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{{short description|American slave rebellion leader}}
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{{Infobox person
{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Nat Turner|timestamp=20240219214717|year=2024|month=February|day=19|substed=yes}}
| name = Nat Turner
<!-- Once discussion is closed, please place on talk page: {{Old AfD multi|page=Nat Turner|date=19 February 2024|result='''keep'''}} -->
| image = [[File:Nat Turner captured.jpg|200px]]
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| landscape = yes
| caption = ''Discovery of Nat Turner'' by William Henry Shelton
| birth_date = {{birth date|1800|10|02}}
| birth_place = [[Southampton County, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1831|11|11|1800|10|02}}
| death_place = [[Jerusalem, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_cause =
| known_for = [[Nat Turner's slave rebellion]]
| criminal_charges = Conspiring to rebel and making insurrection
| criminal_penalty = Execution by hanging
}}
'''Nat Turner''' (October 2, 1800&nbsp;– November 11, 1831) was an [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved]] [[Black Americans|Black]] carpenter and preacher who led a four-day [[Nat Turner's Rebellion|rebellion]] of both enslaved and [[free negro|free Black]] people in [[Southampton County, Virginia]] in August 1831.


Nat Turner's Rebellion resulted in the death of 55 White men, women, and children before state militias suppressed the uprising, while 120 Black men, women, and children, many of whom were not involved in the revolt, were killed by soldiers and local mobs in retaliation. Turner was captured in October 1831 and executed after a trial in November. Before his execution, he told his story to attorney [[Thomas Ruffin Gray|Thomas Ruffin Grey]], who published ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'' in November 1831.
Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 - November 11, 1831) was an African-American enslaved person who led one of the most notable rebellions in the history of the United States. During the 1820s, he was motivated by strong convictions, at least partly inspired by his religious beliefs, to organize his fellow slaves against enslavement. Due to his charismatic preaching, he began to be referred to as "the Prophet," serving as a significant influence on slaves within the surrounding plantations in Virginia. Over the course of approximately a decade, he built up support for his cause, culminating in an anti-slavery uprising that served as a source of inspiration for later abolitionist organizers and rebels.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nat-Turner</ref> Nat Turner has become a prominent figure in US history, serving as the focus of various books, movies, and other media.


In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Nat Turner on his list of [[100 Greatest African Americans]]. He has been depicted in films, literature, and plays, as well as many scholarly works.

==Early life==
Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in [[Southampton County, Virginia]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Breen |first=Patrick H. |date=December 7, 2020 |title=Nat Turner's Revolt (1831) |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/turners-revolt-nat-1831/ |access-date=February 21, 2024 |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |publisher=Virginia Humanities}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Southampton County was a rural [[plantation]] area with more Black people than White.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Drewry |first=William Sydney |url=https://archive.org/details/southamptonin00drew |title=The Southampton Insurrection |publisher=The Neale Company |year=1900 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=[https://archive.org/details/southamptonin00drew/page/n185 108]}}</ref> Benjamin Turner, the man who held Nat and his family as slaves, called the infant Nat in his records. Even when grown, the slave was known simply as Nat; but after the 1831 rebellion, he was widely referred to as Nat Turner.<ref>''Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory''. Oxford University Press, 2003. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed., pp. 3–12. According to Greenberg, the trial transcript refers to him on the first mention as "Nat alias Nat Turner" and subsequently as "Nat". Greenberg writes that Thomas Ruffin Gray's The Confessions of Nat Turner, which purports to be Turner's confession and account of his life leading up to the rebellion, was the most influential source of the name by which he is known.</ref>

Turner knew little about the background of his father, who was believed to have escaped from slavery when Turner was a child.<ref>''Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory''. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed. Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 18.</ref><ref name=":3" /> However, Turner grew up "much attached to his grandmother".<ref name=":3" />

Turner learned how to read and write at a young age.<ref name=":3" /> He was identified as having "natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension, surpassed by few".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bisson |first=Terry |title=Nat Turner |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |year=1988 |isbn=1555466133 |page=76 |author-link=Terry Bisson}}</ref> He grew up deeply religious and was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.<ref name=":5">[[Herbert Aptheker|Aptheker, Herbert]]. ''American Negro Slave Revolts''. 5th ed., New York: International Publishers, 1983. p. 295. {{ISBN|978-0717806058}}</ref>

