Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a
slave rebellion
A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...
that took place in
Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Led by
Nat Turner, the rebels, made up of enslaved
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
, killed between 55 and 65
White people
White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...
, making it the deadliest slave revolt for the latter racial group in U.S. history. The rebellion was effectively suppressed within a few days, at
Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23, but Turner survived in hiding for more than 30 days afterward.
There was widespread fear among the White population in the rebellion's aftermath. Militias and mobs killed as many as 120 enslaved people and free African Americans in retaliation. After trials, the Commonwealth of Virginia
executed 56 enslaved people accused of participating in the rebellion, including Turner himself; many Black people who had not participated were also persecuted in the frenzy. Because Turner was educated and a preacher, Southern state legislatures passed new laws prohibiting the education of enslaved people and free Blacks, restricting rights of assembly and other civil liberties for free Blacks, and requiring White ministers to be present at all worship services.
National Museum of African American History and Culture director
Lonnie Bunch said, "The Nat Turner rebellion is probably the most significant uprising in American history."
[
]
Preparations
Nat Turner was enslaved in
Southampton County, Virginia in the early 19th century.
[Schwarz, Frederic D.]
1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion
" ''American Heritage'', August/September 2006. " He thought that revolutionary violence would force Whites to acknowledge the brutality of slavery. Turner said he wanted to spread "terror and alarm" among Whites.
Turner began communicating his plans to a small circle of trusted fellow slaves. "All his initial recruits were other slaves from his neighborhood". These scattered men had to find ways to communicate their intentions without revealing the plot. Songs may have tipped the neighborhood members to movements: "It is believed that one of the ways Turner summoned fellow conspirators to the woods was through the use of particular songs." According to author Terry Bisson, Turner entrusted his wife, Cherry, with "his most secret plans and papers".
According to a report by
James Trezvant immediately following the uprising, Cherry said that Nat had been "digesting" a plan for the revolt "for years".
[Allmendinger, David (2014). ''Nat Turner and the Rising in Southampton County''. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 64. ]
Turner eagerly anticipated God's signal to "slay my enemies with their own weapons".
[Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831)]
''The'' Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va
Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 11. via Documenting the American South He began preparations for an uprising against the slaveholders in Southampton County. Turner said, "I communicated the great work laid out to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence": fellow slaves Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam.
Rebellion
Beginning in February 1831, Turner interpreted atmospheric conditions as signs to prepare for the revolt. An
annular solar eclipse on February 12, 1831, was visible in Virginia and much of the southeastern United States; Turner envisioned this as a Black man's hand reaching over the sun. Illness prevented Turner from starting the rebellion as planned on
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
, July 4, 1831. The conspirators used the delay to extend planning.
On August 13, an atmospheric disturbance made the Virginia sun appear bluish-green, possibly the result of a volcanic plume produced by the eruption of
Ferdinandea Island off the coast of
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
.
Turner took this as a divine signal and started the rebellion a week later, on August 21.
The rebellion expanded from several trusted slaves to over 70 enslaved and free Blacks, some of whom were on horseback. They were armed with knives, hatchets, and blunt instruments; firearms were too difficult to collect and would have drawn unwanted attention.
The rebels killed White people without discriminating by age or sex. Turner's slaveowner and his family were the first to be killed. The rebels then traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and killing Whites.
Historian
Stephen B. Oates writes that Turner called on his group to "kill all the white people".
According to the ''
Richmond Enquirer'', "Turner declared that 'indiscriminate slaughter was not their intention after they attained a foothold, and was resorted to in the first instance to strike terror and alarm. A few homes were spared "because Turner believed the poor White inhabitants 'thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes.
The rebels also avoided the Giles Reese plantation, even though it was en route, likely because Turner wanted to keep his wife and children safe. Turner confessed to killing only one person, Margaret Whitehead, whom he killed with a blow from a fence post.
The last house to be attacked was the
Rebecca Vaughan House.

The state militia suppressed the rebellion at
Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23.
The rebels killed between 55 and 65 White people before being defeated by the militia, making it the deadliest slave revolt in U.S. history.
The militia had twice the manpower of the rebels and three companies of artillery.
Turner was not immediately captured--he survived in hiding for more than 30 days afterward.
