Bacon's rebellion final

Based on fact, the common people had the right to invade the city of Jamestown because of the increasing taxes, the drop in tobacco costs, and because of the large gap between the rich and the poor.

Most people, when they think of great men, think of people like Thomas Edison, or Albert Einstein. Men who shaped history in the process of discovering something great. Then there are the others, people such as Nathaniel Bacon. A man who indeed shaped history, but not by discovery.

Sir Nathaniel Bacon was a wealthy man. A rich landowner, but at the same time, he was very observant of his surroundings. Day after day, as he would go about doing his job, he would observe his surroundings, as well as his fellow man, and in a short amount of time, he discovered that the poor people living there were not happy about there conditions.

William Berkeley, The governor, was a sort of bombastic man. He was receiving a sort of “special treatment” from England, which includes things like extra resources, troops, and money. But at the same time, he wasn’t distributing them throughout the town. He was giving these resources to only a select few of rich land owners.

This was a problem and Bacon knew it. He knew that without the resources the rich people of the city would get even more wealth, and would eventually push the poor farmers out of the town, to the point were they would either have to rebel to keep what was theirs, or they would have to flee.

Another reason the whole special treatment issue was become a nuisance, was because Berkeley was getting all this wealth, and when the people are wealthier, he can raise the taxes to gain more money for himself. Well the rich people could afford this, but the poor people couldn’t. This was making the situation even more volatile.Despite all of these problems, there was still hope in the air. The farmers still had tobacco. Tobacco was like the McDonalds of the time. Everyone wanted it, and everyone wanted to make it. Therefore, it became a very important part of the economy, and was one way the poor people could still survive. But because more and more people wanted a fresh start, the supply and demand system was beginning to show no mercy.

When more people show up to the new town, they need to start working, or find work. So they look at how farming tobacco is such a great export, and they decide to take up the trade. Well, as more and more people began growing tobacco, the price began to go down. When tobacco was first discovered, it was considered a luxury, only fit for royalty to enjoy. Well, now that it’s being harvested more freely, the price was beginning to drop.

It was because of this, that tobacco started to become a regular export. Even to common people. So the price went down to a decent price for commoners to buy, and therefore the demand went up. But once everyone started making it, the price continued to drop. So far in fact, that the common people were starting to fear that the tobacco crop wouldn’t make enough money for them to live off of.

But Bacon and his followers continued to hold there peace, in hopes that maybe things would change and get better for them. Well, as time went on this was beginning to fade as well. There was a small gap beginning to build between the rich and the poor, and the average man working for a living was beginning to fade. You were either rich, or you were poor.

The taxes kept increasing, which caused the gap to grow more. William Berkeley was strangling the economy, and the poor farmers were really starting to feel it. Whether it was for greed, or maybe he thought that the economy wouldn’t mind, or maybe he thought he could get away with it, eventually, things began to crumble, and people were really starting to get angry.

At this point, Nathaniel bacon and his followers could stand it no longer, and began to plan an attack. The Indians were also a problem though. This was because the Indians were constantly raiding the poor people’s farmsteads, and stealing resources. But the Indians would dare attack the rich land owners because they knew they would fight back. So, the Farmers would ask Governor Berkeley for some assistance, but it was to a deaf ear.

So the Indians kept attacking and stealing tobacco and things from the farmers, which only seemed to increase there misery. At this point Nathaniel Bacon could stand it no longer, began his attack. He and some other odd number of people raided the city and attacked the Indians, the governor, the rich landowners, to the point where the governor had to call in reinforcements.

But before the reinforcements could get there, the town had been severely burned with fire. When the reinforcements got there, they fought against the rebellion, and Nathaniel bacon was killed. But even though he died, his followers continued to rebel until the new troops regained control of the city.

So next time you think of great men, don’t just consider the great inventors and sages of our country, remember to consider the rebels and fighters who fought against our nation to restore peace and equality. Think of Nathaniel Bacon.