Faith+T.

Nat Turner was very religious black slave born on October 2, 1800 in Virginia. He was born into a slave of the family of Samuel Turner. His strong knowledge base made him someone blacks looked towards.

In his twenties, Nat Turner had some “visions” and signs that most likely caused him to set up his rebellion. In 1821, he decided to run away from his duty, but had a vision from God to come back, which he ended up doing. The next year, his master died and he was sold to Thomas Moore. In 1928, Turner had a vision that said that he should fight “the Serpent” and “slay [his] enemies with their own weapons.”

When 1830 rolled around, Turner had moved to the home of Joseph Travis, who was the new husband of the now widowed Mrs. Moore. He was officially owned by Putnam Moore. However, Travis was a kind master.

On February 1831, there was an eclipse, which Turner saw as a sign to rebel. He, along with a few of his most trusted friends, decided to attack on July 4th of that year, but Turner fell ill and they had to postpone the attack. A few months later, on August 13th, an atmospheric disturbance caused the sun to appear blue-green. A week later, they made a plan and proceeded to kill the entire Travis family while they were asleep. A full force of 40 men on horseback went door to door, killing whites on sight. By the next day, a white militia was at Jerusalem to stop the rebels, who were heading there. The militia managed to scatter the rebels and capture a several. Of the ones who got away, Turner included, they continued to try and kill whites. In total, 55 whites were killed by the rebellion.

Turner continued to hide, but was soon found out and imprisoned. He was tried and sentenced to death by hanging and then being skinned. Turner’s rebellion initiated a white mob that killed some 200 blacks that had nothing to do with it, and many blacks were tried and executed under suspicion of being connected with the rebellion.

Virginia, along with the other slave states, was scared of slaves and it considered abolishing slavery, however slavery remained, though the vote was close. In fact, slave restrictions were increased. The rebellion showed the North how badly the slaves wanted freedom, which sped the process that plunged the United States into the Civil War.

References: Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass and Nat Turner are not directly related, however they have very similar goals. Both were black (Douglass was half and half) men trying to obtain freedom of slaves. However, Douglass gave speeches in the North about his life as a slave to get followers. Turner merely revolted.

Sojourner Truth - An abolitionist and someone who fought for woman suffrage. She worked with Frederick Douglass in the North. She was also a deeply religious woman.

"Frederick Douglass." PBS. PBS. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .

Larsen, Jennifer L. "A Rebellion to Remember: The Legacy of Nat Turner." Documenting the American South. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .

"Nat Turner's Rebellion." PBS. PBS. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .

"Sojourner Truth Biography." Women in History. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. <http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm>.