They say: Bacon's Rebellion

It is often said by historians that Bacon's Rebellion was a dispute over Virginia's Indian policy. The Rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon. According to an excerpt in Howard Zinn's A Young People's History of The United States, "White frontiersmen started the uprising because they were angry about the way the colony was being run." The main cause of the uprising was the event when Sir William Berkeley refused to approve Bacon's request of starting an attack against the Native Americans. Berkeley's intentions were to hold peace with the Natives. Bacon was elected into the House of Burgesses, and was then arrested by Berkeley for attempting to take his seat at the assembly. Once Bacon was released, he formed his own militia and persuaded Berkeley into granting his commission. He gave in, and then Bacon led his men into war with the Natives. The Governor, Berkeley, proclaimed Bacon and his men as Traders and rebels. Bacon gained the capital, but feared that he could not withstand Berkeley's attack. To solve his problem, he ran Berkeley out of Jamestown by setting the town on fire. When Bacon suddenly died, Berkeley regained control of the rebels and killed off all of Bacon's allies. As a result, tensions between the colonists and natives went down, and Bacon's Rebellion changed the history of Jamestown.