DISCONTENT OF THE VIRGINIANS. 63 of Birkenhead's plot, was entered into by some banished soldiers of Cromwell; but it was easily suppressed by the prudence of Sir William Berkeley, and the leaders were executed. (1663.) The colonial assembly, by way of retaliation on the mother country, enacted a law that, in the payment of debts, country creditors should have the priority, and that all courts of justice should give precedence in judgment to contracts made in the colony. Acts were passed to restrain the cultivation of tobacco, and to introduce the production and manufacture of silk. These designs were unsuccessful. The people would raise tobacco as long as they found a ready market for it; and the price of labour, in a new country, was found to be wholly incompatible with the profitable culture of the silk worm. The discontents, occasioned by the commercial restrictions, were further increased by the inconsiderate grants of land which the king made to his favourites, in violation of the rights of the Virginians, and the grants which had previously been made. In the beginning of the year 1675, there occurred some slight out-breakings of popular discontent, which, though easily suppressed by the prudence and decision of the governor, gave a significant intimation of the state of public feeling. To avert the crisis, and obtain some redress, a deputation was sent to England; who, after a tedious negotiation with the king and his ministers, had nearly succeeded in their object, when they received the intelligence of a formidable rebellion in the colony. A tax, imposed by the assembly to defray the expenses of the deputation, had caused some irritation, which the delay of the government in affording relief exasperated into fury. A war with the Susquehannah Indians, which had distressed the frontiers for some time, now burst forth with new violence, and threatened additional expense and distress to the people. The governor, Sir William Berkeley, whose popularity had been hitherto equal to his spirit and integrity, was now pronounced too old and infirm for his office. He was ungratefully accused of wanting honesty to resist the oppressions of the mother country, and courage to repel the hostility of the savages.' These charges were urged with great artifice, eloquence, and address, by an adventurer who 6 By Governor Berkeley? By the assembly? What increased the discontents? What happened early in 1675 ? 64 BACON'S REBELLION. had arrived in the colony about three years before, Nathaniel Bacon. This man had been bred to the law, and had gained, by his talents and insinuating manners, a seat in the council, and the rank of colonel in the militia. He was not satisfied with these distinctions, but aspired to greater things. He had been concerned in the insurrection of the preceding year, and had been taken prisoner, but was pardoned by the governor This circumstance had cut him off from all hope of promotion by the regular government of the colony; and his ambition took another direction. He inveighed, with much warmth and eloquence, against what he termed the inertness and neglect of the governor, in the conduct of the frontier war; and, declaring that the whole Indian race might easily be exterminated, he exhorted the people to take up arms in their own defence, and, by one vigorous campaign, to terminate the war. His harangue was successful. A great number of the people were soon embodied for an expedition against the Indians; and, having elected Bacon for their general, placed themselves entirely at his disposal. To sanction the authority he had acquired, or to create an open breach with the existing government, he applied to the governor for a confirmation of his election, and offered instantly to march against the common enemy. Berkeley temporised, and, when pressed for a decision, issued a proclamation, commanding the multitude, in the king's name, to disperse immediately, under the penalties of rebellion. Bacon, by no means disconcerted at this turn of affairs, marched directly to Jamestown, at the head of six hundred of his followers; and, surrounding the house where the governor and assembly were met, he demanded the commission in a tone not to be mistaken. Berkeley refused with firmness; and, presenting himself to the conspirators, who had charged him with cowardice, he undauntedly exposed his breast to their weapons, and awaited the result. The council, less courageous than their leader, hastily prepared a commission, appointing Bacon captain-general of all the forces in Virginia, and, by dint of earnest entreaty, prevailed on the governor to sign it. Who slandered the governor, and fo- To whom did they apply for a co mented disturbances? firmation of their acts? What was Berkeley's answer? What was Bacon's character? How did he inflame the minds of the How did Bacon then proceed? people? What did they do? How did the governor behave? CIVIL WAR IN VIRGINIA. 65 The insurgents raised a shout of triumph, and retired; and the assembly, feeling their courage suddenly revive with the departure of the danger, voted a resolution annulling the commission they had just granted, as having been extorted by force, denouncing Bacon as a rebel, and commanding his followers to deliver him up. The governor readily con firmed this act of the assembly. Bacon and his army could now charge their opponents with baseness and treachery; and give their own cause a colour of justice. They returned to Jamestown; and the governor was obliged to retire to Acomac, on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. Some of the councillors accompanied him; the rest returned to their plantations; and the government of the colony remained in the hands of the popular leader. Having acquired the actual power, Bacon now sought to give it a legitimate form. He, therefore, assembled the gentlemen of the country in convention, and prevailed on a large number of them to pledge