Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist)
Nathaniel Bacon was an English merchant adventurer who emigrated to the Virginia Colony, where he sat on the Governor's Council but later led Bacon's Rebellion. The Rebellion was briefly successful; but after Bacon’s death from dysentery the rebel forces collapsed.
A 1905 illustration of Bacon by Howard Pyle
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American Indians out of Virginia. Thousands of Virginians from all classes and races rose up in arms against Berkeley, chasing him from Jamestown and ultimately torching the settlement. The rebellion was first suppressed by a few armed merchant ships from London whose captains sided with Berkeley and the loyalists. Government forces arrived soon after and spent several years defeating pockets of resistance and reforming the colonial government to be once more under direct Crown control.
The Burning of Jamestown by Howard Pyle
Governor Berkeley baring his breast for Bacon to shoot after refusing him a commission (1895 engraving)
A 19th-century engraving depicting the burning of Jamestown
Ruins of Jamestown (1878 engraving).