Between 1600 and 1700 the American Colonies Were Shaken by a Series of "Revolts" That, It Had Been Contended, Were the Result of Tensions in Colonial Society. Examine the Protests That Took Place in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York,...
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries colonial America experienced a number of rebellions by various groups for a variety of reasons. The protests took place in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. Each protest began for a different reason, however, all involved the discontent that some groups underwent in the colonies. Some of the most notable rebellions include Bacon's Rebellion, The Regulator Uprising, Leislor's Rebellion, Culpepper's Rebellion, and the Paxton Boys Uprising. The Paxton Boy Revolt, which occurred in Pennsylvania, was a response to Pontiac's Rebellion, one of the greatest Indian Uprisings to ever happen. The Paxton Boys felt that the government of colonial Pennsylvania that was mainly controlled by peaceful Quakers, did not do a good enough job in protecting them from Indian uprisings and raids. These Paxton Boys decided to take control of the cituation. These men took part in some bloody massacres killing peaceful Indians that weren't involved in the matter in any way. Bacon's Rebellion was a similar revolt in the fact that it the revolters were not happy in the way the colony was being ran and they felt that they should have gotten more opportunities and rights. Nathanial Bacon a poor ex-indentured servant was extrmely unhappy about the way the colony was being run and he wanted to be able to obtain land as well as get payback on Indians that had raided a nearby area. Bacon temporarily took control on the colony for several years and because of his uprising more land was available for indentured servants and people believed that they could actually change the way their colony was being ran. This rebellion was similar to the Paxton Boys Revolt as it also had to do with the discontent of a lower class group in society, as well as anger towards specific groups of hostile Indians. Leislor's Rebellion may be considered a stepping stone towards the American Revolution as it involved the dethroning of James II beacuase of