Outline Edit 3

Hypothesis: As a historical figure, why is Nathanial Bacon viewed in so many conflicting ways?

Outline:

I (They Say): Bacon United Colonists against a cause

In a time where everyone was living through hard times and felt oppressed by those around them, Nathanial Bacon was a beacon of hope.

Bacon did what he thought was necessary in order to keep the people of Virginia safe against the threat he believed to be most pressing.

Robert Beverly Doc 8: “To minds already full of discontent, made people ready to vent all their resentment against the poor Indians”

He was a unitary among men who desperately wanted to be united against something. The early Virginians lived through incredibly harsh times, and were looking for a vent for all their aggressions.

Robert Beverly Doc 11 “In a word, he was everyway qualified to head a giddy and unthinking multitude.”

II(They Say): The Indians became Scapegoats for the colonists.

A)After and during Bacons Rebellion many colonists were protecting themselves from the Indians which they viewed as a danger to them.

B)Unknown Author Doc 21 “The [Indians] began and killed on of our men, which we quickly repaid them, firing in at all their men (inside the fort) so thick that the groans of men women and children were so loud, that with all their howling and singing could not hinder them from being heard.”

C)This readiness for protection leads to a lot of innocents being killed. For this sudden increase in murders the Indians laid blame on the man who started the revolution Nathanial Bacon.

D)Thomas Mathews Doc 3: “Shott fourteen before [a friendly] Indian came, who with both hands shook him (Friendly)by on arm saying Susquehanougs Neoughs [I.E. these are Susquehanough our friends] and fled, whereupon [the col.] ran amongst hi s men crying out “For the lords sake shoot no more these are our friends the Susque-Hanoughs”.”

III (They Say): After Bacon defied the government he was labeled as a traitor by William Berkley.

A)After Bacon starting organizing malitias that only he would have control over, Berkley called for his capture and labeled him a rebel.”

B)A huge rally of Rebellion supporters may have influenced the governor’s decision to let Bacon go with only an apology.

C)Elizabeth Bacon Letter to Sister: “But the Governor were so much the Indians’ friend and our enemy that he sent the Indians word that Mr. Bacon was out against them that they might save themselves”

D)As soon as Bacon was free he began raiding Native villages. This action infuriated the governor who already was less than happy with Bacon.

1)NEED MORE SOURCES TO SUPPORT THIS STILL.

VI(I say): Bacon’s ideals helped shaped America in many ways but his actions hindered us more.

A) Bacon’s rebellion instilled the ideals of rebellion and the right to freedom in the colonists, but the immediate effects of the rebellion were dismal.

B) Unknown Author Document 6 “Which after the expense of a grate deale of time and charge, being finished came short of designed ends”

C) Many people in history have made similar changes to the way that we think, but have done so without the death of so many innocent lives to shroud over them.