Resistance to Colonial Authority

1. Resistance to Colonial Authority

2. Bacon's Rebellion • The Bacon's Rebellion, while consisting of many, was ultimately a duel between two men, Sir William Berkeley, Colonial Governor of Virginia who served for some thirty years, and Nathanial Bacon, a planter who had moved from England to Virginia in 1674. • The conflict should be viewed against the backdrop of a generally disgruntled Virginian population, angered especially by high taxes. • In 1676, in response to an Indian raid on a plantation that left at least one man dead, Bacon began protesting the colonial response to Indian attacks. Angered by the raid, Bacon insisted on the creation of a militia to rid the area of the perceived Indian threat. • Instead, Berkeley opted to refortify the Virginia borders, a move Bacon found dissatisfying. As a result, Bacon formed his own army and began accosting Indians in the area.

3. The Rebellion • Bacon was originally arrested for his refusal to lay down arms against the various Indian tribes, yet was subsequently pardoned by Berkeley. • It was upon this pardon that the famed Bacon's Rebellion actually began. Able to incite large groups of farmers and planters to his cause, Bacon was able to organize an informal army of his own, attacking settlements throughout Virginia. • Bacon's Rebellion, consisting largely of disgruntled planters, farmers, and slaves, continued to pillage the area, ultimately burning Jamestown to the ground on September 19, 1676. Just over a month later, on October 26, Bacon died of natural causes. • The rebellion floundered without him, and order was restored to Virginia.

4. The Pueblo Revolt • The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 can be considered the result of nearly one hundred years of forced servitude by the Pueblo Indians of the New Mexico region to their Spanish colonizers. • A true example of the colonial resistance of the time, the Pueblo Revolt must be analyzed in the context of a dissent and unrest that slowly reached its peak in early the August of 1680, with religious persecution serving as the catalyst. • The forced conversion of the Pueblo people by the Spaniards to Catholicism was accepted with relative peace until the decade of the 1670's when drought and disease began to consume the region. • As a result, the people began turning to their native gods for the protection they felt the Spaniards were not providing. • Special consideration should be given to the incident in 1675 in which forty-seven medicine men were arrested for practicing their native rites, among which was the famed Pope (or Po'Pay), leader of the revolt.

5. The Pueblo Revolt • The jailed medicine men were eventually released as per the orders of the governor, Juan Francisco Trevino, yet the discontent felt from the arrests planted the seeds of rebellion. • Pope began to organize the Pueblo people for the upcoming revolt against the Spaniards. • The revolt itself was well-coordinated and effective in that the Spanish were largely driven out of New Mexico, placing control of the region into Pueblo hands. • Of special interest is the magnitude of the attacks, as well as the organizational skills of the instigators.

6. The Glorious Revolution in America • The Glorious Revolution which took place in England in 1688 had a profound impact on American revolutionary thought. • Perhaps more than any other event, the Glorious Revolution helped shaped the growing discontent with the colonial power of England, ushering in an age of resistance which would eventually culminate into the American Revolution.

7. The Glorious Revolution in America • The Glorious Revolution can be viewed within the context of both the English and American colonists' suspicion of Catholicism. • When James II, an open Catholic, took the throne in England in 1685, certain conjectures were already being made concerning James' desire to replace existing Protestant institutions with Catholic ones. • Fears reached fruition in 1687 with James' issuing of a Declaration of Indulgence. This declaration provided a broad freedom of religion, particularly noticeable among Catholics. • Such a move was deemed dangerous, particularly in the colonies where Protestants enjoyed a large majority. • In just a year, a bloodless revolution was to occur in England, with William of Orange taking the throne and reasserting Protestant control of the country and the colonies. The reign of James II, while certainly important within England, also held profound significance within the American colonies.

8. The Dominion of New England • In April of 1688, Sir Edmund Andros was given charge of the newly organized Dominion of New England, a union created in order to easily control the New England colonies. • Andros, highly unpopular among the colonists, ruled with an iron fist.

9. The Leisler Rebellion • Dissatisfied with the harsh laws handed down from James II and Edmund Andros and suspicious of a perceived Catholic favoritism, the colonists began to revolt. • Of note was Leisler's Rebellion in New York. Led by Jacob Leisler, the rebellion saw the overthrow of the governor of New York and the enactment of a representative government for the people of New York. • Andros' notoriety was growing among the colonists. In late April of 1689, the city of Boston exploded into violence as armed men stormed the city. Andros was subsequently imprisoned by the mob. • While Leisler's representative government was to last until only 1691, the seeds of change were planted in New York.

10. An End to Hostilities • The Glorious Revolution was a success in England, as William of Orange and Mary took the throne. • The pair implemented many changes made by their predecessor, including the 1689 Bill of Rights, which gave all authority to Parliament. • This bill was a grand departure from the policies enacted by James II which ultimately led to the discontent which escalated into revolt. • The rebellion that broke out among the colonies as a result of the Glorious Revolution in England may have been short-lived, yet the revolutionary sentiment certainly lingered in the American colonies.

11. MultimediaCitation • Slide 1: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/jamesriver/gentry.htm • Slide 2: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/military/bacon.html • Slide 3: http://loki.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/0colhis/sou-891.htm • Slide 4: http://www.unm.edu/~nasinfo/events/popay.htm • Slide 5: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v015/n2/article_1.html • Slide 6: http://staff.gps.edu/mines/Age%20of%20Absolu%20-%20Bio%20of%20James%20II.htm • Slide 7: http://staff.gps.edu/mines/Age%20of%20Absolu%20-%20Bio%20of%20James%20II.htm • Slide 8: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/0/17/andros_1.htm • Slide 9: http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/december-2002/jacob-leisler.html • Slide 10: http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20600%20James%20II.htm