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Article: Bacon's Rebellion or grudge?(Local)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- August 20, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the summer of 1676, the colony of Virginia, already embroiled in an Indian war, exploded into conflict between rival colonist factions. We remember it as Bacon's Rebellion.
Falling tobacco prices, rising costs, class tensions and even bad weather had brought the colony to the boiling point. But the most powerful reason for discontent was its longtime governor, Sir William Berkeley , a man who had clearly outlived his usefulness.
Berkeley's fall was precipitated by his Indian policy. In the 1660s and 1670s, the governor had attempted to form alliances with friendly tribes, which, he hoped, would act as buffers against hostile clans. To many settlers, ...