Portfolio: essay #1

Aus†in Gibbs

During the colonization of the eastern coast of America, Native Americans were killing the colonists because they were “intruding” on their land. Accordingly they tried to scare off the settlers using brutal and inhumane methods, the Indians would capture settlements and “before they would deprive [the settlers] of their lives, would take great deal of time to deprive them first their skins, and if life had not, though the anguish of pain, forsaken their tormented bodies, [the Indians] with there teeth, tear the nails off of [their fingers and their] toes.”(Document #5)The Natives were causing much heartache for the meager farmers and frontiersmen. I believe that Native Americans were the major cause for Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion. The impacts that Native Americans had on the English settlers were the high taxes that the Government subjected the people to so they could built better forts; the Indians killed 60% of the settlers; and the Indians killed Bacon’s dear friend that ignited Bacons hatred for the Natives.

On one fateful day, ”The trouble began in July 1675 with a raid by the Doeg Indians on the plantation of Thomas Mathews, located in the Northern Neck section of Virginia near the Potomac River. Several of the Doegs were killed in the raid, which began in a dispute over the nonpayment of some items Mathews had apparently obtained from the tribe. The situation became critical when, in a retaliatory strike by the colonists, they attacked the wrong Indians, the Susquehanaugs, which caused large scale Indian raids to begin.”(http://answers.yahoo.com/question /index?qid=20070920144315AA1GThS) I concede that the Indians were trying to send a message to the colonists telling them to stay off of their land, though I still insist that the colonists had a right to be there so they attacked back. The reason why the Natives attacked the Mathews plantation was because of an argument over some un-paid for pigs. The Indians killed Mathew’s servant because Mathews supposedly didn’t pay for some pigs he bought from the Indians. One of the servants was Bacon’s dear friend, he didn’t do anything wrong to deserve to die. This really enraged bacon. When Nathaniel Bacon when to the governor to ask permission to fight the natives he found out that “our present Governor monopolized a trade with the Indians and granted licenses to others to trade with them for which he had every 3rd skin, which trading with the Indians proved has so fatal to these parts of the world, […] [this trading] has also brought them [the Indians] generally to use of Fire Arms with such dexterity [.]” (Document #12) this meant that the Governor is protecting the Indians for his personal gain, the Indians also acquired fire arms and were becoming quite skilled with them. Bacon also states that “it has proved fatal” to trade with the Indians because the Indians would often ambush traders and steal what ever they had on them. “the murders and depradations they have committed here are horrible and continual, laying a great part of the country desolate, and forcing the inhabitants to fly from their dwelling to their ruin[.]” (Document #12) The Indians were killing the settlers and forcing them to run away from their homes into poverty because they needed to make a living with the land that they had. In The Journal of Southwestern History the author observes that “Governor Berkeley’s policy of Vacillation encourages the Indians to terrorize the Frontier.” The fact that Indians were killing the poor settlers and the governor was not doing anything about it and was endorsing it was, I feel, the biggest catalyst for Bacons Rebellion.

Because the Indians were constantly attacking the frontiersmen and colonists, the king took over the government and started taxing the colonists so that they could pay for Indian proof forts. As said in Document #10, “We [the poor colonists] having a long time lain under great oppressions, and every year being more and more oppressed with great taxes, and still do load us greater and unnecessary burdens; it was enacted by the Governor and assembly for the building of our forts back in the woods upon several great man’s Lands, under pretense of security for against the Indians [.]” the colonists were being taxed so that the government could build useless forts because not only was the land that they used was wasted but the Indians were smart enough not to attack them. In the William and Mary Quarterly it states that the “Lives and fortunes of ye poor inhabitants [were] wretchedly sacrificed.” As I argued before the Indians were forcing the colonists to make a choice; flee their homes and forfeit their wealth, or try to fight them but ultimately die.

Another reason I know that the Natives caused Bacons Rebellion is the fact that the Natives were laying siege to the English settlements. In the history book it states “a deadly sequence of battles killed more than a thousand colonists […] the Indians destroyed thirteen English settlements and partially burned another half dozen.” That’s what the Indians were doing when they “in a very short time had, in a most inhumane manner, murthered no less then sixty innocent people [.]” (Document #5) the Susuehannah Indians were going on a killing spree for no apparent reason. The Indians killed off about 60% of the settlers and immigrants, it would be a lie to say that the settlers did not fight back but the government didn’t want them to. The Government wanted to “keep the peace” but I argue that they were too ignorant and to egotistical to care. Bacon saw what the Indians were doing and he had the courage to attempt to fix it.

In retrospect and futurespect, I firmly believe that the Native Americans caused Bacons Rebellion because they were killing the settlers that were infringing on their land. The colonists had to occupy the Natives land because English colonies were soon overpopulated by natural increase and the overwhelming number of immigrants coming to America. These people needed land to survive, so they claimed land that was outside the treaty boundaries. At first the Indians were ok with the meager settlers’ houses popping up here and there and sometimes traded with them. But the Indians grew wary of the encroaching settlers. I strongly believe that the behavior of the Indians was the main contributing factor in the Bacon’s Rebellion. The Indians killed Bacons friend which ignited Bacon’s hatred for the Natives, they instigated the need for the populist to be taxed even more which caused the colonists to rally to bacons cause, and they killed 60% of the English colonists which rallied even more support to Bacons cause. Thus starting the rebellion.

Bacon’s rebellion can be related to any anything if an organized group has a cause against unjustness’s of a bigger commerce. Bacons rebellion can be associated to my life in the way that the Union Workers are striking against the Boeing Company. The workers, such as my dad, are refusing to work for Boeing because,
- - - - “The Company is systematically trying to replace us [the machinists] with much cheaper venders [workers from different companies] who want to do our job. Where they have tried to do our job in the factory they have made many costly and time consuming mistakes. This results in rework where we actually tear the airplane apart to fix it and put it back together, which usually results in other damage. Retiree medical, pension, and other takeaways at a time when Boeing is making record profits is a real slap in the face of our members who made it all possible.”

My dad and other workers are like the poor colonists being attacked by the Indians, the Indians represent the other venders taking the jobs and doing them half assed, and the Boeing Company is the Government and they are allowing this to happen. So my dad and his coworkers are “rebelling” against the “Government” and the “Indians”. My dad and many others are fighting because they know it’s the right thing to do, standing up against the “Man” because what the company is doing is wrong and affecting them in a major way.