Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion



"Nat Turner's Southampton Slave Revolt and How it Paved the Way for the Abolitionist and

Civil Rights Movement "

Nat Turner was a man with a vision that would change America forever. His vision may

have not sounded right to the average person but to Nat Turner, he was on Earth to realize his vision.

Nat Turner is the most famous and most controversial slave rebel in American history, and he

remains a storm center of dispute("Fires of Jubilee" author Stephen B. Oates).

Nat Turner's slave revolt may have not been the greatest way to solve the problem of slavery,

but it did open many people's eyes. Slavery was an accepted practice in society but it was not a

humane or kind thing. The cruel and unjust treatment by the slave masters in the 1800's led to Nat

Turner's slave revolt, which in turn led to the abolitionist movement.

Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 in the small town of Jerusalem in Southampton,

Virginia. Nat's mother Nancy was one of 400,000 native Africans brought to North America before

1808. While most of the Africans had come from West Africa, Nancy's was supposedly from in the

North's Nile River country("Fires of Jubilee"). Folk chroniclers say that slave traders or warlike

natives abducted Nancy when she was a teenager. She was thrust over to European slave traders

and crammed on a disease infested slave boat headed to the New World("Fires of Jubilee"). Nancy's

ship landed at Norfolk, Virginia around 1795. She then was herded more inland where slave traders

exhibited her at several slave auctions. Around 1799 Nancy was brought by Benjamin Turner and

her life on a plantation began. Not long after Nancy had arrived at the plantation, she married

another slave whose name is unknown("Fires of Jubilee"). Their union produced Nathaniel "Nat"

Turner. In Hebrew this name meant "the gift of God." Nancy did not want to bring her young son

up as a slave so she tried to kill

Bibliography: 1. Aptheker, Herbert; Nat Turner 's Slave Rebellion, Johnson and Williams Inc., New York, New York, Copyright 1921 2. Farina, Reggie; Nat Turner 's Rebellion, Snyder Publications, Chicago Publishing House, Chicago, Illinois, Copyright 1963 3. Friedman, Jesse; Nat Turner: Prophet, Visionary, Slave Revolt leader, Adu publishing inc., New York, New York, Copyright 1892 4. Gray, Thomas R.; The Confessions of Nat Turner, Thomas R. Gray publishing, Lucas and Denver printing, Copyright 1831 5. Oates, Stephen B.; Fires of Jubilee; Nobles, Turner and Smith, Los Angeles, California Copyright 1899