Bacon’s Rebellion
Jamestown, Virginia 1676
B
acon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony in North America,
led by a 29-year-old planter, Nathaniel Bacon.
It was the first rebellion in the American
colonies
in
which
discontented
frontiersmen took part; a similar uprising
in Maryland would take place later that
year. About a thousand Virginians
(including former indentured servants,
poor whites and poor blacks) rose up in
arms against the rule of Virginia
Governor William Berkeley. Berkeley
had recently refused to retaliate for a
series of Indian attacks on frontier settlements. This prompted some to take matters into their
own hands, attacking Native Americans, chasing Berkeley from Jamestown, Virginia, and
ultimately torching the capital.
The alliance between former indentured servants
and Africans disturbed the ruling class, who
responded by hardening the racial caste of
slavery. While the farmers did not succeed in their goal
of driving Native Americans from Virginia, the rebellion
did result in Berkeley being recalled to England.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon's_Rebellion