Revised: Thesis/Hypothesis

Thesis:
Berkeley was the hero throughout Bacon's Rebellion while Bacon was the rebel villain of Virginia.

Background Information:
I. William Berkeley was the governor of Virginia and had the colony's best interest in mind.
---A. He wanted to keep the land lines as they were.
-----1. But he wouldn't stop the natives from taking the colonists land.
-------a. Bacon was the man for the job. He started a rebellion against the Indians and the Virginia government to stop the Natives from stealing the colonists land.

Body/Discussion:
II. Bacon rebelled against the government without trying to accomplish his goals in a different way first.
---A. He asked for commission but Berkeley denied the request.
-----1. Bacon then burned down houses/town to show he was serious and to basically force the government to grant him the commission he asked for. ["Forced commission [which] was delivered to [him]" (document #29)]
-------a. Then when government realized Bacon was serious, they granted him the commission.

III. Berkeley kept government under control throughout the rebellion, showing good leadership skills.
---A. Wasn't afraid to write to the King for back-up Redcoats when he really needed them. ["sent [a letter] to the King for two thousand Redcoats" (document #39)]
-----1. King sent him some number of Redcoats to help Berkeley defeat and end Bacon's Rebellion.

IV. Bacon was too stubborn to admit defeat.
---A. Whenever he did something wrong or failed at something he tried to blame it on someone else.
-----1. Bacon tried to blame God for the failure of his rebellion.
-------a. [said "God so infected his blood that it bred Lice in an incredible number so that for twenty days he never washed his shirts but burned them" (document #44)]
---B. Bacon wasn't really interested in helping the people.
-----1. ["Interested in destroying the Indians so he could claim their land [for himself]" (Washburn's book, p. 105)]