Nat Turner
Nat Turner was born on October 2nd in 1800, into slavery. His mother was Nancy Turner; his father is unknown. He worked in Southamptomton county Virginia under the plantation owner Benjamin Turner. Benjamin Turner allowed Nat to be instructed in reading, writing, and religion. Nat had appeared to have a special talent at an early age because he could narrate events from his birth in great detail.
Nat Turner was an enslaved African-American who lived in Virginia. Unlike most of the enslaved, Nat Turner was "naturally intelligent." In fact, some say he taught himself to read and write.
Turner often experienced visions in which he comprehended messages from God. Some historians suggest that he was actually schizophrenic. The early talent led Nat to become a preacher who claimed he had been chosen by God to lead slaves from bondage and stood against white oppression. Turner was deeply religious and devoted his time to reading the bible, operating, and fasting.
Nats first owner was Benjamin Turner. In 1821 Nat ran away from Samuel Turner, Benjamin's brother. After receiving what he believed to be a sign from God, he returned to the Turner plantation. After Samual Turner's death, Nat became the slave of Thomas Moore, after his widow's property. The widow married John Travis, and then NAt worked on Travis's lands.
"I heard a loud noise in the heavens, 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 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."- Nat Turner.
In 1825 Turner had a vision of a bloody conflict between black and white spirits. Three years later, he experienced a similar vision. A last sign to fight meant, "I should arise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons. In February 1831, a solar eclipse was a signal that it was time to rise up.
Nat Turners Rebellion
Nat Turner had a few trusted slaves from the plantation plan to travel from house to house and free slaves and kill white owners families. On August 21,1831, Turner, accompanied by 6 of their slaves, killed the Travis family, secured arms and horses, and enlisted seventy-five other slaves. The rebels didn't care if the people they were killing were children or women. They killed around 60 people before the Virginian militia quelled the rebellion. The main reason for this rebellion was to scare the whites and show how brutal it is to be enslaved. Turner believed that slavery was a violent institution and the only way to combat violence is with violence. Turner fled and hid in the woods for 6 weeks. Turner and sixteen other slaves were discovered and convicted and hung in Jerusalem, Virginia.
The movement was successful in that they killed white people, and for a short period of time, they were free of white oppression. However, aspects were unsuccessful because they were captured and killed, and this revolt led to fearful white southerners. By putting fear in the south's heart, the region's emancipation movement ended, and harsher laws against slaves were enforced. This also added fuel to the abolitionist movement in the North. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison published an editorial in his newspaper "The Liberator" in support of Turner. He was an icon in the 1960's black power movement as an African American standing up against white oppression.
The Nat Turner rebellion caused an argument about the continuation of keeping slaves captive. John Floyd, the governor of Virginia, blamed the revolt on the Christian ideas of equality and freedom taught by the Yankees to the slaves. People who wanted slavery to continue argued slavery was an old practice that was a right people should have, slavery is more humane than murdering people, its free labor which keeps civilizations running, and abolishing slavery would be the opposite of advancing in history and technology. Those who argued that slavery should cease to exist argued that though it is free labor, it may cause future slave revolts, which would do more harm than good.
This rebellion encouraged white people to start more conversations about enslaved people. In my opinion, Nat Turner destroyed the white Southern myth that slaves were actually happy with their lives or too ignorant to undertake a violent rebellion. This rebellion created a turning point in the master and slave relationship.
Citations
Website: History.com Nat Turner - Rebellion, Death & Facts - HISTORY Published January 26, 2021
Website: Biography editors Nat Turner - Rebellion, Death & Facts - Biography
Published January 14, 2021
Website: Brainyqoute Nat Turner Quotes - BrainyQuote
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