Virginia. These farmers pushed inland for cheaper land, establishing large estates on VirginiaÆs western frontier (Blow 174). A decline in tobacco prices pushed even more farmers into the frontier, searching for cheap land that they could cultivate merely to subsist (Blow 175). The expanding frontier provoked another attack by Native Americans, who slaughtered 350 settlers on April 18, 1644 (Blow 176).
Governor William Berkeley reacted by organizing a militia, which managed to defeat the Indians and kill their leader, Opechancanough. Berkeley forced the Indians to sign a treaty that ceded a substantial portion of their lands, and required them to pay an annual tribute of 20 beaver skins (Blow 176). Berkeley attempted to avoid further conflict by separating lands reserved for Native Americans and English settlers. But that policy favored established farmers at the expense of newcomers (Hawke 244).
Berkeley resolved the fight with the Indians only to step into another battle with the English government. VirginiaÆs loyalties, so clearly with the King in the English Civil War of 1642-49, cost the colony dearly when the parliamentarians prevailed. After Parliament cut off trade with Virginia, Berkeley began trading with the Dutch. Parliament responded in 1652 by sending two warships. Berkeley threatened war but ultimately acquiesced in exchange for amnesty (Blow 176-177).
Seven years later, England had a king again and Berkeley reclaimed his post as governor of Virginia. In his second stint as governor, Berkeley used his post to benefit himself and his friends. He awarded prime territory (the Northern Neck between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers) to his cronies, then granted the ôwhole of Virginia to Lord Culpeper and the Earl of Arlington as lords proprietors.ö (Blow 177). The King quickly rescinded BerkeleyÆs grant, but the Northern Neck could only be reacquired by paying for it. The Long Assembly, the...