Retaliation
Within a day of suppressing the rebellion, the local militia was joined by detachments from the and in
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
and militias from neighboring counties in Virginia and
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
[ Aptheker, Herbert. ''American Negro Slave Revolts''. 5th ed. New York: International Publishers, 1983, p. 300. ] Brigadier General
William Henry Brodnax commanded the Virginia militia.
In Southampton County, Blacks suspected of participating in the rebellion were beheaded by the militia, and "their severed heads were mounted on poles at crossroads as a grisly form of intimidation".
A local road (now
Virginia State Route 658) was called "Blackhead Signpost Road" after it became the site of one such display.
Rumors quickly spread that the slave revolt had spread as far south as
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
. Fears led to reports in North Carolina of slave "armies" on highways, burning and massacring the White inhabitants of
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...
, and marching on the state capital.
The fear and alarm resulted in White violence against Blacks on flimsy pretenses. The editor of the ''
Richmond Whig'' described the scene as "the slaughter of many blacks without trial and under circumstances of great barbarity". The violence continued for two weeks after the rebellion. General Eppes ordered a halt to the killing:
He will not specify all the instances that he is bound to believe have occurred but pass in silence what has happened, with the expression of his deepest sorrow, that any necessity should be supposed to have existed, to justify a single act of atrocity. But he feels himself bound to declare, and hereby announces to the troops and citizens, that no excuse will be allowed for any similar acts of violence, after the promulgation of this order.
In a letter to the ''
New York Evening Post'', Reverend G. W. Powell wrote that "many negroes are killed every day. The exact number will never be known." A company of militia from
Hertford County, North Carolina, reportedly killed forty Blacks in one day and took $23 and a gold watch from the dead.
Captain
Solon Borland, leading a contingent from
Murfreesboro, North Carolina, condemned the acts "because it was tantamount to theft from the White owners of the slaves".
[
Modern historians concur that the militias and mobs killed as many as 120 Blacks, most of whom were not involved with the rebellion.]
Capture
Turner eluded capture for six weeks but remained in Southampton County. According to Terry Bisson, Turner's wife Cherry was "beaten and tortured in an attempt to get her to reveal his plans and whereabouts." After a raid on the Reese plantation, the ''Richmond Constitutional Whig'' reported on September 26 that "some papers eregiven up by his wife, under the lash."[Kossuth, Lajos (1852). ]
Letter to Louis Kossuth: Concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States
'. R.F. Walcutt. p. 76. via Hathi Trust. According to ''The Authentic and Impartial Narrative'', also published in 1831, journal entries by Turner were "in her possession after Nat's escape."
On October 30, Benjamin Phipps, a farmer, discovered Turner hiding in Southampton County in a depression in the earth created by a large, fallen tree covered with fence rails.[Drewry, William Sydney (1900). ]
The Southampton Insurrection
'. Washington, D.C.: The Neale Company. pp. 13, 151–53. via Internet Archive Around 1 p.m. on October 31, Turner arrived at the prison in Jerusalem. While awaiting trial, he confessed knowledge of the rebellion to attorney and slavery apologist Thomas R. Gray.
Trials and executions
Dozens of suspected rebels were tried by courts specially convened for the rebellion. Turner was tried on November 5, 1831, for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection", and was convicted and sentenced to death. His attorney was James Strange French. James Trezvant served on the jury. Turner was hanged on November 11, 1831, in the county seat of Jerusalem, Virginia (now Courtland). According to some sources, he was beheaded to deter further rebellion. The body was dissected and flayed, and the skin used to make souvenir purses. In October 1897, Virginia newspapers reported that Dr. H. U. Stephenson of Toano, Virginia, was using the skeleton as a medical specimen.
Most of Turner's alleged conspirators were tried in Southampton County, with some trials in neighboring Sussex County or other nearby counties. French represented many of the defendants, along with William Henry Brodnax and Meriwether Brodnax.[Alfred L. Brophy,]
The Nat Turner Trials
, '' North Carolina Law Review'' (June 2013), volume 91: 1817–80. 30 slaves were convicted, of whom 18 were hanged and 12 were sold out of state; 15 were acquitted. Four of the five free Blacks tried were acquitted; one was hanged.
