AT THE MOVIES
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
Nat Turner was bom into slavery on Oct. 2, 1800 in
Southampton County, Virginia. Deeply religious, Turner
learned to read and write at a young age and was frequent
ly seen immersed in reading the bible. On Aug. 21, 1831
Turner led a rebellion of slaves and free men that resulted
in the deaths of up to 65 white people.
Early in his adult life Turner's religious convictions
manifested themselves as visions, which he interpreted as
messages from God. As a child, his mother and grand
mother frequently told; him he was intended for some
great purpose.
Over the years, Turner worked for a number of differ
ent plantations including Samuel Turner's, his former
owners brother. Nat ran away from Samuel Turner's plan
tation in 1821 but returned after 30 days on the run. He
returned because he believed he received a sign from God
that told him to do so.
Turner's belief in signs and hearing divine voices led
to his affirmation of a vision he had in 1825 of a bloody
conflict between black and white spirits. He later con
fessed “the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the
Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke
he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it
on and fight against the Serpent.” Turner would soon
receive another message that told him when to fight.
A solar eclipse happened in February of 1831 which
Turner took as a signal that the time to rise up had come.
Turner started recruiting fellow slaves from his neighbor
hood and began the rebellion by killing the Travis family,
his current slave owners.
Turner then began to gather more followers by travel
ing from house to house freeing the slaves and killing the
white people they encountered. Reportedly the group
grew to be as large as 70 men. To avoid alarm initially the
men used knives, sharp objects and blunt instruments
instead of firearms.
The rebellion targeted all whites including the elderly,
women and children. The goal of the rebellion was to
reach the armory in nearby Jerusalem, Virginia and secure
more weapons. A few homes were spared during the
uprising as Turner said the poor whites inhabitants
thought no better of themselves than they did of Negros.
Turner thought a rebellion would open the eyes of whites • ■
to the reality of the inherent brutality in slave holding.
The rebellion was quickly suppressed within two days
as the whites organized a militia to quell the uprising.
Turner eluded capture and fled into the woods to hide.
While in hiding local whites took their revenge on local
blacks of Southampton County killing an estimated 100
to 200 blacks, many having nothing to do with the rebel
lion.
On October 30 farmer Benjamin Phipps found him.
Turner was tried for conspiring to rebel and making insur
rection on November 5 and subsequently was found
guilty and sentenced to death. 30 slaves and one free
black were convicted of insurrection and related crimes
and 18 were hanged along with Turner.
African Americans have generally regarded Turner as
a hero of resistance, who made slave-owners pay for the
hardships they had caused so many Africans and African
Americans. Even in modem day times Turner is still
regarded as a hero amongst many African-Americans.