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Timothy H. Breen on the importance of Bacon's Rebellion

Q: What was the importance of Bacon's Rebellion?

A: There were several risings in the 1660's. And in the great rebellion, called Bacon's Rebellion, the issues were complicated. Bacon himself was a very wealthy planter, newly arrived planter, who challenged other gentry for control. Associated with Governor Barclay, who was a long And that usually has interested historians: the chiefs, the heads. But in point of fact, when you go down and you find out who the soldiers, the foot soldiers of rebellion are, you find fascinating cases of pretty impoverished people of both races, fighting, being under arms together, carrying weapons, together, because they felt that their access to property was being denied or compromised in ways that they no longer could tolerate.

It was not uncommon, for instance, for a person to work himself out of servanthood (a white), seven long years of drudgery, only to discover that all the open land in Virginia was except for native Americans, largely [inaudible], that this land was on not for sale. It was controlled by the gentry. And so that the only way this individual could make it was by leasing or renting land, which seemed to those people and seems with hindsight almost an absurdity. And, so these class issues drove, powerfully drove, really, political discontent.

What's interesting in comparison is that if you move up into the 18th century, there were threats of rebellions of all sorts, but they were always associated with blacks, slave rebellions. You find no evidence in the 18th century of poor poor or poor poor whites, poorer whites making common political cause with blacks, marginal people. That the racial divide in the 18th century had become so pronounced that common political cause just never came up. And yet in the 17th century, the greatest fear of the ruling class was that poor people of all colors would join. These were poor people of all races, that they felt would assault authority in order to get a decent living, a decent break in the New World. And it is that those class elements that lost out eventually to a hardening of racial categories.

Timothy H. Breen

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Q: What was the importance of Bacon's Rebellion?
	A: There were several risings in the 1660's. And in the great rebellion, called Bacon's Rebellion, the issues were complicated. Bacon himself was a very wealthy planter, newly arrived planter, who challenged other gentry for control. Associated with Governor Barclay, who was a long And that usually has interested historians: the chiefs, the heads. But in point of fact, when you go down and you find out who the soldiers, the foot soldiers of rebellion are, you find fascinating cases of pretty impoverished people of both races, fighting, being under arms together, carrying weapons, together, because they felt that their access to property was being denied or compromised in ways that they no longer could tolerate. It was not uncommon, for instance, for a person to work himself out of servanthood (a white), seven long years of drudgery, only to discover that all the open land in Virginia was except for native Americans, largely [inaudible], that this land was on not for sale. It was controlled by the gentry. And so that the only way this individual could make it was by leasing or renting land, which seemed to those people and seems with hindsight almost an absurdity. And, so these class issues drove, powerfully drove, really, political discontent. What's interesting in comparison is that if you move up into the 18th century, there were threats of rebellions of all sorts, but they were always associated with blacks, slave rebellions. You find no evidence in the 18th century of poor poor or poor poor whites, poorer whites making common political cause with blacks, marginal people. That the racial divide in the 18th century had become so pronounced that common political cause just never came up. And yet in the 17th century, the greatest fear of the ruling class was that poor people of all colors would join. These were poor people of all races, that they felt would assault authority in order to get a decent living, a decent break in the New World. And it is that those class elements that lost out eventually to a hardening of racial categories.
Timothy H. Breen
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