Legislative response
During the rebellion, the Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...
targeted free Blacks with an African relocation bill, and a police bill denying them trials by jury and criminal punishment by slavery and relocation. The General Assembly received petitions from at least seven slave owners asking to be compensated for slaves lost without trial because of the insurrection; they were all rejected.
The General Assembly debated the future of slavery the following spring. Some urged gradual emancipation, but the pro-slavery side prevailed after Virginia's leading intellectual, Thomas Roderick Dew, president of the College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...
, published "a pamphlet defending the wisdom and benevolence of slavery, and the folly of its abolition". Laws were passed in all slave states except Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
criminalizing teaching Blacks to read and write, and restricting Blacks from holding religious meetings without a licensed White minister.
Other Southern slave-holding states also enacted legal restrictions on Black activities. Possession of abolitionist publications was criminalized in Virginia and other Southern states.
Aftermath
On September 3, 1831, William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...
published an article, "The Insurrection", in the abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
newspaper '' The Liberator.'' On September 10, 1831, ''The Liberator'' published excerpts from a letter to the editor saying that many people in the South believed the newspaper had a link to the revolt and that if Garrison were to go to the South, he "would not be permitted to live long... he would be taken away, and no one is the wiser for it... if Mr. Garrison were to go to the South, he would be dispatched immediately... nopinion expressed by persons at the South, repeatedly."
In November 1831, Thomas R. Gray published ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'', based on research he conducted while Turner was in hiding and from conversations with Turner before the trial. The pamphlet sold 40,000 to 50,000 copies, making it a noted source about the rebellion at the time. But a November 25, 1831, review of the publication by ''The Richmond Enquirer'' said:
The pamphlet has one defect—we mean its style. The confession of the culprit is given, as it were, from his lips—(and when read to him, he admitted its statements to be correct)—but the language is far superior to what Nat Turner could have employed—Portions of it are even eloquently and classically expressed.—This is calculated to cast some shade of doubt over the authenticity of the narrative, and to give the Bandit a character for intelligence which he does not deserve, and ought not to have received.—In all other respects, the confession appears to be faithful and true.
Gray's work is the primary historical document about Turner but some modern historians, specifically David F. Allmendinger Jr., have also questioned the validity of his portrayal of Turner.
In the aftermath of the revolt, Whites did not try to interpret Turner's motives and ideas. Antebellum enslavers were shocked by the rebellion and feared further slave violence; to them, Turner became "a symbol of terrorism and violent retribution." Images were published depicting armed Black men attacking White men, women, and children; these " haunted White southerners and showed slave owners how vulnerable they were." Northern and Southern states shared many of the same fears; a proposal to create a college for African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
was overwhelmingly rejected in the New Haven Excitement Simeon Jocelyn (1799 – 1879) was an American minister, abolitionist, and activist known for promoting educational opportunities and civil and political rights for African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut, during the 19th century. He is also kno ...
.
The fear Turner's rebellion caused and the concerns raised in the emancipation debates that followed resulted in politicians and writers defining " slavery as a positive good"; Thomas Dew was among those writers. Other Southern writers began to promote a paternalistic ideal of improved Christian treatment of slaves, in part to avoid such rebellions. Dew and others believed they were civilizing Blacks, who were then still mostly American-born through slavery. The writings were collected in ''The Pro-Slavery Argument, As Maintained by the Most Distinguished Writers of the Southern States'' (1853).
Some Virginians wanted to remove all Blacks from the state Tidewater and Piedmont regions or deport all from the state. In 1852, the Virginia branch of the American Colonization Society sent 243 Black Virginians to Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
.
Other perspectives
African Americans have generally regarded Turner as a resistance hero for avenging the suffering of Africans and African Americans. James H. Harris, who has written extensively about the history of the Black church, says that the revolt "marked the turning point in the black struggle for liberation." According to Harris, Turner believed that "only a cataclysmic act could convince the architects of a violent social order that violence begets violence."
In an 1843 speech at the National Negro Convention, Henry Highland Garnet, a former slave and active abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
, described Nat Turner as "patriotic", saying that "future generations will remember him among the noble and brave." In 1861, Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Thomas Wentworth Higginson (December 22, 1823May 9, 1911), who went by the name Wentworth, was an American Unitarianism, Unitarian minister, author, Abolitionism, abolitionist, politician, and soldier. He was active in abolitionism in the United ...