Benjamin Turner died in 1810, and his son Samuel inherited Nat.<ref name="white225">{{cite book |last1=Gray White |first1=Deborah |title=Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans |year=2013 |publisher=New York Bedford/St. Martin's |page=225}}</ref> When he was 21, Nat Turner escaped from Samuel Turner; but he returned a month later, after becoming [[Delirium|delirious]] from hunger and receiving a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]] that told him to "return to the service of my earthly master".<ref name="p9" /> In 1830, Joseph Travis purchased Turner; Turner later recalled that Travis was "a kind master" who "placed the greatest confidence" in him.<ref name="p11" />

An 1831 reward notice described Turner as:<blockquote>5 feet 6 or 8 inches [168–173 cm] high, weighs between 150 and 160 pounds [68–73 kg], rather "bright" [light-colored] complexion, but not a mulatto, broad shoulders, larger flat nose, large eyes, broad flat feet, rather knockneed [''sic''], walks brisk and active, hair on the top of the head very thin, no beard, except on the upper lip and the top of the chin, a scar on one of his temples, also one on the back of his neck, a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, near the wrist, produced by a blow.<ref>Description of Turner included in a $500 reward notice in the Washington ''National Intelligencer'' on September 24, 1831.</ref></blockquote>

==Visions and religious activities==
Turner was deeply religious and was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.<ref name=":5" /> He had visions that he interpreted as messages from God, and which influenced his life. The historian Patrick Breen stated, "Nat Turner thought that God used the natural world as a backdrop in front of which he placed signs and [[omens]]."<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Breen |first=Patrick H. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892895344 |title=The land shall be deluged in blood: a new history of the Nat Turner Revolt |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-982800-5 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |oclc=892895344}}</ref> Breen further states that Nat Turner claimed he possessed a gift of prophecy and that he could interpret these divine revelations.<ref name=":03" />

Turner often conducted religious services, preaching the Bible to his fellow slaves, who dubbed him "The Prophet". In addition to Blacks, Turner garnered some White followers such as Ethelred T. Brantley, whom Turner baptized after convincing him to "cease from his wickedness".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gray |first=Thomas Ruffin |title=The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. |publisher=Lucas & Deaver |year=1831 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |pages=7–9, 11}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

When he was 21, Nat Turner escaped but returned a month later, after receiving a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]] that told him to "return to the service of my earthly master".<ref name="p9">Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). ''The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va''. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 9.</ref> In 1824, Turner had a second vision while working in the fields for Thomas Moore: "The Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great [[day of judgment]] was at hand".<ref>Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). ''The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va''. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 10.</ref>

Historian David Allmendinger notes that Turner had ten different supernatural experiences between 1822 and 1828. These included appearances of both the Spirit communicating through a religious language and scripture along with the visions of the [[Holy Ghost]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allmendinger |first=David F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/889812744 |title=Nat Turner and the rising in Southampton County |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4214-1480-5 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |oclc=889812744}}</ref> By the spring of 1828, Turner was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty".<ref name="p9" />

Turner said he "heard a loud noise in the heavens" while working in Moore's fields on May 12th "and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said [[Serpent of Eden|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, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first".<ref name="p11">Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). ''The'' Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 11.</ref> Historian and theologian Joseph Dreis says, "In connecting this vision to the motivation for his rebellion, Turner makes it clear that he sees himself as participating in the confrontation between [[God's Kingdom]] and the anti-Kingdom that characterized his social-historical context."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dreis |first1=Joseph |date=November 2014 |title=Nat Turner's Rebellion as a Process of Conversion: Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Christian Conversion Process |journal=Black Theology |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=231}}</ref>

During the 1820s, Turner was motivated by strong convictions, at least partly inspired by his religious beliefs, to organize his fellow slaves against enslavement.<ref name="akinyela">{{cite journal |author=Makungu M. Akinyela |year=2003 |title=Battling the Serpent: Nat Turner, Africanized Christianity, and a Black Ethos |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3180833 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=255–80|doi=10.1177/0021934702238631 |jstor=3180833 |s2cid=143459728 }}</ref> His deep spiritual commitment served as a significant influence on slaves within the surrounding plantations in Virginia.<ref name="kaye">{{cite journal |author=Anthony E. Kaye |year=2007 |title=Neighborhoods and Nat Turner: The Making of a Slave Rebel and the Unmaking of a Slave Rebellion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30043545 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |volume=27 |pages=705–20 |number=4|doi=10.1353/jer.2007.0076 |jstor=30043545 |s2cid=201794786 }}</ref><ref name="akinyela" /> After Turner viewed the [[solar eclipse]] in 1831, he was certain that God wanted the revolt to commence.<ref name=":03" />

==Rebellion==
{{Main|Nat Turner's Rebellion}}
[[File:1831 Nat Turner's slave rebellion (Library of Congress).jpg|thumb|An illustration of rebel slaves from 1831]]
Over approximately a decade, Turner built up support for his cause, culminating in an anti-slavery uprising that served as a source of inspiration for later [[abolitionist]] organizers and rebels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nat-Turner|title=Nat Turner &#124; Biography, Rebellion, & Facts &#124; Britannica|website=Britannica|date=28 September 2024 }}</ref>The four-day [[Nat Turner's slave rebellion|rebellion]] started on August 21, 1831.<ref name="birth">{{cite book |author=Turner |first=Nat |year=1831 |editor-last=Grey |editor-first=T. R. |title=The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. |publisher=T. R. Gray |url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/turner/menu.html |access-date=July 14, 2018 |via=Documenting the South |at="Confession" paragraph 2 |location=Baltimore |quote=I was thirty-one years of age the 2d of October last [Nat reported in Nov 1831]}}</ref>

Nat Turner's Rebellion resulted in the death of 55 White men, women, and children.<ref name=":3" /> This is considered the "most deadly slave revolt" in United States history.<ref name=":3" /> The state militia and local troops quickly suppressed the uprising; between 36 and 120 Black men, women, and children, many of whom were not involved in the revolt, were killed by soldiers and local mobs in retaliation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brinkley |first=Alan |title=American History: A Survey |title-link=American History: A Survey |year=2008 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Education]] |isbn=978-0073385495 |edition=13th |location=New York City}}</ref><ref name="Breen2015p98,231">{{cite book |last=Breen |first=Patrick H. |title=The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt |year=2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0199828005 |pages=98, 231}}</ref><ref name="attrocitynote">Breen 2015, Chapter 9 and Allmendinger 2014, Appendix F are recent studies that review various estimates for the number of slaves and free blacks killed without trial, giving a range of from 23 killed to over 200 killed. Breen notes on page 231 that "high estimates have been widely accepted in both academic and popular sources".</ref><ref name=":3" />

Turner eluded capture but remained hidden in Southampton County.<ref name="akinyela" /> On October 30, a farmer named Benjamin Phipps discovered Turner hiding in a depression in the earth, created by a large, fallen tree covered with fence rails.<ref name=":6">Drewry, William Sydney (1900). ''[https://archive.org/details/southamptonin00drew/mode/2up?q=cave The Southampton Insurrection]''. Washington, D.C.: The Neale Company. pp.&nbsp;13, 151–53. via Internet Archive</ref> This was referred to locally as Nat Turner's cave although it was not a natural cave.<ref name=":6" /> Around 1 p.m. on October 31, Turner arrived at the prison in the county seat of Jerusalem, Virginia (now [[Courtland, Virginia|Courtland]]).<ref>Kossuth, Lajos (1852). ''[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101072313412?urlappend=%3Bseq=80%3Bownerid=27021597768335040-86 Letter to Louis Kossuth: Concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States]''. R.F. Walcutt. p. 76. via Hathi Trust.</ref>

== Trial and execution ==
[[File:The_Confessions_of_Nat_Turner_(title_page).jpg|thumb|Title page of ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'' ]]
Turner was tried on November 5, 1831, for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection" and was convicted and sentenced to death.<ref>[http://www.brantleyassociation.com/southampton_project/gallery/min_bk_1830-35/index2.html Southampton Co., VA, Court Minute Book 1830–1835], pp. 121–23. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111211007/http://www.brantleyassociation.com/southampton_project/gallery/min_bk_1830-35/index2.html|date=November 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>[http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/court/ol_nat.txt "Proceedings on the Southampton Insurrection, Aug–Nov 1831"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825053727/http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/court/ol_nat.txt|date=August 25, 2016}}</ref> His attorney was [[James Strange French]]. Before his execution, he told his story to attorney [[Thomas R. Gray|Thomas R. Grey]], who published ''The Confessions of Nat Turner'' in November 1831.<ref>Fabricant, Daniel S. "Thomas R. Gray and William Styron: Finally, A Critical Look at the 1831 Confessions of Nat Turner". ''The American Journal of Legal History'', vol. 37, no. 3, 1993, pp. 332–61.</ref> [[James Trezvant]] served on the jury for Turner's trial.

Asked if he regretted what he had done, Turner responded, "Was Christ not crucified?"<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Foner |first=Eric |title=An American History: Give Me Liberty |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. |year=2014 |isbn=978-0393920338 |location=New York |pages=336}}</ref> Turner was hanged on November 11, 1831, in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nat Turner executed in Virginia {{!}} November 11, 1831 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nat-turner-executed-in-virginia |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=History.com |language=en}}</ref> According to some sources, he was [[Decapitation|beheaded]] as an example to frighten other would-be rebels.<ref name="NGeo">{{cite web |last=Fornal |first=Justin |date=October 7, 2016 |title=Exclusive: Inside the Quest to Return Nat Turner's Skull to His Family |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/nat-turner-skull-slave-rebellion-uprising |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710195720/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/nat-turner-skull-slave-rebellion-uprising/ |archive-date=July 10, 2018 |access-date=July 14, 2018 |website=National Geographic |at=paragraph 7 |orig-year=}}</ref><ref>French, Scot. ''The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in American Memory''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2004, pp. 278–279. {{ISBN|978-0618104482}}</ref>

After his execution, Turner's body was [[Dissection|dissected]] and [[Flaying|flayed]], with his skin being used to make souvenir purses.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cromwell |first=John W. |year=1920 |title=The Aftermath of Nat Turner's Insurrection |journal=The Journal of Negro History |volume=5 |pages=208–234 [218] |doi=10.2307/2713592 |issn=0022-2992 |jstor=2713592 |s2cid=150053000 |quote= |doi-access=free |number=2}} "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. It is said that there still lives a Virginian who has a piece of his skin which was tanned, that another Virginian possesses one of his ears and that the skull graces the collection of a physician in the city of Norfolk."</ref><ref name="lightening">{{cite journal |last=Gibson |first=Christine |date=November 11, 2005 |title=Nat Turner, Lightning Rod |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20051111-nat-turner-slavery-rebellion-virginia-civil-war-thomas-r-gray-abolitionist.shtml |journal=American Heritage Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406063535/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20051111-nat-turner-slavery-rebellion-virginia-civil-war-thomas-r-gray-abolitionist.shtml |archive-date=April 6, 2009 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |quote=}}</ref> In October 1897, Virginia newspapers ran a story about Nat Turner's skeleton being used as a medical specimen by Dr. H. U. Stephenson of [[Toano, Virginia|Toana, Virginia]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1897-10-21 |title=Nat Turner's Skeleton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86501603/nat-turners-skeleton/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |work=The Norfolk Virginian |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Stephenson acquired the skeleton from a son of Dr. S. B. Kellar; Dr. Kellar claimed to have paid Turner $10 for his body while he was in jail.<ref name=":1" /> After the execution, Kellar had Turner's bones scraped and hung as a medical specimen.<ref name=":1" />

In 2002, a skull said to have been Turner's was given to [[Richard G. Hatcher]], the former mayor of [[Gary, Indiana]], for the collection of a [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] museum he planned to build there. In 2016, Hatcher returned the skull to two of Turner's descendants. Since receiving the skull, the family has temporarily placed it with the [[Smithsonian Institution]], where [[DNA testing]] will be done to determine whether it is the authentic remains of Nat Turner. If the test renders positive results, the family plans to bury his remains next to his descendants.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fornal |first=Justin |date=October 7, 2016 |title=Inside the Quest to Return Nat Turner's Skull to His Family |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/nat-turner-skull-slave-rebellion-uprising/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220051028/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/nat-turner-skull-slave-rebellion-uprising/ |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=December 4, 2016 |work=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]}}</ref>

