Premium Essay

The Cause Of Nat Turner's Rebellion

Submitted By
Words 419
Pages 2
Nat turner was a famous slave known for the rebellion. With seven fellow slaves, he tragically killed the Travis family. His fellow slaves did a lot of killing.He was important because he led to the end of the white southern myth.Nat turner was born in a small little camp (plantation) on october 2nd, 1800 in Southampton County Virginia.He was able to learn how to read & write but unfortunately,he was sold in the early 1820’s to a farmer and then again in 1830 to a worker joseph travis.

later on his religion became fanaticism.He planned to capture the armory at Jerusalem, the county seat which was known well.with 71 slaves helped him to kill a slave family, later on 51 whites were murdered. Most of the slaves that helped were killed or captured.Turner …show more content…
history. Southern states acted to Turner’s revolt by passing unnecessary laws that made the lives of slaves even more …show more content…
In Southampton county black people came to measure time from “Nat’s Fray,” or “Old Nat’s War.”For many years in black churches throughout the country, the name Jerusalem referred not only to the Bible but also covertly to the place where a slave died at.Armed resistance from the local whites and the arrival of the state militia—a total force of 3,000 men—provided the final crushing blow.

The rebellion was suppressed within two days, but Turner eluded capture by hiding in the woods until October 30, when he was captured by farmer Benjamin Phipps. Turner was hiding in a hole covered with fence rails. While awaiting for his trial, Turner confessed his knowledge of the rebellion to attorney Thomas Ruffin Gray, who agreed what he claimed was Turner's confession.

On November 5, 1831, Turner was tried for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection", convicted, and sentenced to death. Turner was hanged.The conventional wisdom that Turner was mentally unstable began immediately following his death on November 11, 1831. Southampton authorities refused to dignify his theology with the term “religion” and instead insisted that his desire to be free was “instigated by the wildest superstition and

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

What Are The Causes Of Nat Turner's Rebellion

...The Southampton Insurrection was an infamous slave rebellion in Southampton, Virginia. The rebellion took place on August 22, 1831, led by Nat Turner, a rebellious, slave preacher who gathered around seventy slaves with the goal of murdering many white slaveholders and their families. From Nat Turner’s perspective, he was freeing his own people from their abusive masters with the attempt of seeking the basic American principles of freedom and equality. This 19th century slave uprising proved to be one of the worst slave uprisings in American history due to the many casualties and deaths among blacks and whites during the event and after. The issue of slavery in America caused many of these slave revolts to be common throughout rural southern plantations and led to the rise of abolitionism among black and white politicians in the North....

Words: 252 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Fires of Jubilee Pt 4

...Jubilee Pt.4 In The Fires of Jubilee Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion: Stephen Oates gives an account of the brief but deadly slave revolt in and around Southampton, Virginia. His controlling theme is that of religion and the profound influence that it had on the development of Nat Turner's charismatic persona and his rationale for engaging in a project of deliberate murder of people who had at least in the context of slavery as a given of Turner's experience, treated him quite decently. The effects of Nat Turner's rebellion were profound. The insurrection of Nat Turner was inspiration for all slaves, even if just 60 whites were killed to the 140 blacks. I am impressed by his courage. The attitudes of many plantation owners changed as a result of Nat. Many people had believed that slaves would never think of hurting their "loving, Christian" master. What Nat did scared many whites tremendously. The Virginia state legislature actually debated freeing all slaves to avoid future conflict. Of course this never happened but this was the first time that such an idea had ever been discussed. Many slave holders blamed the rebellion on the abolishment movement. The same year of Nat's rebellion, William Lloyd Garrison began publishing "The Liberator". Some people attributed this to the cause of the killings. Laws were passed that forbid teaching slaves to read or write. An educated slave could be a dangerous slave. Within time, the fury of Nat's rebellion diminished. The tariff issue became...

Words: 593 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Fires of Jubilee

...Jubilee Pt.4 In The Fires of Jubilee Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion: Stephen Oates gives an account of the brief but deadly slave revolt in and around Southampton, Virginia. His controlling theme is that of religion and the profound influence that it had on the development of Nat Turner's charismatic persona and his rationale for engaging in a project of deliberate murder of people who had at least in the context of slavery as a given of Turner's experience, treated him quite decently. The effects of Nat Turner's rebellion were profound. The insurrection of Nat Turner was inspiration for all slaves, even if just 60 whites were killed to the 140 blacks. I am impressed by his courage. The attitudes of many plantation owners changed as a result of Nat. Many people had believed that slaves would never think of hurting their "loving, Christian" master. What Nat did scared many whites tremendously. The Virginia state legislature actually debated freeing all slaves to avoid future conflict. Of course this never happened but this was the first time that such an idea had ever been discussed. Many slave holders blamed the rebellion on the abolishment movement. The same year of Nat's rebellion, William Lloyd Garrison began publishing "The Liberator". Some people attributed this to the cause of the killings. Laws were passed that forbid teaching slaves to read or write. An educated slave could be a dangerous slave. Within time, the fury of Nat's rebellion diminished. The tariff issue became...

