Celebrating the Legacy: 9 Amazing Facts About Nat Turner’s Rebellion

Nat Turner's Rebellion Background In the 19th century, Southern slave owners developed the “peculiar institution” of slavery as a benevolent system. They believed that the system was well-intentioned in teaching enslaved men and women how to be civilized. The idea of rebellion was farfetched because the slave owners believed that their enslaved Black men and women were happy. Nat Turner’s rebellion was a wakeup call. The Number of Slaves You Owned Equaled Your Status The planter class was made up of plantation owners and farmers who enslaved Black men and women. Slavery served as a means of “racial control.” It was believed that Blacks could not revolt because they were too busy serving their masters. The state of Virginia allowed schools and churches for enslaved men and women, but at the same time enforced the status quo with the military guard. Influences for the Rebellion In the 1790s, enslaved Africans rebelled in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, killing 60,000 people. In the U.S., Southerners began to realize that their own enslaved Black men and women might rise against them. Revolts in Latin America caused worries. The 1816 Barbados rebellion destroyed a fourth of the sugar cane crop there. The 1823 revolt in Demerara, Guyana, involved about 10,000 Black men and women. The large number of enslaved Africans involved in these revolts caused Southerners in the United States to be alarmed, even though many of these uprisings failed. Who Was Nat Turner? Nat Turner was born into slavery on Oct. 2, 1800, on a Southampton County, Virginia, plantation. He became a preacher who claimed he had been chosen by God to lead enslaved people out of slavery. Turner, 30, took a solar eclipse that occurred in February of 1831 as a sign to rise up. On Aug. 21, 1831, he led a rebellion that lasted two days, concluding on Aug. 22. At 2 a.m. Aug. 21, Turner and his men killed the family of Joseph Travis. Turner had been enslaved by that family for over a year. Over the course of two days, Turner’s rebels took money, supplies and firearms as they traveled. Turner and his men numbered an estimated 50 or 60 strong and included five free black men. Within two days, the rebellion was over. In total, the state of Virginia executed 55 rebels and reimbursed the slaveholders for their enslaved Black men and women. The group had killed 55 white Southerners. Aftermath of the Rebellion Turner was captured on Oct. 30, 1831, and hanged on Nov. 11, 1831. In October 1831, Virginia Gov. John Floyd and the Virginia General Assembly passed new legislation making it illegal to teach enslaved people, free blacks or those of mixed race to read or write. Also, whites had to be present at Black congregations' religious services. Turner's rebellion pointed out that slavery was not the benevolent institution that whites believed it was. It also showed how white Southerners' Christian beliefs actually supported Turner’s bid for freedom. After the rebellion, close to 200 Black people were murdered by white mobs. Many of those killed weren't involved in the rebellion.

Who Was Nat Turner?

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