rough draft #3

gold: quotes
blue: summary
green: I Say
purple: sources
red: paraphrase

The contributions of the Government of Virginia led to the uprising of Bacon's Rebellion.Bacon’s Rebellion was a revolt in 1676 led by a man whose name was Nathaniel Bacon. Many say that Nathaniel Bacon himself was the cause for the Rebellion. What they don’t know is that the many contributions of the Government of Virginia led to the uprising of Bacon’s Rebellion. William Berkeley was the governor at the time of the rebellion. He played a major role in the government, which is the main reason for such a disastrous effect on the society in 1676. Berkeley’s leadership in the government turned the colonist against them, and they found a leader in Nathaniel Bacon.

A governors role in society is to lead in an effective way, yet William Berkeley showed poor leadership in his turn as governor. Lower class such as the farmers and frontiersmen were treated in an unfair manner. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia states that “ He made taxes high, the prices for tobacco low, resentment against special privileges given to those close to the governor,” and Berkeley did not defend the frontier against attacks by the Native Americans. This difficult matter made it hard for the farmers and frontiersmen to survive in such poverty. Howard Zinn’s book, “A Young Peoples History of the United States,” notes that the government let the frontiersmen down. The Native Americans and the Frontiersmen were not very fond of each other. The Frontiersmen wanted to clear up the anger once and for all by using violence to attack. William Berkeley wouldn’t allow this to happen. His plan was to keep peace with the Native Americans, even if it meant that his men would suffer on the frontier. He kept the Native Americans on a higher status then the farmers and the frontiersmen. The Declaration by Nathaniel Bacon states in number 4 that the Government favored and protected the Native Americans over their own people after Berkeley got taken out of office. Berkeley and his fellow representatives never appointed any crimes the Native Americans took place in, therefore the Native Americans got away with their crimes with out punishments.

The many colonists of Virginia lived in poverty caused by the Government, even so, the Government did nothing to help them in their times of need. The Government had plenty of options to help the colonist, but instead of creating a better living environment they made it worse. This effected the ones living in poverty in the most harsh way. The government put them down there with their unfair taxes, and they only pushed them farther down without making an effort to help. Number 1 of the Declaration by Nathaniel Bacon states that the Government “raised great unjust taxes,” created private favorites, and did not “in any measure advance this hopeful colony either by fortifications, towns, or trade.” The Government made no attempts in helping the colonists living in poverty, so they found a leader in Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon, Nathaniel. Colonial America Reference Library. Vol. 3: Biographies: Volume 1. Detroit: UXL, 2000. P1-7. This passage states that the government was disliked by the farmers. “Bacon became a popular leader when he supported farmers who felt left out of the governing process and needed protection from Native Americans who raided their farms.”

Nathaniel Bacon ran the Government in a more effective way for a variety of people, unlike William Berkeley and his men. William Berkeley placed a higher emphasis on the wealthy colonists, and mistreated the lower class. Nathaniel Bacon made attempts to help the farmers and frontiersmen in the lower class, and succeeded. The textbook refers to Nathaniel Bacon as a great leader. He changed laws to better the colony. The textbook states, “the laws gave local settlers a voice in setting tax levies, forbade officeholders from demanding bribes or other extra fees for carrying out their duties, placed limits on holding multiple offices, and restored the vote to all freemen.” Nathaniel Bacon restored the laws to the way they should have been. Meaning that all men are treated equal according to the laws.

Many people say that Nathaniel Bacon and his decisions were the cause of the Rebellion. In my view, the Government and William Berkeley’s choices led to the cause of the Rebellion. William Berkeley made many faults as a governor. He mistreated everyone except the wealthy colonists. He was an unfair man who took advantage of the poor to help himself. The lower class already lived in poverty, and Berkeley himself pushed them into deeper poverty. He raised taxes and lowered the price for tobacco, which caused the lower class to go broke. Their only profit was the incoming money from selling tobacco, and when that went down their profit decreased. Not only did the amount of money they gained decrease, but they also had to give what little money they had to the government taxes. William Berkeley cared for the Native Americans more then his own colonists for which he is supposed to have been leading as governor. The frontiersmen were being attacked by the Native Americans, but William Berkeley was so worried about keeping peace with the Natives that he forgot to protect his own people. Due to this, they found a much better leader in Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon created a favorable living environment for all the colonists by changing the unjust laws so they would treat people as equals.

Bacon’s Rebellion was a revolt between the Colonists and the Native Americans. It was attack after attack until finally Nathaniel Bacon died and the Rebellion was over because they had no leader. The government and William Berkeley caused the Rebellion through their horrible choices made through their role in the 1676 Virginian colony. Berkeley was an unjust man who influenced the Government into their unjust decisions.

Bacon’s Rebellion created a lot of effects on the society, and some of those effects are still relevant to today. There were many issues concerning the gap between the Rich and the Poor. During the Rebellion, the poor were mistreated and the rich were favored. There was William Berkeley who favored the wealthy and abused the poor, but there was also Nathaniel Bacon who tried to "change" that problem. Bacon was a savior for the poor. He took the taxes away and created a more equal environment. After watching all the presidential debates, this situation reminds me of the society we live in today, and the presidential candidates. We live in a society with different social classes. The wealthy, middle, and lower class. The middle and lower classes are not treated as well as the upper class. The lower classes are impacted by the taxes we have today and all the environmental issues we have to deal with. Like Nathaniel Bacon, Barrack Obama is running for president to make the "change" in the mistreated and taxed lower class.
Citations:

- "Bacon's Rebellion." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease.© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.15 Oct. 2008 .

-Bacon, Nathaniel. Colonial America Reference Library. Vol. 3: Biographies: Volume 1. Detroit: UXL, 2000. p1-7.