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IPFS News Link • History

Bacon's Rebellion

• http://lewrockwell.com, by Murray N. Rothbard
 

Conceived in Liberty (1975). In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon began a mutiny against the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, because Bacon (and many other Virginians) wanted to pursue a more vigorous war against the Indians than Berkeley would allow. This mutiny was the spark that lit the flame of Bacon's Rebellion.

Why? Why revolution? This question is asked in fascination by contemporary observers and historians of every revolution in history. What were the reasons, the "true" motives, behind any given revolution? The tendency of historians of every revolution, Bacon's Rebellion included, has been to present a simplistic and black-and-white version of the drives behind the revolutionary forces.