Another skull said to have been Turner's was contributed to the [[College of Wooster]] in Ohio upon its incorporation in 1866. When the school's only academic building burned down in 1901, the skull was saved by Dr. H. N. Mateer. Visitors recalled seeing a certificate, signed by a physician in Southampton County in 1866, that attested to the authenticity of the skull. The skull was eventually misplaced.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ortiz |first=Andrew |date=December 21, 2015 |title=Skullduggery |url=http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/skullduggery-nat-turner-skull/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930021321/http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/skullduggery-nat-turner-skull/ |archive-date=September 30, 2017 |access-date=March 20, 2017 |work=[[Indianapolis Monthly]] |orig-year=October 2003}}</ref>

==Marriage and children==
Turner married an enslaved woman named Cherry, also spelled Chary (however, historians still dispute exactly who Nat Turner's wife was).<ref name=":10">Breen, Patrick (2015). ''The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0199828005}}</ref><ref name=":11">Allmendinger, David (2014). ''Nat Turner and the Rising in Southampton County''. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 64. {{ISBN|978-1421422558}}</ref> It is thought that Turner and Cherry met and were married at Samuel Turner's plantation in the early 1820s.<ref name=":10" /> The couple had children; historians vary in believing that there were one, two, or three children (a daughter and possibly one or two sons, including one named Riddick).<ref name=":11" /><ref>Greenberg, Kenneth (2004). ''Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0195177565}}</ref>

The family was separated after Samuel Turner died in 1823, when Turner was sold to Thomas Moore and his family were sold to Giles Reese.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bisson |first1=Terry |title=Nat Turner |last2=Huggins |first2=Nathan Irvin |year=1988 |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |isbn=1-55546-613-3 |publication-place=New York |page=21 |oclc=17383625 |author-link=Terry Bisson}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Peter H. |title=Nat Turner {{!}} Encyclopedia of Race and Racism |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/social-reformers/nat-turner |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Cengage Encyclopedia}}</ref> By 1831, his son was enslaved by Piety Reese and lived on a farm that was near the Travis farm where Turner was enslaved.<ref name=":3" /> However, in February 1831, Reese's son John used Turner's son as collateral for a family debt.<ref name=":3" /> One historian notes that Turner approached his conspirators for the rebellion days after his son was used as collateral.<ref name=":3" />

After the rebellion, the authorities beat and tortured Cherry Turner in hopes of finding her husband.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bisson |first1=Terry |last2=Davenport |first2=John |year=2005 |title=Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader |publisher=Chelsea House Publications |page=22 |isbn=0791083411}}</ref> On September 26, 1831, the ''Richmond Constitutional Whig'' published a story about the raiding of Reese plantation stating that, "some papers [were] given up by his wife, under the lash."<ref name=":13">Kossuth, Lajos (1852). ''[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101072313412?urlappend=%3Bseq=80%3Bownerid=27021597768335040-86 Letter to Louis Kossuth: Concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States]''. R.F. Walcutt. p. 76. via Hathi Trust.</ref>

==Legacy==

* In 2002, scholar [[Molefi Kete Asante]] listed Nat Turner as one of the [[100 Greatest African Americans]].<ref>Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). ''100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia'', Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|1-57392-963-8}}.</ref>
* In 2009, in [[Newark, New Jersey]], the largest city-owned park was named Nat Turner Park. The facility cost $12 million to construct.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Trust for Public Land Celebrates Groundbreaking at Nat Turner Park |url=http://www.pr-inside.com/the-trust-for-public-land-celebrates-r646225.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215231012/http://www.pr-inside.com/the-trust-for-public-land-celebrates-r646225.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |access-date=August 21, 2010 |website=Pr-inside.com}}</ref>
* In 2012, the small Bible that belonged to Turner was donated to the [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]] by the Person family of Southampton County, Virginia.<ref name=":9">{{cite news |last1=Trescott |first1=Jacqueline |date=February 16, 2012 |title=Descendants of Va. family donate Nat Turner's Bible to museum |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/descendants-of-va-family-donate-nat-turners-bible-to-museum/2012/02/16/gIQA7KCAIR_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422032830/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/descendants-of-va-family-donate-nat-turners-bible-to-museum/2012/02/16/gIQA7KCAIR_story.html |archive-date=April 22, 2017 |access-date=March 28, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
* In 2017, it was announced that Turner was to be honored with others with an [[Emancipation and Freedom Monument]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moomaw |first=Graham |date=September 20, 2017 |title=Nat Turner, the leader of a violent Virginia slave uprising, will be honored on a new emancipation statue in Richmond |url=https://richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/nat-turner-the-leader-of-a-violent-virginia-slave-uprising-will-be-honored-on-a/article_ff963fe8-d438-5a59-858a-272120f2eb5a.html |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=Richmond Times-Dispatch |language=en}}</ref><ref>Haltiwanger, John (September 21, 2017). [https://www.newsweek.com/slave-uprising-leader-nat-turner-be-included-anti-slavery-monument-richmond-669149 "Nat Turner to Be Included on Monument in Richmond"]. ''Newsweek''. Retrieved December 18, 2022.</ref> Created by [[Thomas Jay Warren]], the state-funded bronze sculpture was dedicated in September 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shivaram |first=Deepa |date=2021-09-22 |title=An Emancipation Statue Debuts In Virginia Two Weeks After Robert E. Lee Was Removed |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/09/22/1039333919/new-emancipation-statue-richmond-virginia-monument |access-date=2022-12-18 |publisher=NPR |language=en}}</ref>
* Nat Turner's Rebellion is celebrated as part of [[Black August (commemoration)|Black August]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaur |first=Harmeet |date=2020-08-03 |title=Activists are commemorating Black August. Here's the history behind the month-long celebration |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/us/what-is-black-august-explainer-trnd/index.html |access-date=2024-04-08 |publisher=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

