Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an African American enslaved preacher who led and organized the four-day rebellion of enslaved and free Black Americans in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831
Biography[]
Born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Virginia, a plantation area with more blacks than whites, Turner was recorded as "Nat" by Benjamin Turner, the man who enslaved him and his family. When Benjamin Turner died in 1810, under then current laws which made human enslavement legal, Nat was inherited as property by Benjamin's son Samuel Turner. For most of his life, he was known as "Nat", but after the 1831 rebellion, he was widely referred to as "Nat Turner". Turner knew little about the background of his father, who was believed to have escaped from slavery when Turner was a young boy. Turner spent his entire life in Southampton County.
Turner learned how to read and write at a young age. He was identified as having "natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension, surpassed by few." He grew up deeply religious and was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible. He frequently had visions which he interpreted as messages from God, and these visions influenced his life. He escaped slavery at age 21 from his enslaver, Samuel Turner. He returned a month later after becoming delirious from hunger and receiving a vision which told him to "return to the service of my earthly master". He had his second vision in 1824 while working in the fields under a new owner, Thomas Moore. In it, "the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment was at hand".
Turner often conducted services, preaching the Bible to his fellow enslaved people, who dubbed him "The Prophet". Turner garnered white followers such as Etheldred T. Brantley, whom Turner was credited with having convinced to "cease from his wickedness".
By the spring of 1828, Turner was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty". He "heard a loud noise in the heavens" while working in Moore’s fields on May 12, "and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first".
Joseph Dreis wrote: "In connecting this vision to the motivation for his rebellion, Turner makes it clear that he sees himself as participating in the confrontation between God's Kingdom and the anti-Kingdom that characterized his social-historical context." He was convinced that God had given him the task of "slaying my enemies with their own weapons."
In 1830, Joseph Travis purchased Turner, and Turner later recalled that he was "a kind master" who had "placed the greatest confidence in" him. Turner eagerly anticipated God's signal to "slay my enemies with their own weapons". He witnessed a solar eclipse on February 12, 1831 and was convinced that it was the sign for which he was waiting, so he started preparations for an uprising against the enslavers in Southampton County by purchasing muskets. Turner said, "I communicated the great work laid out to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence," his fellow enslaved men, Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam.
Turner thought an eclipse in February 1831 was a sign from God to plan a slave rebellion. The rebellion happened in Southampton County, Virginia on August 21, 1831. He wasn’t that far from the North Carolina border. Seventy black people took part. Some of these people were free, and others were slaves. After Turner and his fellow slaves killed his master and his family, they took their horses, firearms, hatchets and knives; and continued on with their liberation.
Nat Turner before getting executed in Virgina in 1831.
The Governor had scheduled about three thousand militiamen to stop the rebellion. The violent rebellion lasted two days until soldiers finally ended it, but Turner escaped. He hid for 6 weeks to avoid being killed. He was found on October 30. Turner was executed on November 11 by hanging. He was skinned. At least 55 white people were killed in the rebellion. The state executed 55 people but acquitted a few. 200 black people were killed by groups of white people. Slaves as far away as North Carolina were said to be connected with the rebellion. Many were tried and executed. Because of the rebellion, new laws were made in Virginia. People could not bring black people together to teach them how to read and write. Nat Turner was an American Hero.