Bacon’s Rebellion
Sir Thomas Grantham Letter to a Leader of Bacon’s Rebellion
In 1676, the colony of Virginia was rocked by a large scale rebellion. Many issues were at play during this time, not the least of which being the authority of the governor over colonist. It was yet another battle over power in the English empire.
Introduction
In early 1676, Thomas Grantham was working for the British naval captain who escorted Virginia tobacco back to England so that the taxes could be properly collected and also to preserve it from raids or capture by pirates (including pirates from the middle east). He was part of the regular naval convoy. Late in 1676, as Grantham was preparing to leave London for Virginia, news arrived of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia. While James, Duke of York, the King’s brother and future king, was readying a thousand more troops, he sent an initial contingent of about 150 with Grantham as a mark of what was to come.
He arrived in Virginia just after Bacon’s death: according to one source, Bacon was asking “ever and anon” about whether English soldiers had yet arrived, just before he died. When he arrived, Grantham found the rebels (which included former servants and slaves) occupying all of Virginia’s forts on the mainland. He both threatened (as you see below) and also promised rewards (including freedom for the servants and slaves who had joined Bacon’s cause). Below are a few documents related to Thomas Grantham’s handling of the rebellion: a letter to one of the rebels, an address given to rebel leaders, and an oath Grantham administered to rebels who surrendered.
As you read the following documents, what authority did Grantham use to support his messages to the rebels? How does Grantham’s messages influence the Oath of the surrendered? How might this Virginia incident connect with other events or laws crafted in the empire?
Holly Brewer
Further Reading
- Brown, Kathleen. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996).
- Morgan, Edmund. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. (New York: Norton, 1975).
Sources
- Grantham, Sir Thomas. An Historical Account of Some Memorable Actions,Particularly in Virginia ; Also Against the Admiral of Algier,and in the East Indies: Perform’d for the Service of his Prince and Country. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1716), 18, 20, 23.
- Collection of the Library of Virginia, F229.G76
- Transcription by Michael Becker and Dylan Bails
Cite this page
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An HISTORICAL
ACCOUNT
OF SOME
Memorable Actions,
Particularly in VIRGINIA ;
ALSO
Against the Admiral of Algier,
and in the East Indies:
Perform’d for the Service of his
Prince and Country,
BY
Thomas Grantham,
The Winning of Honour, is but the Revealing of Man`s
Virtue and Worth, without Disadvantage.
Bac. Essays.
LONDON:
Printed for J. ROBERTS, near the Oxford-Arms
in Warwick-Lane. MDCCXVI.
[Letter from Sir Thomas Grantham to Richard Lawrence, one of the Virginia Rebels]
[18]
To this Letter, he immediately return’d
this Answer. ‘That nothing but a speedy
‘ Repentance could free him, and his
‘ Friends, and the Country from inevita-
‘ ble Ruin: Which the Governor was ve-
‘ ry willing to prevent, by extending to
‘ them his Mercy, as far as it was consi-
‘ stent with his Honour and Safety. And
‘ that his Commission was so far from be-
‘ ing expir’d, that the King was Extending
‘ his Power, and Sending him more large
‘ Instructions. That as for himself, and
‘ the rest of the Commanders, they durst
‘ not disobey the Governor’s Commands,
‘ lest they should incur the high Displea-
‘ sure of his Majesty at their Return; who
‘ would also doubtless be very much in-
‘ cens’d at the Loss of his Customs, by
‘ their Impoverishing the Country; and
‘ the Merchants also, by the Loss of their
‘Trade, would unanimously sollicit the
‘ Punishment of all those, who were the
‘ turbulent Promoters of it. And at last
subscrib’d himself,
Your very Loving Friend,
(As far as my Allegiance to my
King, and my Duty to my Go-
vernor will permit,)
THO. GRANTHAM.
[Grantham’s address to the principal Ringleaders at Portopatank]
[20]
****
For, after his Arrival in York-River, he
immediately went to Portopatank, where
he heard the Rebels were assembled; and
near Mr. Pate‘s House he met with the
principal Ringleaders; to whom he ad-
dress’d himself to this Effect. ‘What,
‘ Gentlemen, are you going to your Ruin
‘ headlong? Are you quite bereft of all
‘ Sense of Duty, and Self-Preservation?
‘ Have neither the Staple Laws of Na-
‘ ture, nor those Fundamental Rules of
‘ your Country, any Influence upon you;
‘ that your Obstinacy thus blinds you?
‘ Have you not yet heard what numerous
‘ Forces are coming from England, to sup-
‘ press your tumultuous Proceedings? And
‘ that without an immediate Submission,
‘ your Fate will be inevitable, and your
‘ Safety entirely shipwreck’d? Hearken
‘ therefore to the Tenders of Peace, be-
‘ fore it is too late: Consult, like Men of
‘ Sense, your own Felicity; and quietly
‘ lay down your Arms; lest by persisting
‘ in this open Hostility, you force them at
‘ last to be sheath’d in your own Bow-
‘ els.
****
[Oath administered by Grantham to surrendering Rebels]
[23]
‘ I A.B. do willingly and heartily de-
‘ clare, that I know, and in my Consci-
‘ ence believe, Richard Lawrence, and
‘ many others with him, to be in open Re-
‘ bellion against the King’s most Sacred
‘ Majesty, and against the Right Honou-
‘ rable the Governor of Virginia, and the
‘ good establish’d Laws and Peace of this
‘ Colony of Virginia. Which Rebellion
‘ I do from my Heart abhor and detest,
‘ and do therefore most willingly, freely,
‘ and from my Heart swear my full Alle-
‘ giance to the King’s most Excellent Ma-
‘ jesty; and that I will with my Life, and
‘ whole Estate, serve and obey the Right
‘ Honourable the Governor, and obey all
‘ such Magistrates and Officers, as he shall
‘ from time to time appoint over me; and
‘ with them, or any of them, use my ut-
‘ most Endeavour to my Life’s End, to
‘ take, seize, kill and destroy, all such
‘ Persons whatsoever, as either now are,
‘ or hereafter shall be in such Rebellion as
‘ is recited. This Oath I do most hearti-
‘ ly, freely, and willingly take, in the
‘ Presence of Almighty God. So help me
God.
References
Collections
Tags
- Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs
- Edmund Morgan, American Freedom, American Slavery
- Grantham, Sir Thomas. An Historical Account of Some Memorable Actions,Particularly in Virginia ; Also Against the Admiral of Algier,and in the East Indies: Perform’d for the Service of his Prince and Country. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1716), 18, 20, 23.
- Collection of the Library of Virginia, F229.G76
- Transcription by Michael Becker and Dylan Bails