o and happy before the
Restoration, were reduced to poverty.

Politically, however, the evils of this period proved finally to be of
benefit to the middle class, for when their burdens had become
unbearable they rushed to arms and, striking out blindly at their
oppressors, showed in no uncertain way that they would submit no
longer to tyranny and injustice. It is true that Bacon's Rebellion was
put down amid the blood of those that were its chief promoters, but
the fury and horror of that outburst were not forgotten, and never
again did governors or aristocracy drive to despair the commons of the
colony by unjust taxation and arbitrary assumption of all power.
Moreover, the misfortunes that preceded the Rebellion stirred in the
breasts of the poor farmers a feeling of brotherhood, causing them to
realize that their interests were common, and that by common action
alone could they guard their interests. After 1676 we find that the
middle class had become a self-conscious body, watching jealously
every action of the Council or of the governors and resisting with
energy and success all measures that seemed to them detrimental to
their interests.

The period from 1676 to 1700 was marked by the growth of the middle
class both in material prosperity and in political power. It is true
that the Navigation Acts were still in force and that the price of
tobacco continued for a while so low that little profit could be made
from it, but the people were no longer so dependent on the plant as in
former times. The poor farmers had been forced by absolute necessity
to produce upon their own estates nearly all the articles necessary
for their maintenance and comfort, and could no longer be put so
completely at the mercy of the English merchants. Although the
attempts of the Assembly to establish public industries proved futile,
the end that had been held in view was in some measure attained by the
petty manufacture upon the little plantations. The farmers' wives
became expert spinners and weavers and supplied themselves and their
husbands with coarse cloth sufficient for their humble needs. By
planting less tobacco and more corn they could be sure of a plentiful
supply of bread, while their cattle and hogs furnished them with milk
and meat. The planting of apple or peach trees assured them not only
fruit in abundance, but made it possible for them to make cider or
brandy that were excellent substitutes for imported liquors. Their
fur