For this podcast, we will be discussing Nathaniel Bacons Declaration of the People, a document issued in response to Governor Berkeley in the midst of Bacon's rebellion. It is important to understand the purpose of this document. Nathaniel Bacon's Declaration of the People was a list of complaints issued by Nathaniel Bacon on July 30th, 1676, in which he accused Virginia's colonial governor, Sir William Berkeley, his cousin, of being corrupt, playing favorites and protecting the Indians for his own self-interest. Now, what Bacon was trying to get across here is that, Here are our list of reasons for rebelling against you. He specifically mentions imposing unfair taxation, having neglected to promote trade, putting unqualified people in positions of government, and having failed to protect the colony from Indian attacks. The message that Bacon gives in his declaration is explicit because he directly expressed his reasons for rebelling against Berkeley in the colonial government. For example, the first reason Bacon gives for rebelling is that, he says, for having a conspicuous pretends of public works raised great, unjust taxes upon the commodity for the advancement of private favorites. Basically, what Bacon is saying here is that Berkeley raised taxes for the colonies for his own self benefits at the expense of the people in the colony. Now, to conclude, this uprising was one of the earliest major popular rebellions against British colonial rule in the Americas.