The famous, or infamous to some, "A People's History of the United States" extensively covers the evolution of slavery, Bacon's Rebellion being very prominent. But one has to keep in mind that you're really reading more of a 700 page indictment of the US than a real history book. I do love how it shines a light on much of the dark underbelly of American history. It's very useful to have that perspective. I have some pretty strong disagreements with Zinn's socialist economic theories, and his overall disdain for govt - I've read he described himself as a bit of an anarchist.

He sees everything in class terms, and Bacon's Rebellin resulted from the governing and capitalist elite's policies to use poor whites (who were given incentives to move west) as a buffer against the Indian threat as they were pushed west. Part of the idea was to use prejudice to drive poor white hatred towards the Indians instead of the elite whites who were really exploiting them. But then Bacon got pissed that the Gov of Virginia left the poor whites flapping in the wind. And led a rebellion.

And to prevent indentured servants and other poor whites from realizing how much of a common interest they shared with black slaves, they ultimately had to pass laws outlawing any black-white fraternization.

That's Zinn's presentation in a nutshell, but I don't think it's the only view of Bacon, who was not exactly a poor white himself. He also writes in detail about the rise of the slave trade in the US. But it comes down to one thing, really - rich crackers, before and after the Revolution, hitting the jackpot with unlimited free labor. And uprooted blacks, totally disoriented after a horrifying trans-Atlantic voyage, were a whole lot easier to subjugate then those proud unruly Injuns!

It's an interesting read, and I think it's a generally respected scholarly presentation of our uglier side, but it's not always an easy read IMO.