Nat Turner was a slave belonging to the Travis family in Southampton County, a region of Virginia where blacks outnumbered whites. Nat learned to read and write at an early age, having been taught by his master’s son. As Nat grew older he became intensely religious and began preaching the Bible to fellow slaves, earning the nickname “The Prophet.”
Immersing himself in religion, Nat began seeing visions that he interpreted as messages from God. Nat believed that one vision told him to “slay my enemies with their own weapons.” Nat also began perceiving certain atmospheric conditions as a sign that he should lead a rebellion against white slaveholders.
Seeds of Uprising
The threat of a slave rebellion frightened many Southerners, particularly in areas where blacks outnumbered whites. In the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804, in which black Haitian slaves overthrew white French slaveholders, over 80,000 whites were killed along with an unknown number of blacks.
Prior to the Haitian uprising, many American slaveholders viewed slavery as an unfortunate inheritance. After the uprising, many saw slavery as an unfortunate necessity and they dreaded the prospect of an uprising among the millions of slaves in the South.
On August 13, 1831, Nat Turner interpreted a blue-green sun in the sky, possibly caused by an eclipse or debris from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens, as the signal that he must launch a revolt.
The Brutal Rampage
Nat began with seven fellow slaves on the night of August 21. They murdered the Travis family in their sleep using axes, hatchets and blunt instruments to avoid the noise of firearms. Then they moved from house to house, murdering white men, women and children, and gathering slaves and free blacks as they went. The rebel force ultimately numbered about fifty as they moved toward the county seat of Jerusalem (now Courtland) to seize the armory.
The plan was ill-conceived and the force was disorganized; many were drunk. After a forty-eight hour rampage in which fifty-five whites were killed, state militia dispersed the rebels outside Jerusalem. Ultimately fifty-six blacks were tried, convicted and executed for alleged connections to the uprising. Hundreds more blacks were beaten, tortured and murdered in reprisals by state and federal troops.
Nat and some of his followers eluded capture until October 30 when they were finally apprehended. In Jerusalem, Nat was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. He was hanged along with sixteen followers on November 11.
The Spread of Fear and Division
Although far fewer were killed in this uprising than in the Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner’s rebellion launched a wave of fear throughout the South. Slaveholders had convinced themselves that if they showed kindness their slaves would stay content, but Nat admitted that his master had been kind. Many in the South who previously opposed slavery now felt that freeing the slaves was not the answer because the rebellion had included free blacks.
Prior to Nat Turner’s uprising, the Virginia General Assembly had debated whether or not to free the slaves. Now they debated that if the slaves were freed, whether or not they should be deported to Africa. Ultimately the Assembly voted instead to maintain slavery and enact stricter laws prohibiting slaves from being educated and limiting the rights of both free and enslaved blacks.
The rebellion also destroyed the anti-slavery movement in the South, which at the time was larger than in the North. It was discouraged to question the slave system out of fear that such questioning would inspire similar revolts. Several states enacted laws banning abolitionist material from the mail. Many slaveholders in the Upper South began selling their slaves to Deep South states, thus decreasing the risk of another bloody uprising.
In the North, the rebellion galvanized the small abolitionist movement and gave it reason for growth. Attacks against slavery became more vehement, alienating many Southerners who felt their way of life was being assaulted. As a result, Southerners closed ranks and began defending slavery no longer as a necessary evil but as a positive good because it provided a slave with food, clothing, shelter and Christian values.
The Nat Turner uprising helped polarize the United States and inspired future campaigns both for and against slavery. Many blacks view Nat as a hero because of his effort, however misguided, to obtain his freedom and purge America from the sin of slavery. Furthermore Nat helped inspire a fanatic named John Brown to launch a similar attack on the South that led directly to the Southern secession and the Civil War.
Sources
Crocker III, H.W.: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2008)
Davis, Kenneth C.: Don’t Know Much About the Civil War (New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1996)
Davis, William C.: Brother Against Brother (Richmond, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983)
Woods Jr., Thomas E.: The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2004)
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