themselves, by oath, to support his authority, and resist his enemies.' A declaration was published, in the name of the convention, charging the origin of the civil war upon Sir William Berkeley, setting forth that he had given information to the king that the general and his followers were rebels; and requiring the people to support the general, by aid and allegiance, against all forces whatsoever, till the king should be informed of the true state of the case. This declaration united the great body of the people in Virginia, and even found some advocates in England. Berkeley, in the mean time, retaining some adherents among the planters, induced them to take up arms; and, having raised some recruits among the crews of the English shipping on the coast, with their united force he commenced a series of attacks on the insurgents, with various success. The colony was now in a state of civil war. Jamestown was burnt by Bacon's party; the estates of the loyalists were plundered, their families seized as hostages, and the richest plantations in the province ravaged. The governor retaliated these outrages, and executed some of the insurgents by martial law. A war of extermination was threatened. Meantime, intelligence of the rebellion had reached Eng land. The king had issued a proclamation, declaring Bacon How did the assembly then behave? * How did Berkeley proceed? What was the state of the colony? What was done by the King of England? 66 VIRGINIA RETAINS HER FREEDOM. a traitor, and the sole author of the insurrection, granting pardon to those of his followers who would forsake him, and offering freedom to all slaves who would aid in suppressing the revolt. An armament, under Sir John Berry, had sailed from England to assist the governor in his warfare. Bacon heard the intelligence of these operations without dismay. He counted on the devotion of his adherents, and determined to resist to the last extremity. He had already proclaimed a general forfeiture of all the property of his opponents, and was preparing to take the field anew, when his career was suddenly arrested by an unforeseen contingency. When just ready to strike the blow which was to annihilate the opposition of his enemies, he suddenly sickened and died. So completely had he been the soul of his party, that his death was the signal for its immediate dissolution. Without any attempt at reorganization-without any choice of a new leader, they entered into terms with Sir William Berkeley, and laid down their arms on condition of receiving a general pardon. (1676.) This rebellion, which had placed the colony for seven months under the direction of a most reckless usurper, might have terminated in its complete ruin. It cost many valuable lives, and occasioned the loss of property to a very large amount. It failed, however, to convey to the mother country the lesson that it was unsafe and impolitic to oppress the colonies by restrictions on their commerce. Had the signs which it held forth been properly understood by the British government, the revolution of 1776 might have been delayed to a much later period. The succeeding period in the history of Virginia is marked with few incidents of importance. The succession of the different governors and the continuance of the commercial restrictions are the only circumstances of note during the subsequent portion of the reign of Charles II and that of James II. The revolution of the British government which took place in 1688 was highly beneficial to Virginia, in common with the other American colonies. The new sovereigns, William and Mary, gave their patronage and their name to a college which had been projected in the preceding reign, and which By Bacon? What ended his rebellion? What was the effect of this rebellion? What was the effect of the revolution of 1688, on the affairs of Virgi nia? SETTLLMENT OF MARYLAND. 67 is to this day one of the most respectable literary seminaries in the country. The political freedom, which the revolution confirmed and established in England, extended many of its blessings to Virginia. The province became less dependent on the will of the sovereign, and although he had still the appointment of the governors, the influence of the colonial assemblies was sufficient to restrain those functionaries within such boundaries of authority as were requisite for the well being of the colony. Favouritism and religious intolerance disappeared; and a better understanding prevailed with the other provincial governments. The population had increased to upwards of 60,000 souls; and the increasing healthfulness of the settlements promised a still more rapid augmentation of their numbers. In 1688, the province contained forty-eight parishes, embracing upwards of 200,000 acres of appropriated land. Each parish contained a church, with a parsonage house and glebe attached; and each clergyman was by law assigned a salary of 16,000 pounds of tobacco. Episcopacy continued to be the established religion, but dissenters were increasing so rapidly, that before the American revolution they amounted to two-thirds of the whole population. The statutes against them, though unrepealed, had become a dead letter. CHAPTER IX. SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. By its second charter, Virginia included the whole territory which at present forms the state of Maryland. The country was explored by the Virginia settlers as early as 1621; a settlement was formed, and a trade with the Indians in furs established. An attempt was made to monopolise this trade by William Clayborne, a man of active and turbulent disposition, who long exerted an extensive and injurious influence over the fortunes of the rising state. He had come out from England as a surveyor in 1621, and had sustained important offices in Virginia till 1629, when he was employed to survey the Chesapeake bay. The informa What was the population? IM. What was done in 1621 |