Nathaniel Bacon – 1647–1676

Bacon, a Virginia planter who advocated unlimited territorial expansion of the colony, led what some have labeled the “first American revolution,” an unauthorized military expedition against the Indians in 1676. When Governor William Berkeley opposed him on the grounds that it would trigger a major Indian war, Bacon rose against him and the Virginia House of Burgesses. He attracted a substantial popular following, but succumbed to disease at the very height of the rebellion, causing the movement to collapse.