Words: 345 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Nat Turner's Rebellion Research Paper

...Nat Turner's Rebellion Nat Turner, a slave from Virginia, led a rebellion against slavery and as a result he was executed afterwards. Thomas Gray interviewed Turner before his execution and wrote the book “The Confessions of Nat Turner.” The rebellion started when Turner had a spiritual revelation that came from a religious passage, and according to him, that revelation was continuously repeating. He was strongly religious, and he believed he was meant to achieve a big purpose in life. Also, he claimed that he had a vision of a battle between blacks and whites. He argued his purpose in life was to lead a rebellion against slavery, so he did. At first, Turner told his plan to slaves he trusted, but then more slaves joined the cause. The rebellion...

Words: 292 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Summary Of Nat Turner's Rebellion

...Nat Turner, Gabriel and Deslondes all had one commonality it was to dismantle the acts of slavery, Nat Turner did cause an uprising by using the networks that connected towns with distant slave communities. The communities believed in Nat Turner capabilities in leading the rebellion, however, Nat Turner confident in himself that he could not have the strength or the courage to begin to lead a rebellion. When Turner had the courage his neighborhood, network of communities, were not as united as before; The neighborhoods, despite the complexity of such network, embodied the rebellion were not moved by his words of rebelling against the white southerners without shedding blood. Nat Turner’s rebellion was a success for initiating the movement overall, however, Turner, after multiple rounds on many plantation owner’s residence, found himself running away from being captured from the states militia. Months later, Turner was apprehended, hanged and sever his head which was place on a stake in public for others to fear. Turner’s rebellion demonstrated to the white southerners a strong sense of unity, organization...

Words: 469 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Nat Turner's The Fires Of Jubilee

...The dichotomy of the philosophy of the United States Constitution and the Institution of slavery existing together in the same society led to many explosive events, one of them was Nat Turner’s fierce rebellion. The Fires of Jubilee was researched and written by Stephen B. Oates his expertise being biographies of 19th century historical figures. The book is written as a dramatic narrative, but the research into the ambiguous character of Nat Turner and the events surrounding his life is thorough and extensive. A more perfect and horrendous thought experiment about political ethics, divinity, and morality and could not have been imagined than the real life events that preceded, culminated in, and followed the slave rebellion of Southampton...

Words: 1192 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Nat Turner's Rebellion Research Paper

...Nat Turner was born a week before Gabriel Prosser was executed. Prosser was a leader in a failed slave revolt to free slaves in Virginia.Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia, on October 2, 1800. Nat Turner was an interesting individual he was intelligent and superstitious of what nature tells him. Turner was a preacher that would go to plantations across Virginia to preach to the slaves. This is what helped him get word to slaves of the revolt he was going to do. This revolt was one of the bloodiest and most effective ones that occurred in the south.  Turner was sold out three times, his first master being Benjamen Turner, second was Samuel Turner and his final owners would be the Travis family. When Samuel Turner was his master he ran away from the plantation in the year 1821. Thirty days hiding in the woods, he had a visiion that instructed him to "return to his earthly master" (Nat Turners Rebellion)....

Words: 615 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas, And John Brown's Raid

...The Civil War was a time of chaos and different opinions. It all started with Abraham Lincoln being elected to be our 16th president. Slowly tension from the South and North started to build up about slavery, which then resulted in war. This war lasted for about four years with many significant battles. There were many important events that were leading up to the Civil War, but there were a few that were the key causes. The six events that are vital to the war’s build up are the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Compromise of 1850, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Bleeding Kansas, and John Brown’s Raid. The Missouri Compromise was in 1820, after the Louisiana Purchase. As time went on after the Louisiana Purchase, the Congress decided that it...

Words: 742 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Nat Turner's Slave Revolution Dbq

...Nat Turner’s slave revolt had helped the abolitionist movement become more aggressive and had introduced many new ways that the abolitionist movement could become stronger. In the background reading, it clearly shows how Nat Turner’s rebellion had made the South worried,”Many southerners blamed Nat Turner’s slave revolt in 1831 on radical abolitionists such as David Walker, who called for violent resistance to slavery.” Nat Turner’s rebellion had given abolitionists the idea to be more aggressive with their movement to remove slavery, and this had frightened the South. The North was gaining more and more power with the abolitionist movement, and they were planning to use this power to get rid of slavery throughout the Southern states as stated in document 4,”The North is accumulating power and its means to use that power to use that power to emancipate your slaves.” The North had kept gaining power and they were planning to use it to get rid of slavery throughout...

Words: 1394 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Second Great Awakening Dbq Analysis

...Women’s suffrage, abolition, and asylum and prison reform became hot topics during the Second Great Awakening, a movement that took place in the early 1800s. The Second Great Awakening was headed by religious leaders who sought out changes in American society through uniting the American people (Doc. B). Due to the Second Great Awakening, reform movements were established between 1825 and 1850 to represent the changes American people sought for in the matters of slavery, suffrage, and asylum and prison reform. Nat Turner’s rebellion, occurring in 1831, changed dynamics of slavery in America....

