THE IDEA OF ‘WHITE’
PEOPLE WAS INVENTED BY
PLANTATION OWNERS
IN THE LATE 1600s
WHY?
LOOK TO JAMESTOWN
SIXTY YEARS AFTER
THE MURDER OF POCAHONTAS
THE WORLD IS ADDICTED
TO VIRGINIAN TOBACCO
WITH PROFITS FLOWING TO
THE PLANTATION OWNERS
AND THEIR INVESTORS
THOUSANDS OF BRITISH SERVANTS
TRAPPED IN DEBT BONDAGE
HUNDREDS OF WEST AFRICANS
TRAFFICKED FROM THE CARIBBEAN
HUNDREDS OF INDIGENOUS CAPTIVES
STOLEN FROM THEIR HOMES
AND THEN, IN 1676…
A POWER HUNGRY ARISTOCRAT
SEIZED THE ATTENTION OF THE MASSES
NATHANIEL BACON
“I CAN SECURE THE BORDER, I CAN KEEP YOU SAFE
THE GOVERNOR CONSPIRES AGAINST YOU”
BACON’S UNFILTERED SPEECHES
GAVE VOICE TO ANGER
HE SERVED AS AN OUTLET FOR SETTLERS’
FRUSTRATION WITH THE OLIGARCHY
BUT BACON’S TRUE DESIRE
WAS TO CONQUER NEW LANDS
AND SELL MORE SLAVES
NATHANIEL BACON, 28
IN THE SUMMER OF 1676
BACON’S MILITIA MARCHED WEST,
AGAINST GOVERNOR BERKELEY’S ORDERS
MASSACRING SCORES OF OCCANEECHI
AND SUSQUEHANNOCK PEOPLE
GOV. WILLIAM BERKELEY, 71
IN RESPONSE, BERKELEY
DECLARED BACON A TRAITOR
AND CALLED FOR HIS ARREST
BUT THE ROGUE SETTLER HAD
OTHER PLANS...
BACON SENT WORD TO THE PLANTATIONS:
“RUN AWAY FROM YOUR MASTER!
JOIN BACON’S REBELLION
YOU’LL BE REWARDED
WITH LAND AND LIBERTY”
SOON, BACON’S ARMY WAS REINFORCED
WITH HUNDREDS OF RUNAWAY
SERVANTS AND SLAVES
BRITISH, AFRICAN, IRISH,
AND EUROPEAN WORKERS
UNITED IN REBELLION
THEN - IN SEPTEMBER 1676, THIS MULTICOLORED
COALITION OF THE WORKING CLASS
SET FIRE TO VIRGINIA’S CAPITAL CITY…
LEAVING JAMESTOWN IN RUINS
BY WINTER, NEWS OF THE UPRISING REACHED
KING CHARLES II AND HIS INVESTORS
IN LONDON
THEN, IN JANUARY 1677, THE ROYAL NAVY ARRIVED
TO SQUASH THE REBELLION
