In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion of Virginia frontiersmen against the colonial government, which they accused of failing to protect them from Native American attacks. Bacon's forces burned Jamestown and fought against the governor's forces before the rebellion collapsed. The uprising highlighted the tensions between the wealthy planter elite and the poor, landless settlers on the frontier. It also accelerated the shift from indentured servitude to race-based slavery in Virginia, as the elite sought a more controllable labor force.

Bacon's Rebellion is a significant historical event that has been explored in American literature as a symbol of class conflict and frontier violence. It is a theme in works that examine the social and political dynamics of colonial Virginia, often appearing in historical novels and poems that reflect on the struggles of the common people. The rebellion is also a key event in understanding the origins of American slavery, a theme that has been examined in the poetry and prose of the 20th century.