, a White Northern writer, praised Turner in a seminal article published in the '' Atlantic Monthly''. He described Turner as a man "who knew no book but the Bible, and that by heart who devoted himself soul and body to the cause of his race."
In 1988, Turner was included in the Black Americans of Achievement biography series for children, with the book ''Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader'' by Terry Bisson. The book's introduction was written by Coretta Scott King.
In 2012, Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, said, "The Nat Turner rebellion is probably the most significant uprising in American history."
Legacy
The sword Turner is believed to have used in the rebellion is displayed at the Southampton County Courthouse. In 1991, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
dedicated the "Nat Turner Insurrection" historic marker on Virginia State Route 30, near Courtland, Virginia. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Cultural Resources dedicated the "Blackhead Signpost Road" historic marker at the intersection of Virginia State Route 35 and Meherrin Road. Nat Turner's Rebellion is celebrated as part of Black August.
In popular culture
Film
* ''The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...
,'' the 2016 film starring, produced, and directed by Nate Parker
Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', ''The Secret Life of Bees (film), The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', Arbitrage (film), ''Arbitrage ...
is about Turner's 1831 rebellion.
Literature
* '' The Confessions of Nat Turner'' (1967), a novel by William Styron, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
in 1968. It prompted much controversy, with some criticizing a White author writing about such an important Black figure and calling him racist for portraying Turner as lusting for a White woman.
* In response to Styron's novel, ten African-American writers published a collection of essays, ''William Styron's ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'': Ten Black Writers Respond'' (1968).
Music
* The 1960s funk-soul band Nat Turner Rebellion was named after the slave revolt.
* Chance The Rapper's song "How Great" refers to Turner's rebellion, along with the 1805 slave revolt at Chatham Manor, in the line, "Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up enslaved people from Southampton to Chatham Manor."
* In the early 1990s, hip hop artist Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
spoke in interviews about Nat Turner and his admiration for his spirit against oppression. Shakur also honored Turner with a cross tattoo on his back "EXODUS 1831", referring to the year Turner led the rebellion.
See also
* African-American history
African-American history started with the forced transportation of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. The European colonization of the Americas, and the resulting Atlantic slave trade, ...
* Back-to-Africa movement
* History of slavery in the United States
* List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
Listed are major episodes of civil unrest in the United States. This list does not include the numerous incidents of destruction and violence associated with various sporting events.
18th century
*1783 – Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, June ...
* Slave rebellion and resistance in the United States
* Slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...
* 1831 in the United States
Further reading
* Aptheker, Herbert. ''Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion''. New York: Humanities Press, 1966.
* Brodhead, Richard H. "Millennium, Prophecy and the Energies of Social Transformation: The Case of Nat Turner." in ''Imagining the End: Visions of Apocalypse from the Ancient Middle East to Modern America.'' A. Amanat and M. Bernhardsson, editors. London: I. B. Tauris, 2002. pp. 212–33.
* Nishikawa, Kinohi. "The Confessions of Nat Turner." ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature, 5 volumes.'' Emmanuel S. Nelson, ed. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. pp. 497–98.
* Oates, Stephen B. ''The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion''. New York: HarperPerennial, 1975. .
References
External links
Nat Turner's Slave Revolt: Map of Turner's Path
* Breen, Patrick H.
Nat Turner's Revolt: Rebellion and Response in Southampton County, Virginia
Ph.D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 2005.
* '' The Confessions of Nat Turner and Related Documents''. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed. Bedford Books, 1996
* Harraway, Josh
''Nat Turner Podcas''t
March 1, 2018. (audio drama)
The Nat Turner Project.
*
''Africans in America'', PBS.org
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nat Turner's slave rebellion
1831 in Virginia
19th-century rebellions
African-American history of Virginia
August 1831
Conflicts in 1831
History of slavery in Virginia
Rebellion
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
Riots and civil disorder in Virginia
Slave rebellions in the United States
Andrew Jackson administration controversies
Massacres of African Americans
Mass murder in Virginia