Existing comment:
Hand grenades found at Jamestown and used during Bacon's Rebellion, 1676
1676: The First American Revolution
Governor William Berkeley distributed vast tracts of land to a circle of elite planters who faced economic problems when taxes soared and their sale of tobacco was restricted to English ports. Indian attacks prompted one planter, Nathaniel Bacon, to lead landless, impoverished whites -- who called themselves "commoners" -- in a revolt. They tossed grenades at Jamestown and burned it to the ground before Bacon died and the rebellion ended. |