Portfolio: History Essay #1

Angela Kim

December 11, 2007

Writing 101

History Essay Final Draft

Bacon’s Rebellion - Class

“Let him who expects one class of society to prosper in the highest degree, while the other is in distress, try whether one side; of the face can smile while the other is pinched” (Thomas Fuller, British clergyman and author). In history, class distinctions had been a key source of determining who did what, meaning, the status that a person obtained decided where and how that person would live and work. For example, during the time of Bacon’s Rebellion, one’s class distinctions were vital. Bacon's Rebellion “was brought on by a growing shortage of available land and the colony's complicated relations with both friendly and hostile tribes of Native Americans” (http://caho-test.cc.columbia.edu/sim/15005.html). The colonists wanted to expand their land, but in order to do so; they needed to intrude into the Indian Territory. Governor Berkeley did not want this to happen to maintain peace between the Indian tribes. According to Monica R. Gisolfi, historian of Columbia American History, "the rebellion was one that pitted the colony's wealthy planters against its growing numbers of poor, landless men who had served out their term as indentured servants and were eager to begin their independent lives. There was simply nowhere for landless men to establish residency except farther west, in territory inhabited by Indians” (http://caho-test.cc.columbia.edu/sim/15005.html). Although class may not seem as important in this era, back in the time of Bacon's Rebellion, it was THE key to life because it determined one's identity and future.

Class distinctions influenced the base support for Bacon and colonial authorities because the status and position for a certain person during the time of Bacon’s Rebellion, was determined by that person’s race, class, education, wealth, family, etc. Two major characters of Bacon's Rebellion were Governor Sir William Berkeley and Nathaniel Bacon. Governor Sir William Berkeley was a veteran of the English Civil Wars, a frontier Indian fighter, a King’s favorite in his first term as Governor in the 1640s, a playwright, and a scholar. Concluding from this brief description of Governor Berkeley, one would obviously see that he was a member of the "elite" group. Nathanial Bacon was troublemaker and schemer, but he was also quite intelligent and eloquent, which by the way he was also Berkeley’s cousin by marriage. Although Bacon is not part of such a high stature as Berkeley may be, Bacon was still living a “better” life than most during this time. A mishmash of the different classes caused an uprising that was meant to “correct” the colonists’ injustices, which has shown the struggles people dealt with due to their race and class. What I wondered most about this was, what makes the “elite” think that the colonists had done wrong, where they feel the need to “correct” them? Not only that, but how did they determine whether or not the colonists did do wrong or right? In my opinion, I believe that once power was given to those of the higher class, they took advantage of that power and bossed the colonists around because they were “inferior” to them.

The elite became instigators because they believed that they had the right to “pick on” those who were beneath them, which caused a feud to arise. They may be of a higher social class than other people, but there was no need for them to flaunt and boast about it. These difficulties encouraged the colonists to find a scapegoat to put all their frustrations on and place the blame for their misfortunes. First came the elite, then the colonists, and then the Indians. Unfortunately, colonists found their scapegoat in the form of the local Indians. Since the colonists were treated badly by the higher class, they began to treat the Indians the exact same way. I believe that the way people are treated, shapes and forms the way they treat others. For example, the way an individual thinks, talks, walks, and basically does, was all influenced by the surroundings they had been exposed to in life. Those that are favored are spared. Bacon believed that Governor Berkeley had played favorites, so he reported the Governor publicly. Berkeley had “denied him a commission as a leader in the local militia” (http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jthanout/BacRebel.html). Nathan was pretty angered because he had denied him. Eventually, they went off to their separate ways and Bacon became “elected General of a group of local volunteer Indian fighters because he promised to bear the cost of the campaigns” (http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jthanout/BacRebel.html).

The people needed a leader to let their voices be heard, and so Bacon was a man "for" the people, while Berkeley was a man "for" the government. Although “Berkeley’s policy was to preserve the friendship and loyalty of the subject Indians while assuring the settlers that they were not hostile” (http://www.nps.gov/archive/colo/Jthanout/BacRebel.html), things just did not turn out the way he wanted it to be. In order to resolve the issue, Berkeley called for an assembly known as the “Long Assembly”, in March 1676. Unfortunately, they were accused of corruption because of its ruling regarding trade with the Indians. Berkeley was not necessarily a bad person; he was just a man of power and many ideas, who did not really know how to use them in a way that would satisfy everyone.

The intentions of both Bacon and Berkeley may have been good at the beginning, but this rebellion nearly caused the destruction of the Chesapeake society. “What began as an external conflict with the American Indians, rapidly developed into a domestic insurrection among predominantly western settlers who rejected the accommodationist policies of the eastern establishment” (Washburn, Wilcomb E. The Governor and the Rebel: A History of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. 1957). Many of the colonial authorities favored slavery because they thought it ensured a more stable and free society. But of course, for the slaves, they would disagree because they are the ones doing all the hard work. Not only that, but slaves also were not given many rights or freedom. So then why would the authorities believe that slavery made a more free society?

As I have mentioned before, in Modern life today, class still plays a major role because the class distinctions label who a person may be on the “outside”. It is said that “one’s class is determined largely by: occupation, education and qualifications, income, personal, household and per capita, wealth or net worth, including ownership of land, property, means of production, etc” (William Lloyd Warner Social Class in America, 1949). For example, if there was a job opening at Boeing for one position, and there were two applicants that qualified; one from white center who graduated from public schools, and one from Medina who graduated from Lakeside, who would they give the job to? The obvious choice to go with would be the one living in Medina because he/she has a higher status, good family background, and a better education. To others, the “better” one would be classified as the upper middle class or upper class, while the other person would be the lower middle class or working class. According to my research, the different stages/types of classes that made sense to me were: upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, and lower class. The upper class is for those big hot shots; some of the elite groups during the 17^th century would belong to this class, and if not, then to the upper middle class. The lower middle class and working class would be the colonists. Lastly, the lower class would be the Indians.

For those that belonged to the lower end of the bar, they had to endure through many hardships; not by choice. If one was born from a slave, their whole life will be tough because of their family background and status. If one was born from one of those who belonged to the elite, their whole life will have many easy-way-outs. The life that one lived during Bacon’s Rebellion was wholly determined by one’s class at the instant of when you were born. And even someone with great power can not change the way things were by themselves. Even now, the decided class that a person is placed in can say a lot about that one person.