Charles Campbell, in his _History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia_, thus describes Harvey's administration: "He was extortionate, proud, unjust, and arbitrary; he issued proclamations in derogation of the legislative powers of the Assembly; assessed, levied, held, and disbursed the colonial revenue without check or responsibility; transplanted into Virginia exotic English statutes; multiplied penalties and exactions and appropriated fines to his own use; he added the decrees of the court of high commission of England to the ecclesiastical constitutions of Virginia." Could we have a more perfect description of a despot? It remains to point out a few errors which crept into the original manuscript. On page 21 "the falls of the Appomattox" should be "the first bend of the Appomattox"; on page 75 "John Pott" should be "Francis Pott"; on page 82 "Matthew Kemp" should be "Richard Kemp". _Princeton, New Jersey_ Thomas J. Wertenbaker _August, 1957_ CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES xi CHAPTER I--The Founding of Virginia 1 CHAPTER II--The Establishment of Representative Government 29 CHAPTER III--The Expulsion of Sir John Harvey 60 CHAPTER IV--Governor Berkeley and the Commonwealth 85 CHAPTER V--The Causes of Bacon's Rebellion 115 CHAPTER VI--Bacon's Rebellion 146 CHAPTER VII--The Period of Confusion 195 CHAPTER VIII--The Critical Period 225 INDEX 261 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES