Nat Turner

Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 ? November 11, 1831) was a United States slave whose 1831 slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia was crushed. The rebellion, though defeated, was the most remarkable instance of black resistance to enslavement in the antebellum South and has become a reference of justification for the American Civil War.

Related Topics:
October 2 - 1800 - November 11 - 1831 - United States - Slave - Slave rebellion - Southampton County - Virginia - Antebellum - South - American Civil War

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Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia. He grew up deeply religious and was often seen fasting and praying. He frequently received visions which he interpreted as being messages from God. These greatly influenced his life. For example, when Turner was 21 years old he ran away from his master, but returned a month later after receiving a vision. He became known among fellow slaves as "The Prophet."

Related Topics:
Southampton County - Virginia - Visions - God - Prophet

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In February 1831, there was a solar eclipse. Turner took this to mean that he should begin preparing for a rebellion. The rebellion was initially planned for July 4, Independence Day, but had to be postponed when Turner fell ill.

Related Topics:
Solar eclipse - Rebellion - July 4 - Independence Day

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On August 13, there was an atmospheric disturbance in which the sun appeared bluish-green. This was the final sign, and a week later, August 21, the rebellion began. Starting with a trusted few fellow slaves, the insurgency ultimately numbered more than 40 slaves and free blacks, mostly on horseback. The rebels traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and killing all the whites they could find; men, women and children alike. In all 55 whites were killed in the revolt.

Related Topics:
August 13 - August 21

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The rebellion was suppressed within 48 hours, but Turner eluded capture for months. On October 30 he was discovered and arrested. After his capture, his court appointed trial lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, took it upon himself to publish "The Confessions of Nat Turner," derived partly from research done while Turner was in hiding and partly from conversations with Turner before his trial. This document remains the primary window into Turner's mind. Due to its author's obvious bias, it is a subject of much dissension among historians.

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On November 5, Nat Turner was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. He was hanged and skinned on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia. His corpse was mutilated and various body parts were kept by whites as souvenirs.

Related Topics:
November 5 - November 11 - Jerusalem

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In total, 55 blacks suspected of having been involved in the uprising were killed. In the aftermath, hundreds of blacks, many of whom had nothing to do with the rebellion, were beaten, tortured and murdered by hysterical white mobs.

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The state legislature of Virginia considered abolishing slavery, but in a close vote decided to retain slavery and instead support a repressive policy against slaves and free blacks. The freedoms of all black people in Virginia were tightly curtailed, and an official policy was instated that forbade questioning the slave system, on the grounds that any discussion might encourage similar slave revolts.

Related Topics:
State legislature - Virginia - Abolishing slavery

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In the end, no slave uprising before or after inflicted such a severe blow to the ranks of slave owners in the United States. Nat Turner is regarded as a hero by large numbers of African Americans and pan-Africanists worldwide.

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Nat Turner finally became the focus of popular historical scholarship in the 1940s, when historian Herbert Aptheker was publishing the first serious scholarly work on instances of slave resistance in the antebellum South. Aptheker stressed how the rebellion was rooted in the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system. He traversed libraries and archives throughout the South, managing to uncover roughly 250 similar instances, though none of them reached the scale of the Nat Turner uprising.

Related Topics:
1940s - Herbert Aptheker

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