Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia, and England at the End of the Seventeenth Century
Between 1650 and 1700, Virginia and the other British Colonies grew rapidly, increasing the total population of the colonies from 50,400 to 251,000. Virginia grew from 18,700 to 58,600 and was still the largest colony, by population, closely followed by Massachusetts at 55,900. By 1700, twelve of the thirteen original colonies had been established, with Georgia yet to be founded. The other colonies consisted of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. (1)
In 1680 "the English clockmaker Thomas Tompion [was] the first to make successful use of the hairspring in pocket watches" (2) and Edmund Halley became intrigued by a comet. He later worked out the computations to show how often this comet passed by earth. The comet became known as Halley's Comet. However, even as scientific advancements were being made around the world, in 1692, witch hunts erupted in Salem, MA and continued into 1693. The resulting hysteria produced one hundred and fifty arrests and nineteen deaths. (3) Also, as I mentioned last time, Bacon's Rebellion caused major confrontations in Virginia Colony in 1676.
While the reasons for the build up that eventually led to Bacon's Rebellion were somewhat complicated, there are several events that we can point out that were contributing factors. Economic issues, an ever present issue it seems, came into play. Economic conditions were bad due to low prices for tobacco, high prices for manufactured goods from England, and competition from Maryland and the Carolina's. All of these factors came together to create unrest and unhappiness amongst the colonists. Add to the poor economy waves of turbulent weather conditions such as hurricanes, hailstorms, and alternate dry spells and floods during the previous year and it is easy to see why colonists were worried and upset.
All these events together combined to cause deep frustrations felt by the colonist. When this happens people look for someone to blame and some way to vent. The last spark for the Rebellion came after a dispute between a local tribe of Doeg Indians, who felt they had been cheated in a business deal, and a local plantation owner. In an attempt to get restitution the Doeg tribe raided the colonist. A retaliatory raid by the colonists on the Doeg tribe followed and of course this only brought about more raids by both sides.
Portrait of Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia. Image ca. 1917 of a painting at Library of Virginia, after an original painting circa 1663.
Painter Hariott L.T. Montague after Sir Peter Lely - Page 146 of Mary Newton Stanard (1865-1929), Colonial Virginia, its People and Customs. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1917. From digital scan athttp://archive.org/details/colonialvirginia00stan
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In an effort to try and gain control of the situation, Governor Berkeley set up a meeting between the parties involved in the confrontations. Unfortunately, after the meeting ended, several tribal chiefs were murdered. Things deteriorated even further from there. Another move Berkeley made in attempting to gain control of this volatile situation was to try and seize control of trade with the Indians. In an attempt to have more say over trade he named his associates as favored traders and in doing so he left out the regular traders, some of whom had traded with the Indians for years. Of course this only caused further unrest. It is at this point in the sequence of events that Nathaniel Bacon entered the picture. Nathaniel Bacon was one of those regular traders with the Indians that was left out. To make matters worse, Berkeley had also recently refused to grant Bacon a commission in the military.
LOC description is "[Nathaniel Bacon, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing right] Engraving by T. Chambars after a painting by Seipse. created/published [between 1760 and 1800]."
Date between 1760 and 1800
Source: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/nbacon.html
Author: Engraving by T. Chambars after a self portrait
Licensing: This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.
In retaliation for these actions, Bacon accused Berkeley of favoritism and of failure to solve the problems with the Indians. Bacon now took matters into his own hands. Armed with jugs of brandy and a promise to foot the bill, Bacon was elected to be the General of several hundred of the local militia. Bacon then proceeded to lead his men against the Indian tribes. Unfortunately, his attacks included attacking a group of friendly Indians and again the situation just got worse.
Berkeley was facing a disastrous situation. He offered up a pardon to Bacon for taking the law into his own hands if he would turn himself in. In the interim Bacon was elected to be one of the Burgesses from his county. He arrived to take his seat in June 1676. Berkeley pardoned him and let him take his seat. However, during a debate over the "Indian problem" Bacon suddenly left the assembly. He later returned to the statehouse with his militia forces, surrounded it, and demanded a commission from Berkeley. Berkeley refused and famously told Bacon to go on and shoot him. Bacon did not shoot him but instead switched to pressuring and threatening the members of the assembly into giving him a commission and left with his armed force of men. Since he was in the Assembly at this time, I think my ancestor Anthony Armistead was standing there while Bacon aimed his rifle at Berkeley. When Berkeley would not back down, I think Anthony saw the rifles moved and aimed at him and the other assemblymen. They probably acted prudently in giving into Bacon and giving him his commission. Who knows if Bacon would have carried through with his threats to shoot them.
