Governor William Berkeley of Virginia enacted friendly policies towards Native Americans, leading to slow responses to attacks and criticism from Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon rose up against Berkeley in 1676, taking control of Jamestown and declaring himself General. Though Bacon died later that year, ending the rebellion, Berkeley was recalled to England. In Massachusetts, the Dominion of New England consolidated colonies under an authoritarian governor. Minister Increase Mather opposed this and a law prohibiting anti-Catholic discrimination. A new charter in 1692 established elected government for the region. During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693, 20 people, mostly women, were executed for witchcraft based on spectral evidence and accusations against enemies, until the trials

1. A SURVEY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
Unit 1: Colonialism and Nationhood
Part 8: Civil Unrest and Authoritarianism

2. WILLIAM BERKELEY: GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA
Earlier in Virginia,
Governor William
Berkeley had enacted
friendlier policies
towards the local Native
Americans. These
policies resulted in slow
government responses
to Native American
attacks on settlers.
Unfortunately for
Berkeley, his wife’s
nephew, Nathaniel
Bacon, believed that
the governor’s policies
were too friendly. Bacon
rose up against
Berkeley and attempted
to overthrow the
colonial government.

3. NATHANIEL BACON
• Berkeley’s slow responses to
Native American attacks made
it easy for his opponents to
undermine his authority.
• In 1674, Bacon took command
of a militia of 500 men who
were intent on attacking the
local Native Americans.
• In July 1676, Bacon and his
men denounced Berkeley in
their Declaration of the People
of Virginia. They also issued a
manifesto in which they called
for the extermination of all
Native Americans.

4. NATHANIEL BACON
• Bacon marched his men into
Jamestown and forced the
government to make him a
general. Berkeley’s response
was to declare Bacon to be in
unlawful rebellion against the
colonial government.
• Months of conflict followed.
• In September 1676, Bacon and
his men returned to Jamestown
and burned it to the ground.
• Bacon died of dysentery in
October 1676, effectively
bringing his rebellion to an end.

5. NATHANIEL BACON
• In early 1677, after news of
Bacon’s Rebellion reached King
Charles II, Governor Berkeley
was relieved of his authority
and recalled to England.
• Later that year, King Charles II
signed a treaty with the Native
Americans, known as the Treaty
of Middle Plantation, which
forced them to swear allegiance
to England in exchange for
being allowed to retain their
territories and hunting rights.

6. INTERREGNUM AND
RESTORATION
• In 1686, following the Puritans’
refusal to recognise the
authority of King Charles II, the
English Government decided to
end the royal charter that
allowed Massachusetts Bay to
be a colony in the first place.
• In 1691, Massachusetts Bay
was consolidated with the other
New England colonies into the
Dominion of New England,
which was effectively ruled as a
dictatorship by a governor
appointed by the king.

7. INCREASE MATHER: MINISTER AND POLITICIAN
Increase Mather was a
Puritan minister in
Boston who stirred up
public opposition to
both the charter that
created the Dominion of
New England and a
previous royal order that
prohibited anti-Catholic
discrimination.
In 1692, after a royal
revolution in England, a
new charter was
issued. Abolishing the
Dominion dictatorship,
it established an elected
government, extended
suffrage, and united the
Massachusetts Bay and
Plymouth colonies.

8. COTTON MATHER: MINISTER AND AUTHOR
The son of Increase
Mather, Cotton Mather
and his father were
both involved in the
Salem Witch Trials of
1692 and 1693. His
essay ‘The Devil in New
England’ voices his
belief in the prevalence
of witchcraft.
“At prodigious Witch-
meetings… Wretches
have proceeded so
far, as to Concert and
Consult the Methods
of Rooting out the
Christian Religion
from this Country.”

9. Mather has since
gained notoriety for his
use of prejudicial
reasoning and for his
reliance on ‘spectral
evidence’ during the
trials. This practice
allowed disembodied
spirits to testify against
the accused.
“At prodigious Witch-
meetings… Wretches
have proceeded so
far, as to Concert and
Consult the Methods
of Rooting out the
Christian Religion
from this Country.”
COTTON MATHER: MINISTER AND AUTHOR

10. THE SALEM WITCH
TRIALS (1692-1693)
• Twenty people, mostly women,
were executed for witchcraft
between February 1692 and
May 1693. They were either
hanged or pressed to death.
Others who were accused of
witchcraft died in prison.
• In the winter of 1692, three
young girls in Salem were struck
by sudden and inexplicable fits.
• When other women in Salem
began to be struck by the same
fits, the Puritans saw demonic
possession at work.

11. THE SALEM WITCH
TRIALS (1692-1693)
• At first, three social outcasts
were accused of ‘afflicting’ the
women of Salem by hiding in
the woods and practising
witchcraft with the help of the
Devil. One was a beggar, one
was not especially religious,
one was a slave — and all of
them were women.
• When some people questioned
the validity of the charges
against the three women, they
too were accused of witchcraft
or of conspiring with witches.

12. THE SALEM WITCH
TRIALS (1692-1693)
• The trials were a farce. The
words of young children were
taken out of context in order to
convict their parents, and the
court was even allowed to hear
testimony from the ghosts of
dead people who were said to
speak through others.
• Eventually, people in Salem
began accusing their enemies
of witchcraft simply to ruin their
lives. When the Puritan
authorities in Boston realized
this, the trials came to an end.

13. A SURVEY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
Unit 1: Colonialism and Nationhood
Part 8: Civil Unrest and Authoritarianism