The Burning of Jamestown

The Burning of Jamestown

Exactly one-hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, a group of rebels marched on Virginia’s capital and burned it to the ground in an attempt to depose a government they saw as elitist. Though the rebellion would fizzle after the death of its charismatic leader, Nathaniel Bacon, its impact would be felt in the courts, the further entrenchment of slave labor in Virginia, and escalating tensions between white frontiersmen and Indigenous people, rippling far beyond the 17th century to the American Revolution and today. “The Burning of Jamestown” is an immersive walking tour, led by merchant and planter Thomas Mathew, on whose land the rebellion was first sparked.

In 2026, “The Burning of Jamestown” is presented as part of “Reconsidering Bacon’s Rebellion at 350 Years,” a joint program series by Preservation Virginia, Jamestown Rediscovery, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, William & Mary Office of Strategic Cultural Partnerships, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, the Rappahannock Indian Tribe, and the Nottoway Indian Tribe with support from Virginia Humanities.