At this time, Berkeley decided to take his leave of the capital and Bacon was basically allowed to come back in and take control. He remained in control through September. During this time Bacon issued a "Declaration of the People", calling Berkeley corrupt and playing favorites. He also demanded loyalty from the colonists.
Finally, Berkeley started to marshal his forces to move against Bacon. Greatly angered by this action, Bacon burned the capital city of Jamestown. This extreme action turned the tide against Bacon and his followers. On Oct 26, 1676, Nathaniel Bacon died of acute dysentery and it was only a short time until Berkeley regained control of the colony.
It is at this point of the story that my ancestor, Anthony Armistead, played a part in the end of the Rebellion. He was a member of the House of Burgesses and was selected to be a member of Berkeley's court that brought court martial proceedings against members of Bacon's rebels. Of course Bacon was already dead but twenty-three of Bacon's rebels were eventually convicted and hanged, including the former governor of Albemarle Sound Colony, William Drummond.
Over the years historians have proposed different reasons behind Bacon's attacks, but it seems that it has mostly been concluded that this was a case of Bacon trying to seize an opportunity to increase his power and standing and the result was a "power struggle" between Bacon and Berkeley, two strong willed men. A short time later the crown recalled Berkeley to London and relieved him of the office of governor. In May 1677 a formal peace treaty was signed between the Indians and the colonists and relative peace was restored to the colony. William Berkeley died in July 1677 in England, where he was trying to clear his name. (4)
King Charles II by John Michael Wright or studio- National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 531
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As I mentioned in my last post, King Charles II died in 1685. His brother, James, ascended to the throne as King James II. Born in 1633, the third son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, James II was 52 when he took the throne. He married twice, first Anne Hyde who gave him four sons and four daughters, and second Mary of Modena, who gave him two sons and five daughters.
James II's reign did not last long. He had inherited a strong executive office and a loyal Tory-dominated Parliament but James, a staunch Catholic, tried to force England back to the Catholic faith. He also made an ill advised push toward restoring royal prerogative. These actions, along with his response to a rebellion of Protestants trying to rally the public to support James II's nephew, James, Duke of Monmouth, and son of Charles II, turned Parliament and the public against him. James II crushed the rebellion, captured and beheaded the Duke, tortured, executed, or sent into slavery the Protestant rebels. (5)
King James II
Painting bySir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723). See source website for additional information.This set of images was gathered by User: Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG. 1684. National Portrait Gallery: NPG 666 While Commons policy accepts the use of this media, one or more third parties have made copyright claims against Wikimedia Commons in relation to the work from which this is sourced or a purely mechanical reproduction thereof. This may be due to recognition of the "sweat of the brow" doctrine, allowing works to be eligible for protection through skill and labour, and not purely by originality as is the case in the United States (where this website is hosted). These claims may or may not be valid in all jurisdictions.As such, use of this image in the jurisdiction of the claimant or other countries may be regarded as copyright infringement. Please seeCommons:When to use the PD-Art tag for more information.See User:Dcoetzee/NPG legal threat for more information. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See ommons:Licensing for more information.
