Nat Turners Rebellion

People

Nat Turner

On August 21-23, 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved Black preacher and carpenter, led the deadliest slave rebellion in United States history in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner, who was deeply religious and literate, believed he had been called by God to lead his people out of bondage. After interpreting a solar eclipse in February 1831 and an atmospheric disturbance in August as divine signs, Turner and a group of fellow enslaved men launched their revolt in the early morning hours of August 22. Beginning at the home of Turner's owner, Joseph Travis, the rebels killed the entire household as they slept, then moved from farm to farm, their numbers growing to approximately 70 men. Over 36 hours, they killed between 55 and 65 White men, women, and children before being confronted by state militia and local resistance. The rebellion was suppressed within two days, but Turner evaded capture for over two months, hiding in the woods of Southampton County. He was discovered on October 30, 1831, tried on November 5, and hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia (now Courtland). Before his execution, Turner dictated his confessions to local lawyer Thomas R. Gray, which were published as "The Confessions of Nat Turner" and sold over 50,000 copies. In the violent aftermath of the rebellion, white militias and mobs killed as many as 120 Black people, most of whom had no involvement in the uprising. The rebellion had profound consequences for enslaved and free Black Americans throughout the South. The Virginia legislature debated abolishing slavery but instead passed harsh new laws restricting the rights of all Black people, forbidding them from gathering for religious or educational purposes, prohibiting teaching enslaved people to read or write, and stripping free Black people of their right to jury trials. Other Southern states followed with similar restrictions. Turner's rebellion destroyed the myth that enslaved people were content with their condition and hardened positions on both sides of the slavery debate, making peaceful resolution increasingly impossible and setting the stage for the Civil War three decades later. For African Americans, Turner became a symbol of resistance and a martyr in the fight against slavery.