Nat Turner’s Southampton Slave Revolt Essay

Frederick Douglass the most successful abolitionist who changed America’s views of slavery through his writings and actions. Frederick Douglass had many achievements throughout his life. His Life as a slave had a great impact on his writings. His great oratory skills left the largest impact on Civil War time period literature. All in all he was the best black speaker and writer ever.

In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.

First of all, both Frederick Douglass and Nat Turner has a lot of similarities. Both were well-educated slaves, and education helped them to be different from other slaves. In fact, while learning to read and write, Douglass understood his real life of being a slave because he could develop his imagination and interpret what was happening around him. For example, at the end of the chapter two of his book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself”, Douglass mentioned the slave song that he sang with other slaves when they were going to the Great House Farm which is the Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. When Douglass was a slave, he could not understand the real meaning of the song; however, when he grew up

     Nat became very distant form the other slaves; it was like he was in another world. He fasted religiously and became well aquatinted with the spirits, and also claimed that they showed him visions in the sky. Nat began to read the Bible in depth and discovered the mockery that the whites made of it, while in reality the Bible was against human bondage. Nat had more visions as time went by such as the drops of blood on the corn. He finally got his vision after his sign from the eclipse. Eager and ready, Nat gathered a group of trusted fellow slaves and began to plot his insurrection.

With this vision Nat Turner was sure that he had received a message from God telling him to kill his enemy that lay near. He was certain that God wanted him to take their weapons and do the deed of taking care of the evils that have been placed upon the earth. Turner was quoted saying “I communicated the great work laid out for me to do, to for in whom I had the greatest confidence (Nat turner, The Confessions of Nat Turner)”. God told Turner to wait for his signal to begin, so for days at a time Nat Turner gathered his trusted friends and slave family into the woods and explained his visions to them and the plan of the rebellion that would happen when he gets his third vision from God.

In chapter two, Masur talks about the importance of Nat Turner and his Rebellion to end slavery. Turner, an African American slave was convinced throughout his life that god had put him on this earth for a certain reason. Throughout Turners life and search for why god had put him here, he started to get visions from god as he got older. These visions made Turner believe that he had to end slavery by attacking it. Turner went out killing whites the night of the eclipse and would gain more followers as he went on. The rebellion didn’t last long and it wasn't pretty either. Turner and his followers were executed and other slaves were killed because of it. Turners rebellion simply points out the lie that slavery is a benevolent institution. Another important event in chapter two is the development of abolitionism. William Lloyd Garrison was a journalist who wanted immediate emancipation of every slave and started a newspaper called the Liberator. The Liberator is what helped Garrison get his reputation of being an American abolitionist nation wide. At the time, the Liberator was a popular paper and would turn out to become very

Oates, Stephen B. The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Print.

Nat thought that he should use his intelligence and the respect he was given when he was a kid to start a rebellion against slavery. He said the God had shown him visions and he was the chosen one to stop slavery (Oates, 2009).

Nat Turner was an African American slave who was born in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800. He started working on southern plantations 1831. When he was younger, everyone thought of him as being very smart. They saw that he was smart when he was about 3 or 4 years old. While young Nat Turner was playing with some of his friends, his mother heard him tell the children about something that had happened to him when he was born. She later had asked him about what he told the children. She asked him details about the incident, and it confirmed that he knew about this past event. From that time on, other slaves believed that in addition to his unique view, his physical markings were a sign that he would be a prophet.

Nat Turner, a person born to slavery with a promising future. With his mark he will become

He was a quick learner and spent most of his time praying and doing experiments when he was not serving his master. He would accompany the older men in his neighborhood when they were planning a rogue mission. The older men encouraged him to attend because they knew he was very intelligent for his age. Turner was very observant to everything that was around him, he was a great asset to them. During prayer he heard a spirit say to him “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you.” This lead Nat Turner to believe he had a great purpose in helping others. Turner was a great influence to the slaves, they felt his wisdom came from God. This helped them be at ease and they knew they could always believe and trust

Nat Turner was an African American slave who led the only effective, sustained slave rebellion in United States history. On the night of August 21, 1831, Turner and seven other slaves attacked the local white population, in which he killed his master, master’s wife, and child. As in Turner confession he vividly and precisely retells the night of the revolt,

Nat Turner in Birth of a Nation was born into slavery in the 1800s, in Southhampton County, Virginia. He was raised on a Virginia plantation of a slave owner, Benjamin Turner, who uncommonly allowed Nat to read and write. Turner was a slave to the sheriff, Benjamin Turner. He spent most of his time picking cotton in the field, serving, or reading in the bible. His grandmother would tell Nat he “ was intended for great purposes .” Compared to the other plantations in Virginia, Nat Turner was treated a bit more exceptionally and not aware of the other plantation’s conditions until he was used as a preacher and was in for a rude awakening. The Brave unpopular Nat Turner lead one of the most heroic, yet violent slave rebellions in history. The purpose of this essay is to defend Nat Turner on his actions in The Birth of a Nation , due to his tragic experiences in the 1800s as part of his family, church, and community.

This essay that I am writing right now is going to be over the Nat Turner Rebellion. The need for slaves was growing, therefore the slave work was becoming more often, and more harsh. Despite the overwhelming African American to white ratio, it was very uncommon for slaves to revolt. Due to this, no one expected the rebellion. In Southampton County, on August 21, 1831, a slave named Nat Turner led a rebellion against his owner’s family and the people that live around them. This caused people to be very angry at all African Americans. This rebellion was very significant to American History.

“A prophet.” “Deeply religious.” “Able to describe things before they happened.” These are all ways in which Nathaniel Turner was described when he was a child. He was looked at as some sort of divine human, but later in his life he would be known for leading one of the biggest and bloodiest slave rebellions in American history. Nathan Turner was one of the most influential African Americans in the history of the United States, and today we’ll look at his early life, how the rebellion took place, and the consequences of his rebellion on the United States of America.