Bacon's Rebellion, 1676Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson
History
Bacon's Rebellion, 1676
Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson
Bacon's Rebellion, 1676; Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Berkeley's letters explain why he did not hang Bacon when he
had him in his power, why he dissolved the Long Assembly and
called for a new election based on a widened franchise, why he
evacuated the almost impregnable post of Jamestown. There are
several revealing letters by Philip Ludwell.
Historians have long been acquainted with the county
grievances collected by the King's commissioners. They are to
be found in the British Public Record Office, CO5-1371, have
now been transcribed by the Library of Congress and some have
been published in the _Virginia Magazine_, Vols. II and III.
The most detailed and probably the least prejudiced account of
the rebellion is the _True Narrative of the Rise, Progress and
Cessation of the Late Rebellion in Virginia_, by the
commissioners. The only narrative we have of the transactions
of the Assembly of June, 1676, by one of the members is Thomas
Mathews' _The Beginning, Progress and Conclusion of Bacon's
Rebellion_, published in C.M. Andrews' _Narratives of
Insurrections_ and elsewhere. Important also are _Bacon's
Proceedings_ and _Ingram's Proceedings_, attributed to Mrs.
Ann Cotton. Bacon's expedition to the Roanoke river, the
defeat of the Susquehannocks, and the battle on Occaneechee
Island are described in a document entitled "A Description of
the Fight between the English and the Indians in May, 1676,"
published in the _William and Mary Quarterly_, Series 1, Vol.
IX, pp. 1-4. The account given by the Council is in the Bath
Papers.
W.W. Hening's _Virginia Statutes at Large_ is a storehouse of
information. It includes not only the laws of the Restoration
period, but many official reports, among them "The
Proclamation of Pardon of October 10, 1676," "Bacon's
Submission", and the proceedings of some of the
courts-martial. The details of the Susquehannock war in
Maryland may be pieced together from the accounts by Thomas
Mathews, the King's commissioners, Mrs. Cotton, and others. By
the aid of an old pen-and-ink diagram of the Susquehannock
fort, I have been able to locate the site, and Mrs. Alice L.L.
Ferguson to uncover parts of it.
The "Dialogue between John Goode and Nathaniel Bacon," which
is in the British Public Record Office, throws light on
Bacon's plans to draw North Carolina and Maryland into his
rebellion, and to resist the redcoats. Important also are the
"Declaration of Thomas Swan and others on August 3, 1676",
(GO1-37-42); Philip Ludwell's letters to Lady Berkeley and to
Thomas Ludwell, and others (Bath Papers); the "Declaration of
the People" (Bath Papers); "Grantham's Account" (Bath Papers);
Berkeley's account of the rebellion written on board Sir John
Berry's ship, February 2, 1677 (Bath Papers).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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