Bacon’s Rebellion 1676

Bacon’s Rebellion I. Land in the colonies A. The first people to Virginia bought large plantations near the ocean…this was the best land

B. When freemen went to make their way in the world, the only land left to them was the backland – far from the coast. This land had two problems…

1. Land not as good 2. Nearer unhappy Native Americans

II. Nathaniel Bacon A. Nathaniel Bacon was the youngest son of an English nobleman

B. Nathaniel Bacon came to the New World to make his own fortune C. When Bacon got to Virginia, the good land was taken, and Bacon had to get land in the backlands

III. Bacon’s Rebellion A. The people in the backlands were suffering from many Native American attacks B. They asked the governor of Virginia for help, and he refused to do anything

C. Bacon organized the freemen in the backlands and they defeated the Native Americans

D. The angry colonists then turned on the governor of Virginia and the wealthy planters near the ocean who supported the governor E. Bacon and his followers nearly captured Jamestown and set up their own government

F. BUT, Bacon got sick suddenly and died within 48 hours G. Without Bacon’s leadership, the rebellion fell apart

H. The wealthy planters and the governor regained power, but they never wanted that kind of a threat again I. The planters saw that Indentured Servants would cause problems later on

J. The planters of Virginia and other Southern colonies looked for a more stable, less threatening source of labor for their plantations K. They began to import slaves from Africa – worked for life and were not allowed to revolt

IV. The result of Bacon’s Rebellion was that planters stopped using Indentured Servants and started using slaves from Africa.