by men like Jefferson and Washington.
This was mostly because of the conflicts between the Jamestown settlers and the Indians. There was also a need to help the planters because of the
This led to Bacon’s Rebellion, a gang of impoverished and landless former servants attacked the capital of the colony and plundered the homes of the wealthy. Both colonies constituted a successful form of government; however, both governments were carried out in dissimilar ways. The establishment of two primitive English colonies, Jamestown and Massachusetts Bay Colony had many homogeneous attributes and differences. Both had an adequate relationship with the Native Americans that deteriorated and