Words: 757 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Short Summary: Nat Turner And John Brown

...NAT TURNER and JOHN BROWN SLAVERY There is a lot of stuff that people hate in this world one of the things that I hate the most would have to be slavery. Here are the lives of two men there names are Nat Turner and John Brown. These are the stories of the extraordinary men. Believing in signs and hearing divine voices, Turner had a vision in 1825 of a bloody conflict between black and white spirits. Three years later, he had what he believed to be another message from God. In his later confession, Turner explained "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. " Turner would receive another sign to tell him when to fight, but this latest message meant "I should arise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons." Turner took a solar eclipse that occurred in February 1831 as a signal that the time to rise up had come. He recruited several other slaves to join him in his cause. On August 21, 1831, Turner and his supporters began their revolt against white...

Words: 536 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

What Role Did The Slave Rebellion Play In The Abolitionist Movement

...Introduction: Slavery in the United States tore the nation in two. 3 Slave rebellion, both violent and nonviolent, played an enormous role in the abolitionist movement. The social, political, and economic impact of the rebellions, reached far beyond the Civil War, giving black Americans a new-found identity. A day in the life of a slave was tiring. They worked from sunrise to sunset and rarely had a day off, if lucky once a month. They would spend their limited free time mending their huts, relaxing and making pots and pans. The slaves were not allowed to read or write, and only some were allowed to go to church. They had no choice, no freedom and no money. They had to do exactly what their slave masters would tell them to do. They would...

Words: 1551 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Gabriel Prosser

...John Slave Revolt (Saint John, Suppressed) 1739 Stono Rebellion (South Carolina, Suppressed) 1741 New York Conspiracy (New York City, Suppressed) 1760 Tacky's War (Jamaica, Suppressed) 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution (Saint-Domingue, Victorious) 1800 Gabriel Prosser (Virginia, Suppressed) 1805 Chatham Manor (Virginia, Suppressed) 1811 German Coast Uprising (Territory of Orleans, Suppressed) 1815 George Boxley (Virginia, Suppressed) 1822 Denmark Vesey (South Carolina, Suppressed) 1831 Nat Turner's rebellion (Virginia, Suppressed) 1831–1832 Baptist War (Jamaica, Suppressed) 1839 Amistad, ship rebellion (Off the Cuban coast, Victorious) 1841 Creole, ship rebellion (Off the Southern U.S. coast, Victorious) 1842 Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation (Southern U.S., Suppressed) 1859 John Brown's Raid (Virginia, Suppressed) Gabriel (1776 – October 10, 1800), today commonly – if incorrectly – known as Gabriel Prosser, was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800. Information regarding the revolt was leaked prior to its execution, and he and twenty-five followers were taken captive and hanged in punishment. In reaction, Virginia and other state legislatures passed restrictions on free blacks, as well as prohibiting the education, assembly and hiring out of slaves, to restrict their chances to learn and to plan similar rebellions. In 2002 the City of Richmond passed a resolution in honor...

Words: 2239 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Causes of Civil War

...Causes of the American Civil War (Colonial America to the 1850s) A lot of important events and people have paved the way towards the American civil war. Each event that ever happened within the time period of 1790 to 1850 all lead to the civil war. Some example of key people and events would be the following: the bill of rights being ratified, the fugitive slave act, the cotton gin, Tennessee, John Adams, George Washington, Gabriel's Rebellion, Ohio, the Louisiana Purchase, the Embargo act, the International slave trade, James Madison, the Battle of New Orleans, Reverend Allen, Missouri compromise, Demark Vesey's Conspiracy, Africans losing their boats, Monroe Doctrine, Nat Turner's revolt, The Alamo, Gag rule, Trail of tears, Harriet Tubman, California. All of these are some major events that caused the civil war itself. All of these events had also contributed to the rise of the English colony and the break off point from the mainland in Europe. All of the events/ people mention previously are going to be used to tell how the American civil war started and how each led to a chain reaction of other events that occurred. These events will each tell a story of its own and slowly build up to the civil war itself. Other events along the way will show up as a result of an event occurring. Both the north and the South had different events which lead up to the civil war but we will mostly focus on the more major events that took place. The Rise of...

Words: 3043 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Civil Rights Abolition

...The Boston Tea Party, Nat Turner's slave rebellion, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Edward Snowden; resistance, peaceful or not, to injustice has, since its inception, been a quintessentially American ideology, core to ensuring our tenets of civil liberty and equality go unfettered. It is ultimately on the shoulders of the citizens of a state to regulate that state as much as it is the state's responsibility to oversee its people. Therefore, when the state engages in actions which infringe on the rights of the people, with no in-built measures possible or easily accessible to lawfully enact change, those wrongfully affected ought to rise up and change those actions through force (force meaning action, not necessarily violence). An axiom...

Words: 799 - Pages: 4