Bacon's Rebellion took place in 1676, and was led by Nathaniel Bacon. He was motivated to gather those who were displaced by the governor William Berkeley and rise against the voted leader. Due to the recent Indian attacks on the colony and the non-active stance Berkeley had posed, Bacon decided to lead his unruly group to attack as many Indians as the could seek out.
The idea behind Bacon's Rebellion was not only a group of stubborn individuals who were looking to obtain revenge against the Indians; they wanted to send a message to Berkeley from Bacon, as a showcase of his own form of power. The farmers who followed him also utilized this event as an opportunity to show the growing independence in the minds of the oppressed. They began to steer away from the clutches of a paternalistic society when threatened by the Indians and embrace a new ideology: autonomy. 
In July of the same year, Bacon delivered a speech dubbed "Declaration of the People", where he made people swear their allegiance to him. Unfortunately for Bacon, it all rolled downhill afterwards; he died later in October of the same year. It was then that Berkeley returned to not only save face, but to gather his own revenge; twenty threes individuals who had been part of the rebellion were lynched as an example of his power. Consequently, the governor was then released of his job and died in 1677.
historymatters.gmu..edu/d/5800
