Nat Turner (1800-1831)

Name

Nat Turner (1800-1831)

Date of Birth

October 2, 1800

Date of Death

November 11, 1831

State Assigned Gender

Male

Hometown or Region

Southampton County, Virginia

Freedom Status

Enslaved

Occupation

Religious Official

Biography

Nat Turner was born enslaved in Southampton County, Virginia, on October 2, 1800. From a young age, Turner was a very religious person and greatly influenced by his religious practices and beliefs. Turner was a preacher on his plantation, and his occupation allowed him to travel to various surrounding plantations. His mobility allowed him to be in contact with other enslaved men and women and create connections along the way. From the beginning of his life, Turner was seen as a prodigy, as he learned to read and write on his own, causing him and his family to believe that he was destined for greatness and more than what the enslaved life offered. Turner’s religious beliefs led him to believe that God had spoken to him, telling him to lead his 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia. Turner’s rebellion was a continuation of the values and successes of the Haitian Revolution.

Revolution Observed

Nat Turner’s 1831 Rebellion was a continuation of the values and successes of the Haitian Revolution. The news of the Haitian Revolution and its anti-slavery movement was able to be spread to America through African American sailors. The Haitian Revolution’s undeniable success also allowed for this news to be spread throughout many generations, as Turner lived many decades after this Revolution. Turner’s rebellion was built on the same moral and spiritual urgency for liberation that those in the Haitian Revolution acted on. Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion was not only influenced by the success and beliefs of the Haitian Revolution, but rather
was a continuation of these beliefs that African Americans could fight for their emancipation, thus placing him within the larger revolutionary chain, starting with the Haitian Revolution.

Student Researcher

Hannah Cleveland

Connected Historical Actor(s)

1. Thomas R. Gray is the Virginia Lawyer who interviewed Nat Turner while Turner was in jail. Gray is the recorder and editor of Turner’s Confessions, made while he was incarcerated.
2. Benjamin Turner is Nat Turner’s original enslaver. Turner was born into slavery on Benjamin Turner’s plantation.
3. Joseph Travis was Turner’s enslaver at the time of the rebellion. Travis and his family were the first killed in Turner’s rebellion.
4. John Floyd was the Governor of Virginia during Turner’s 1831 Rebellion. Floyd gave a proclamation to the people of Virginia for a reward for Turner’s capture.
5. William C Park was Turner’s lawyer and defendant when he went on trial for his rebellion.
6. Merewether Brodnax was the attorney for the Commonwealth, fighting for Turner to be found guilty.
7. Hark (no surname given) was an enslaved man who was one of Turner’s closest allies. He helped plan
and initiate the rebellion.
8. Will (no surname given) was also one of Turner’s followers. He was one of the most violent involved in the rebellion, as he actively participated in the killings during the rebellion.
9. Benjamin Phipps was the white man who captured Nat Turner after he had been hiding for two months.
10. Toussaint L’Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. Turner and L’Ouverture shared many of
the same qualities and beliefs. They were both religious men, led slave rebellions and overthrows, and they were both captured and detained for their revolts. Turner’s rebellion was greatly influenced by Toussaint L'Ouverture's actions and revolution.

Source(s)

Herbert Aptheker, Nat Turner’s slave rebellion : Together with the full text of the so-called ‘Confessions’ of Nat
Turner made in prison in 1831 ( New York: Published for A.I.M.S. by Humanities Press, 1966), 58-67.

Julius S. Scott, The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian
Revolution. Diss. Duke U, 1986. Print.,39, 79.

Makungu M. Akinyela, Battling the Serpent: Nat Turner, Africanized Christianity, and a Black Ethos (Journal
of Black Studies 2003), 277.
Michael A. Gomez, Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora (Cambridge University Press, 2005),
140.
Michael O. West and William G. Martin, "Haiti, I’m Sorry: The Haitian Revolution and the Forging of the
Black International," in From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), 72, 97.
Russel B Nye, FREEDOM ROAD: NAT TURNER (The Centennial Review of Arts & Science, 1957), 243.
William Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner (New York: Random House, 1967), 7, 8, 17.

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