Fast Facts:
- Born: October 2, 1800
- Died: November 11, 1831
- Learned to read and write at an early age
- Preached from The Bible to other slaves
- Visions convinced him he was destined to "slay [his] enemies with their own weapons"
- Started the rebellion on August 21, 1831
- Once the rebellion started, Turner went from house to house, killing the owners and freeing their slaves
- 57 men, women, and children killed
- All victims killed with knives, so revolt could occur silently
- Within two days the rebellion was suppressed
- Turner initially escaped but was captured on October 30
Consequences of Revolt
Nat Turner's uprising was the bloodiest and most dramatic slave revolt in the history of the United States. Motivated by religious visions and solar eclipses to round up fellow slaves and kill every white person they could find, Turner sought to initiate a regional uprising which would put an end to slavery. News of the revolt created a pervasive climate of fear among southern slaveholders, who increasingly supported repressive laws towards their slaves and effectively ending talk of abolition in the South. In the north, many abolitionists saw Nat Turner as a hero whose bloody acts were merely retribution for decades and centuries of torture and subjugation. John Brown the famed abolitionist who conducted the daring raid on Harper's Ferry Armory in 1858 was inspired by Turner's revolt. Many historians see Turner's actions and the response to them as opening a widening gulf between north and south over the issue of slavery and leading to the inability to compromise which led to the Civil War.
Nat Turner Blogs and Commentaries
The Companion Blog: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron (October 29, 2006)
New York Times: "Nat Turner's Rebellion" (February 14, 2004)
New York Times: "Nat Turner in History's Multiple Mirrors" (February 7, 2004)
The Virginia-Pilot: "Nat Turner Day Long Overdue" (September 29, 1994)
TIME: "Will the Real Nat Turner Please Stand Up?" (July 12, 1968)
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