The Nat Turner Rebellion was a slave insurrection
that occurred in Southampton
County Virginia in 1831. The insurrection
was started by Nat Turner,
a highly educated and religious man who had taught
himself to read and write. Turner was prone to
receiving “visions,” which he thought
were messages from God. His “visions” gradually
became more and more violent and led him to believe
that his purpose was to dispatch of the evils of
slavery and the White man. Other slaves referred
to him as “Prophet,” and he often gave
rousing sermons. On February 12, 1831, Turner witnessed
a solar eclipse. He interpreted the eclipse as
a sign from God that he should “take it on
and fight against the Serpent.” The “Serpent” represented
the White man and the practice of slavery. Turner
soon recruited other slaves and planned a massive
insurrection.
On August 21, the rebellion began. The marauders
traveled from plantation to plantation killing
as many white people as they could with knives,
axes, and hatchets. The bloody rebellion resulted
in the deaths of 57 white people, many of whom
were young children. The insurrection was quelled
by a large militia, reinforced by three companies
of militia. By the time the rebellion was finally
over, at least 100 Black people were killed, including
the rebels and many innocent Blacks who had nothing
to do with the rebellion. For weeks after the rebellion,
scores of Blacks were killed in Virginia and North
Carolina in retaliation. Nat
Turner himself eluded capture for
months and was finally found hiding in a
swamp on October 30, 1831. He was hanged
on November 11. The Nat Turner Rebellion
resulted in laws that restricted religious
assembly for slaves (without the presence
of a White minister) and for teaching slaves
to read or write.
