Sir William Berkeley was the governor of Virigina from
1642 to 1652 and then again from 1660 until his death in 1677. During this time, he
wanted very much to remake Virginia into an autonomous society which had a more
diversified economy.
Virginia, of course, was heavily
dependent on tobacco. Berkeley wanted to remedy this situation. He wanted to create a
society that would be autonomous from England. In order to create this society he
wanted free trade (as opposed to the mercantilist system that was in place). He also
wanted a local assembly that would have complete autonomy over local issues. Finally,
he wanted Virginians to raise a wider variety of crops so that their economy would not
depend so much on tobacco.
On the whole, Berkeley was not
particularly successful in achieving any of these goals. He is best known to history as
the governor at the time of Bacon's Rebellion.
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