By this time, after only three short years, Parliament had had enough of James II. In 1688 they turned to Mary, James II's protestant daughter, and her husband, William of Orange, in an effort to get rid of James II. William was the current ruler of Holland. The English Parliament asked him to invade England and to help them force James II from the throne. William agreed and invaded England. Rather than be captured and suffer the consequences, (and we all know what usually happens to royalty that falls out of favor and gets captured) James fled to France. In actuality, William assisted James in his effort to leave the country. James lived out his days in France and William of Orange and Mary assumed the throne of England as William III and Mary II. (6)
I have to stop and take a little break here. I don't know about you but to me this king and queen thing in England is very complex and confusing. Anyone from Great Britain that happens to read this post: is this a hard subject in school? I would think it would be very difficult to remember and keep up with all the various cris-crossing of families between countries and kingdoms, etc. And now, according to a recent report, there is even more to muddle the picture. A recent report by scientists on the genetic analysis of King Richard III's DNA shows there was a break in the male line. In other words there was an instance of female infidelity. (Somewhere along the line there was a male who slipped into the bedroom of one of the females in Richard's bloodline and....well, you know the rest.) To read the article about King Richard III's DNA analysis, go to the website at: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30281333. Interesting story.
I know my explanations of bloodlines etc. are short and possibly confusing. If you would like to dig in deeper go to: www.britannia.com/index.html. It is a very interesting website where you can read much more about the monarchs.
OK, I'm refreshed, let's forge ahead. Mary II was born in 1662. She was the daughter and second child of James II and Anne Hyde. It seems sons and daughters were often a part of a monarch's foreign policy and Mary was no exception. When her uncle, Charles II, was king, he married her off to William of Orange, Nov. 4, 1677. Mary was only fifteen and he was twelve years older than she was. In addition he repulsed Mary. Oops, not a great way to start a marriage. Fortunately, I guess, Mary "eventually came to love both the man and his country". (7) On Williams part, he promptly started an affair with one of Mary's ladies in waiting. The affair was long lasting but Mary was devoted to her husband.
Ceiling of the Painted Hall, detail of King William III (1650-1702) and Queen Mary II (1662-94) Enthroned, 1707-14
Author: Painting: Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734) / Royal Naval College
Date: 18th century
Photo: James Brittain
Source: http://www.bridgemanartondemand.com/art/86713/Ceiling_of_the_Painted_Hall_detail_of_King_William_III
Licensing: This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: The author died in 1734, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.
Although the Parliament had succeeded in getting rid of James II, they had created a dilemma. They wanted Mary to rule as Queen and William to be Prince Consort. William and Mary had other plans and the Parliament soon gave in and made them King William III and Queen Mary II, co-rulers of England. William and Mary ruled until Mary's death from smallpox in 1694. She died childless. William died in 1702, after being thrown from a horse. (8)
After Berkley was relieved as governor in 1677, Sir Herbert Jeffries was appointed as governor of Virginia Colony. Over the remaining 22 years of the 17th Century, there were five more governors and three lieutenant governors. In Elizabeth City County, a third Generation of Virginia Armisteads started to make their mark on the colony. But before getting into the next generation, let me review the Virginia Armisteads.
You recall that William and Anne Armistead were the first to settle in Virginia around 1635-36 and that they had four known children: William, John, Anthony, and Frances. The eldest son, William, probably died before 1660, John moved up to Gloucester County, and Anthony stayed in Elizabeth City County. Their daughter, Frances, was somewhat unlucky in marriage, having two husbands die a short time after marriage, but did finally have a longer lasting third marriage.
Because the father, William, was so successful, both surviving sons were able to start out as prosperous plantation owners. As a consequence they were also prominent leaders in their respective counties and served in prominent political positions. I recounted the list of positions they held in my last post and, also, as I mentioned above, Anthony played a part in events surrounding Bacon's Rebellion. In addition, John, was appointed to a vacancy on the Governor's Council in 1688 by Governor Francis Howard, baron Howard of Effingham. John was on friendly terms with the Governor, who at times resided at the home of John's son-in-law Ralph Wormley. John Armistead would only serve two and a half years on the council because when William and Mary ascended to the throne, he refused, as John stated "thro Scruple of Conscience", to swear allegiance to the new monarchs. Seven years later he would be reinstated by the Crown but he never took the oath. He may have died by this time or he may have retired from politics. We do not know the exact date of his death. (9)
So while John and his descendants were prospering in Gloucester County, Anthony and his descendants were prospering in Elizabeth City County. I listed Anthony and Hannah's children in my last post but to recap, they had: William, Robert, Hannah, Judith, and Anthony. Their eldest son, Major William Armistead (1667-1716), continued the Armisteads influence in the government of the colony. He served as Sheriff of Elizabeth City, 1695, Justice from 1692 to 1715, Burgess, 1692-93, 1700-1705, 1710-1713 and was a Major in the militia.
