to
determine whether the charges hurled at the royal Governors were true or
not. It is enough that someone accused them of oppression.

The causes of the revolt against Harvey were various. Of first
importance was the continual opposition that existed between the
Governor and his Council. The revolt was not primarily a revolt of the
people but a revolt by certain members of the Council who attempted to
give their particular insubordination the appearance of a general
rebellion.

Harvey's commission was such that he could do nothing except by majority
vote of himself and the Council sitting as a single body. The Council
frequently outvoted him, effectively blocking his proposals. Harvey
bitterly disputed the Council's power to thwart his will. He pointed out
that the King had sent him to Virginia not only as the new Governor but
with the specific duty of correcting the abuses that were reported to
have existed under previous Governors, especially those abuses for which
members of the Council were responsible. Previous to his arrival the
government had been in the hands of Francis West and Dr. John Pott,
elected to office by the other members of the Council. Pott, whose
reputation has been mentioned earlier, was not pleased to be brought to
justice for his dishonest actions. Nor was Samuel Mathews, an important
member of the Council, pleased to be brought to justice for withholding
the cattle and property of other men. (Mathews, the richest man in the
colony, successfully resisted all legal attempts to divest him of this
property.) Nor were the Council members pleased when, in accordance with
His Majesty's commands, Harvey attempted to punish those responsible for
the ill treatment of William Capps, sent earlier by the King to start
production of tar, potash, salt, pipe staves and other commodities. The
Council had discouraged him from his mission, except in so far as it
concerned the production of salt, and Pott had issued an order
preventing him from leaving the colony to report to the King.

Another cause for grievance against Harvey was the peace he made with
the local Indians. The colonists distrusted the Indians more than they
distrusted other Europeans. The great massacre of 1622, when the Indians
made a desperate attempt to destroy the English settlement, had placed
Indian-white relations on a basis of perpetual enmity. Legally, the
Indians had never been considered to have the same rights as the
English. Engl