Featuring: Larry Kenneth Alexander
Transcript:
In the early days of colonial America, the foundation of society was built on unfree labor. The majority of those compelled to work were vagrant children, convicts, and indentured servants brought from Europe. At first, the wealthy landowners who benefited from this exploited labor did not distinguish between European, African, and indigenous workers. But this fragile system of exploitation could not hold. The simmering tensions between the oppressed and the ruling class erupted in 1675 in one of the most significant uprisings of colonial history, Bacon’s Rebellion.
The rebellion was fueled by deep class resentment. Virginia’s governor, William Berkeley, presided over a government that served a wealthy elite, leaving the vast majority of settlers, especially those on the frontier, feeling abandoned and unprotected. These settlers faced constant clashes with Native American tribes who fought to defend their lands from encroachment. But Berkeley and his circle of elites prioritized their own wealth and stability, leaving the frontiersmen to fend for themselves.
Into this cauldron of anger and discontent stepped Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy newcomer to the colony. Bacon recognized the deep frustrations of the landless poor, both white and black, and channeled this discontent into a movement. He rallied a diverse coalition—poor whites, black laborers, indentured servants, and enslaved Africans. Together, they took up arms, united by a common thread of oppression, and turned their fury against the colonial government.
Bacon’s rebellion was more than just an uprising. It was a challenge to the entire structure of colonial power. The rebels stormed through Virginia, setting Jamestown ablaze in an act of defiance that illuminated the night sky and sent a message that could not be ignored. This rebellion was not just about land or protection. It was about dismantling a system that exploited the many for the benefit of the few.
But like so many movements for justice, it was crushed before it could fulfill its promise. Bacon fell ill and died, leaving his followers leaderless. Governor Berkeley, with the might of imperial power behind him, crushed the rebellion with brutal force. Dozens of rebels were executed, and Berkeley reasserted control. Yet the flames of Jamestown and the unity of its rebels left a lasting mark.
In the aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion, the colonies turned away from indentured servitude and embraced a system of racialized slavery. Virginia and other colonies enacted laws that institutionalized racial divisions. These laws created a legal framework that defined Africans and their descendants as property, enslaved for life, and restricted the rights of free black people. The ruling class restructured society, making race the dividing line of privilege and oppression.
This was a turning point. What began as a rebellion against class oppression became the foundation of a system of racial repression. The unity of the oppressed—poor whites and black laborers—was deliberately dismantled. In its place, a new system emerged, one that entrenched racial divisions and set the stage for centuries of inequality.
The legacy of Bacon’s Rebellion reminds us that the divisions of race were not inevitable. They were constructed. The laws and systems that institutionalized racial inequality were deliberate choices made by those in power to protect their own interests. Today, we must reckon with this history. We must confront the ways in which these divisions persist and challenge the systems that continue to perpetuate inequality.
The unity that frightened the ruling class in 1675 is the same unity we must seek today—a coalition of people bound by the shared pursuit of justice, equality, and freedom. Please share and visit our website at Wells Center on American Exceptionalism and look for future videos in this series.