Nat Turner: Slave, Preacher, Leader of a Rebellion

Following up on the last post, “Ernest Hemingway: Write One True Sentence” today’s LinkedIn newsletter features Nat Turner.

Deeply committed to his Christian faith, Nat Turner believed that he received messages from God through visions and signs in nature and led one of the bloodiest rebellions in American history. The rebellion, which took place on August 21, 1831 is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War.

"A hanging, especially the hanging of a slave was a popular public spectacle in pre-Civil War Virginia, almost as exciting as a horse race. Fried chicken and biscuits were unpacked."

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1619 represented a landmark in the long history of slavery in European colonies, and the beginning stages of what would become the institution of slavery in America. Slavery increased throughout the American colonies and by the 1770s, about 700,000 slaves lived in the United States. By 1830, there were almost 13 million people living in the United States and more than 2 million were slaves. At the time, slavery was illegal in most Northern states while some allowed slavery as late as 1828.

Nat Turner was born about 1800. His mother, Nancy Turner, was brought over from Africa a few years before his birth. Not much is known about his father, he ran away and never returned before Nat Turner was 10 years old.

Nat Turner learned to read, he taught himself to play with clay, paper, gunpowder, and metals.

His home in Southampton County, Virginia, was about 60% African American and 40% white. Slave owners would give their slaves Christian or European names so that they'd forget about their lives in Africa. It was common for slave to take their owner's last name.

Field slaves usually worked at least six days a week from before sunrise to after sunset. Young slaves were put to work doing light chores or helping older slaves watch younger children. By 9 years old, many worked in the fields, took care of animals, repaired farm buildings, or harvested crops.

When slaves ran away, their owners sometimes placed ads in the local newspaper for their return. They also placed ads to buy or sell slaves.

The law looked at slaves as property rather than people. Everything they owned, including their lives, belonged to the owner. Many slaves tried to run away to the north where they could be free. They were sometimes called "maroons," which comes from the Spanish word "cimarron," which means "free person.” ?Slave hunters recaptured many who tried, beating, and sometimes killing them.

In 1810, Benjamin Turner died. His son, Samuel, became Nat's owner. Twelve years later in 1822, Samuel Turner died, and the property was divided and sold to a family headed by Joseph Travis who purchased Nat. By this time, he'd married a woman named Cherry. A nearby farmer would purchase Cherry and their children.

It’s unknown how much Nat Turner was influenced by earlier slave revolts in the U.S.(1739 Stono Revolt in South Carolina, Gabriel Prosser in Virginia, Denmark Vesey), and Toussaint L'Ouverture's fight against French slave owners in Saint Domingue, present day Haiti.

Nat Turner believed he received messages from God through visions and signs in nature. He and dozens of slaves planned to reach the county seat of Jerusalem, Virginia. Two told their owners about the planned revolt.

He decided that he had to use violence to free slaves. They planned the revolt for July 4, 1831, fifty-five years after the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.

When the day arrived, Turner canceled the revolt. On August 21, he and six followers met and outlined their plan. The revolt killed 55 white people, it’s said that about half were children.

After Nat Turner's revolt, Virginia passed laws that made it illegal for slaves to read or write. Over the next two days, the slave owners chased and caught many of Nat's group. More than 3,000 white men from Virginia and nearby states killed about 200 slaves during the coming weeks.

Nat Turner eluded capture for nearly six weeks. A reward notice described him as:

5 feet 6 or 8 inches high, weighs between 150 and 160 pounds, rather "bright" complexion, but not a mulatto, broad shoulders, larger flat nose, large eyes, broad flat feet, rather knockneed, walks brisk and active, hair on the top of the head very thin, no beard, except on the upper lip and the top of the chin, a scar on one of his temples, also one on the back of his neck, a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, near the wrist, produced by a blow.

He was arrested and jailed in Jerusalem, Virginia. On November 5, Nat Turner was tried in the Southampton County Court and the jury sentenced him to execution by hanging on November 11, 1831. Frederick Douglass was 13-years old.

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About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.