The Plunder of Indian Enemies Captivated: Bacon’s Rebellion and Indian Slavery

Bacon's Rebellion of 1676, one of the most significant events in colonial Virginia history, began in August of 1675 with Nathaniel Bacon, Jr.'s, seizure of several Appomattox Indians. The rebellion ended May 29, 1677, with the Treaty of Middle Plantation between Virginia and several regional Indian nations. Contemporary observers generally described the so-called “Rebellion” not as a colonial insurrection but as an “Indian Warr.” Indeed, though variable factors certainly contributed to the eruption of violence between colonists, Bacon's Rebellion was primarily a contest for control of the lucrative Indian trade. Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., was an Indian trader. And Indians—or rather certain Indians—were his intentional targets, the evidence suggesting concerted pre-planning and strategy in the several executions and assaults against them. The fact that the “Indian Warr” became a colonial conflict was more or less incidental to the larger Baconian goals of enslavement and dominating the trade. Bacon admitted he was interested in staking out a significant portion of the Indian trade, if not seizing control of it entirely. Bacon never intended to dislodge the colony's landed gentry, although this nearly happened when Bacon took the war to the people—the people he was ostensibly charged with protecting from hostile Susquehannock raiders—to punish or humiliate Berkeley's allies by seizing their property and plundering their estates. Bacon did, though, intend to supplant Berkeley and monopolize the Indian trade, rewarding loyal followers with Indian slaves. This paper reveals that Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., was an opportunistic promoter of Indian slavery. It also dislodges certain accepted ideas about Bacon's Rebellion. Prominent Indian traders instituted the war for self-gain and allied local tribes—not the hostile Susquehannocks—bore the brunt of Bacon's slaving. The rebellion's major lasting reforms were the deregulation of trade and the expansion of Indian slavery.