Turner's Argumentative Analysis

Nat Turner rebellion took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. Turner’s intention was to move through the countryside, household to household, killing as many whites as possible. He did not care whether they were a man or women, child or adult. Turner was quoted as saying that “indiscriminate slaughter was not their intention after they obtained a foothold, and was resorted to in the first instance to strike terror and alarm. Women and children would afterwards have been spared, and men too who ceased to resist.”

Gray’s “The Confessions of Nat Turner” opened with an overview of Turner’s early life. He included a passage in which Turner said that an odd moment in his life, when he recalled events that happened before his birth, “laid the ground work of that enthusiasm, which has terminated so fatally to many” (44). By declaring his revolt as an enthusiasm, which means that it was a divinely inspired pursuit, he already ingrained the prejudice of the confessions being the one of an overly religious man. The confessions persisted with the idea of Turner being an irrational self-proclaimed prophet. He was said to have many revelations in his life which convinced him that he was “ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty” (46). The purpose, as he saw it, was to lead his people to freedom.

During their 'March of Destruction,'; things began to get out of hand. Though he was willing to go to extreme measures to gain his freedom, the events that ended up taking place ended up becoming a massacre. Due to Nat's rebellion, 60 whites and 200 blacks died. Though Nat did in fact partake in the killings, the author makes it out to seem as if in the end, Nat did not really want this to become a bloodbath. Although he thought that it was getting out of hand, he stood idly by, watching the massacre take place. In the end, a total of 50 stood trial, and 21, including Nat Turner were hung for the rebellion.

Ever since the Constitutional Convention, the issue of slavery has been a “sleeping giant.” While it had always been a pressing issue, slavery was never fully addressed by the United States government and was essentially avoided to prevent controversy. Although this avoidance kept the country relatively safe from the issue for now, it only let the issue grow more controversial as time went by. After the introduction of cotton and the influx of slave labor, slavery became a dominating reality in the South, but so did abolitionism in the North. With both sides opposing each other, the country slowly began to divide and the “sleeping giant” slowly began to awake.

Nat Turner was the leader of a violent slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831. Nat Turner believed that he was the chosen one by God to lead slaves from bondage. As a young child he described things that happened before his time. Most of his time was spent praying and fasting and reading the Bible. He was believed to be a prophet. He then led a violent insurrection. Hiding out for six weeks and later caught to be hung and skinned. This movement ended the emancipation movement in that region and led to harsher laws against slaves.

He had began to see more signs and he had gotten more visions from God. He interpreted them as if he need to attack his enemies with their own weapons. He had a few close trusted friends that he shared his visions with. He shared the visions with them and only them. They would also help him in his revolt. Turner and his close trusted friend met daily to come up with plans for his secret revolt. They came up with a list of about twenty other blacks to help with the revolt. He told his master about his revolt once, and because he told him, he was beaten for it.

Nathanial Turner, better known as Nat Turner, is one of the most controversial figures in American history. Throughout the decades the public’s perspective on Turner’s actions has changed, and he has been the subject of debate. To some he is known as a man who led one of the most violent and bloody slave rebellions in Virginia. A man who along with his followers viciously murdered about 55 white men, women, and young children. To others, however, he is known as a hero. A hero who rose against the oppression of the white masters in search of freedom and sought vengeance for the injustices that so many slaves had to endure throughout the years. There is no doubt that Nat Turner had a lasting impact on both slaves and white settlers, his actions would both inspire and haunt many for years to come.

Nat Turner then realized he was now just another piece of property, another slave. That his intelligence and brilliance did not matter anymore to his masters or to any other non-relative person. This was a very traumatic stage for Nat Turner, that he felt betrayed by the white masters. But this was not the only time he felt betrayed not only did he felt betrayed by whites but also from his fellow black slaves. Turner later felt and grew resentment that he believed he was guided by god to create a massacre by killing all whites. As time passed Nat couldn’t believe the slaves would betray him by showing more loyalty to their masters who have brutally punished them and never admire the slaves hard work. The black slaves also turn down Nat Turner during and after the rebellion. The slaves ended turning Nat Turner secret place in after the massacre he had caused and once again he was

     Early in the morning of August 22,1831, a band of black slaves, led by a lay preacher named Nat Turner, entered the Travis house in Southampton County, Virginia and killed five members of the Travis family. This was the beginning of a slave uprising that was to become known as Nat Turner’s rebellion. Over a thirty-six hour period, this band of slaves grew sixty or seventy in number and slew fifty-eight white persons in and around Jerusalem, Virginia (seventy miles east of Richmond) before the local community could act to stop them. This rebellion raised southern fears of a general slave uprising and had a profound influence on the attitude of Southerners towards slavery.

In August 1831, Nate Turner, created fear into the hearts of white southern slaveholders. When Turner leads the first effective slave rebellion in the United States history. In Southampton County, Virginia, he grew a strong hatred for slavery from his African born mother. He believed he was lead by God to save his people from bondage. In 1831 there was a solar eclipse and Turner took that as a sign that revolution was near, on August 21 Turner and a small group of followers murdered their owners. After this, they traveled to Jerusalem to gather more rebellions. In the end, around 75, African Americans killed about 60 whites in two days. They were caught but Turner escaped but he was eventually captured and he was hanged. This rebulium sparked a wave of hope for slaves all across America.

Beautifully written! You stated, “Genovese justified the killing of the women and children,” I could never justify the killing of women and children, no matter the race, just as I could not justify the institution of slavery. Another great point you made is, “since Gray was the only one present during the confession, there is doubt as to whether Turner spoke those words”. There were no other witness to justify or discredit his claim, and all involved were executed, except for the few that managed to hide or escape from Nat Turner, and I don’t believe they would understand why he would do what he did, to the extent he did. The essay stated that Nat learn how to read and write however, he was a slave and the sophisticated language said

Nathaniel Turner, also known as Nat Turner, was an African American slave who organized and led a slave revolt in South Hampton, Virginia that led to the murders of 60 whites on August 21, 1831. The rebellion was stopped within two days, but Turner was not captured until October 30, after which he was tried, convicted and hanged. “His body was given over to the surgeons for dissection. He was skinned to supply such souvenirs as purses, his flesh made into grease, and his bones divided as trophies to be handed down as heirlooms.” (Cromwell 218) In the aftermath of Nat Turner’s rebellion over 200 African Americans, both slave and free, were murdered. This essay compares and contrast the Nat Turner presented by Thomas R. Gray in 1831 with the

Turner challenged the color line by saying that there is a stigma towards the negroes because they are oppressing and tortured. They are degraded and deprived of their rights and privileges to complete manhood in America because of their skin color. He knows a big part of this inequality is due to the whites keeping them from equality, but a part in this includes the colored because they only get what the whites give them and all the negroes and the oppressed do is wait for their decision instead of taking a part of that decision. Turner proposed that in order to get the respect and privileges they deserve, its necessary to build their own nation for themselves just as the whites did. The negroes had more than enough people to do

Roving bands of white militia butchered innocent slaves in retaliation for Nat Turner’s revolt. Similarly, Nathaniel Bacon’s men slaughtered peaceful Indians when they could not find violent Indians

Turner was very intelligent and quickly learned how to read and write at a very early age. Even his mother and father both praised him and showed other slaves how he had congenital bumps and scars on his head and chest which in African tradition meant he was “destined to be a leader” (12). He grew up very religious and was very often seen praying, fasting and or immersed in reading the stories from the chapters of the Bible (27). Turner was already in his twenties