Charles 1. who succeeded James, adopted the opi nions of his father, with t egard to the American settle ments ; and, during a great part of his reign, the plan ters knew no other law than the will of the sovereign. Harvey, the governor, enforced every act of power with such cruelty, that the colonists, rising in opposition to his authority, sLizf. fl his person, and sent him prisoner to England, accompani«1 with two of their number to substantiate the charges which brought against him.' This was looked upon by Clituees as little short of rebellion ; and Harvey being restored to his office, was entrusted with more ample powers than before. The deputies were not even allowed to pl.( Ic r their accusations in the hearing of the Dissatisfaction prevailed among the colonists. Nor could the mild and trniperate government of sir William Berkeley, who was appointed not long after in the room of Ilary et , pacify their discontents ; till Cha•lt s, by an extraordi na•y deviation from his usual conduct respecting the American settlers, allowed writs to he issued, and the repreventatives of the people to be called ; that, in con junction with the governor and his council, they might give their voices in whatey er related to the chit 1 inte rests of the c olon•. Berkeley was ordered likewise to establish courts of justice on the model of those in England. This sudden alteration in the conduct of Charles is ascribed, by Dr Robertson, to his fears. Ife was about to convoke his parliament, where he knew that the complaints of the settlers would be readily at tended to, and urged as the evidences of his arbitrary disposition ; and " he endeavoured to take the merit of having granted voluntarily to his people in Virginia, such privileges as he foresaw would be extorted from him."—Hist. cf _liner. vol. iii. p. 273. ed. 1801.
After the downfal and the death of Charles, when his authority was no longer acknowledged in England, it was still preserved in Virginia. Arms alone compelled sir William Berkeley to relinquish the government, and descend to the condition of a private loan. Ilere, as in other places, the forces of the parliament were success ful ; and, under officers appointed by Cromwell, the settlers enjoyed an unbroken tranquillity during a period of nine years. But their loyalty, though suppressed, was by no means extinguished. They returned to their allegiance ; and forcing Berkeley to quit his retirement, they elected him goy ernor of the colony, and were the first of British subjects who made open declaration of their attachment to Charles II., and proclaimed him with all his titles.
This display of loyalty was not rewarded by Charles, as the colonists were entitled to expect, or as they per haps deserved. But the king, though lie neither enlarged the boundaries of the settlement, nor introduced any regulation which was very advantageous to its com merce, was, nevertheless, sensible, that the planters had shown themselves attached to his family, and spoke of their zeal in terms of high commendation. The spirit which influenced the parliament, however, was by no means favourable to the American settlers. The re straints which had been imposed upon their commerce, during the usurpation, were not removed. They were
even obliged to trade within more narrow limits. The celebrated Navigation Act was passed by the commons: and in this memorable statute, it was ordained, (12 Car. 11. c. 181.) that no commodities should be imported into any foreign settlement, unless in vessels, built either in England or its plantations, and manned with sailors, of whom three-fourths were the subjects of Great Britain: that none but Englishmen, born or naturalized, should act as merchant, or lac tors in an) Of the colonies : that no ginger, tobacco, sugar, cotton, wool, indigo, Or other articles enumerated in the bill, should be exported from the colonies to any country but England : and (A. I). 166S,) that no European commodity should be imported into the colonies that had not been shill/re! in Angillnd, and in vessels built and manned, as has been stated above. The Act of Navigation, however, allowed the settlers in America to export the enumerated commo dities from one plantation to another, without paying any duty : but in the year 1672, they were farther sub jected to a tax equivalent to what was paid by the con sumers of the same commodities in England. In the subsequent transactions of the mother country and the colonies, we shall find a perpetual and undeviating ef fort on the part of the former to support these restraints ; and on the part of the latter to break through or elude them.
As soon as the intelligence of what the commons had done, in passing the act of navigation, reached Virgi nia, that important statute was felt as a grievance by all the settlers. They petitioned earnestly for relief, but without effect. Alurmurs and dissatisfaction spread through the colony. It was openly maintained, that ought to assert their rights by force of arms ; and they wanted nothing but a leader to carry them to all the extravagancics of actual rebellion. This leader they found in Nathaniel Bacon, a man of great influence among the people ; eloquent, ambitious, and daring. Ile had been appointed by the council, to conduct the war against the Indians, at the heads of the rivers, who had lately become troublesome, and even formidable to the settlers : but, instead of marching against the savages, he turned directly towards James-town, drove the go vernor across the bay to the eastern shore, and took the supreme authority into his own hands. Nor was he destitute of support in his new situation. Many of the respectable planters acknowledged his jurisdiction, and declared their resolution of adhering to him with their lives and fortunes, till such time as they had an oppor tunity of laying their grievances before their sovereign. Meanwhile, Berkeley had transmitted an account of the insurrection to Europe, and a body of troops arrived from England. But just as he was about to take the field with all his strength, Bacon sickened and died, (A. D. 1677,) and his followers, deprived of their leader, submitted without reluctance to the authority of the governor. Soon after, colonel Jefferies was appointed in the room of sir William Berkeley ; and from that period to the revolution in 1688, there is scarcely any memorable occurrence in the history of Virginia.