Major William Armistead married first, Hannah Hinde, and second Rebecca Moss. With Hannah it is believed he had Anthony Armistead (1691-1738), John Armistead (1692-1734), William Armistead (1694-1727), Hinde Armistead (1696-1722), and with Rebecca he had Moss, Robert, Edward, Hannah, Dunn, and Judith. I've included a chart with the family information below.
Individual Report for Major William Armistead. Printed from Family Tree Maker.
As the 17th Century was coming to a close there were big changes taking place in the Virginia Colony. After Bacon torched the capital city of Jamestown in 1676, the city struggled to recover. Many structures were not rebuilt. Meanwhile, a few miles up the road at what started out as a militia defense outpost, a settlement was growing. This outpost was called Middle Plantation and that would become the settlement name. Significantly, this was the home of Bruton Parish Church and, beginning in 1690, the home of Reverend James Blair. Blair was appointed commissary for the colony by the Bishop of London. The Bishop wanted the commissary to eliminate abuses by the clergy, such as drinking on the job, not holding services, etc. He also wanted a Seminary in the colony to train new ministers. Rev. Blair set about carrying out his duties. Because he did not like Jamestown, he located as much power and authority in middle Plantation as possible. (10)
Photograph of the front of the Wren Building at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, taken by Moody Meixner Oct 9, 2011.
In 1693 Rev. Blair secured a charter for a college in Middle Plantation. He named the college William and Mary in honor of the current monarchs, William III and Mary II. The College of William and Mary became only the second college to be founded in the colonies, Harvard was the first. To quote from the College's website: "William & Mary has been called 'the Alma Mater of a Nation' because of it's close ties to American founding fathers. A 17-year old George Washington received his surveyor's license through the college and would return as its first American chancellor. Thomas Jefferson received his graduate education here, as did presidents John Tyler, and James Monroe." (11)
An oil painting of Rev. James Blair, founder of the College of William and Mary.
Author: Attributed to Charles Bridges (1690–1747)
Date.: 1735–1743
Source/Photographer: Original is owned by the College of William and Mary and hangs in the Great Hall of the Wren Building. Image uploaded from Encyclopedia Virginia: link
Licensing: This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.
By 1698 Middle Plantation had grown into an established settlement. Back in Jamestown the statehouse burned for the 4th time and support grew stronger to move the capital from Jamestown. The Assembly finally decided to move the Capital to Middle Plantation and the settlement's name was changed to Williamsburg.
Williamsburg's Governors Palace
This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 66000925 More images.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Backpalace.jpg. Uploaded to en: by Agriculture on February 20, 2005 and licensed under GFDL; croppe by Beyond My Ken (talk) 01:44, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
Old Capitol Building, Williamsburg.
Note the incorrect flag, the red saltire wasn't added to the Union Jack until 1801, i.e. after the USA achieved independence from the United Kingdom. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 66000925 More images.
Date: 7 December 2007
Source: Taken by Tijuana Brass; Transferred from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.
Author: Original uploader was Tijuana Brass at en.wikipedia
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So in 1699 the colony had a new Capital. It took a few years to get the town laid out as they wanted, to get the proper infrastructure (roads), and to build the necessary buildings (like a new statehouse), but Williamsburg grew and prospered. Jamestown, meanwhile, continued to decline.
Just as the 18th Century would bring new directions for Virginia, the new century would also bring new directions for some of the Armistead family as well. I'll discuss that in my next post.
References:
(1) http://web.viu.ca/davies/h320/population.colonies.htm
(2) http://bcw-project.org/timelines/the-second-civil-war
(3) http://www.fm.coe.uh.edu/timeline/1600s.html
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon's_Rebellion and http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm
(5) http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon50.html
(6) http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon51.html
(7) Ibid.
(8) Ibid.
(9) http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Armistead_John_fl_1650s-1690s
(10) Morgan, Timothy E., Williamsburg, A City That History Made, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2004, pg 26-27.
(11) http://www.wm.edu/about/history/index.php
(12) http://www.wm.edu/about/history/index.php