=== Film ===

* In 2003, [[Charles Burnett (director)|Charles Burnett]] released the documentary ''[[Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Sam |date=2016-10-14 |title=Don't Want to Support Birth of a Nation? Watch Charles Burnett's Nat Turner Movie Instead. |url=https://slate.com/culture/2016/10/boycotting-birth-of-a-nation-watch-charles-burnetts-nat-turner-movie-instead.html |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[The Birth of a Nation (2016 film)|The Birth of a Nation]]'', the 2016 film written and directed by [[Nate Parker]], is based on the story of Nat Turner.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cunningham |first=Vinson |date=2016-10-03 |title='The Birth of a Nation' Isn't Worth Defending |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/the-birth-of-a-nation-isnt-worth-defending |access-date=2024-07-18 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

=== Literature ===

* In 1884, ''[[The Cleveland Gazette]]'' published the poem "Nat Turner" by [[Timothy Thomas Fortune]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Primary Source: Remembering Nat Turner |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/primary-source-remembering |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=NCpedia |publisher=State Library of North Carolina}}</ref>
* [[Sterling Allen Brown]], the first [[Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia]], wrote the poem, "Remembering Nat Turner" in 1932.<ref name=":7">Scott, Jr., Nathan A. "The Return of Nat Turner: History, Literature, and Cultural Politics in Sixties America". ''The Southern Review'' 28, no. 4 (1992): 965+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'' (accessed July 18, 2024). </ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Poem: Remembering Nat Turner by Sterling Allen Brown |url=https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/remembering-nat-turner |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=poetrynook.com}}</ref><ref>Gabbin, Joanne V. [[doi:10.2307/3042567|"Sterling Brown's Poetic Voice: A Living Legacy"]]. ''African American Review'' 31, no. 3 (1997): 423–31. accessed July 18, 2024.</ref><ref>Callahan, John F. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3299763 "'A Brown Study': Sterling Brown's Legacy of Compassionate Connections"]. ''Callaloo'' 21, no. 4 (1998): 899–900. via JSTOR, accessed July 18, 2024.</ref>
* ''[[The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967)|The Confessions of Nat Turner]]'' (1967), a novel by [[William Styron]], won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]] in 1968.<ref name=":2">Tanenhaus, Sam (August 3, 2016). "[https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/08/the-literary-battle-for-nat-turners-legacy The Literary Battle for Nat Turner's Legacy]". ''Vanity Fair''. Retrieved December 10, 2022.</ref> Styron's work was controversial, with some criticizing the White author for writing about such an important Black figure and calling him racist for portraying Turner as lusting for a White woman.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
* In response to Styron's novel, ten Black scholars and authors published a collection of essays, ''William Styron's'' The Confessions of Nat Turner'': Ten Black Writers Respond'' (1968).<ref name=":2" />
* In 2006, [[Kyle Baker]]'s graphic novel, ''Nat Turner'', received the [[Eisner Awards|Eisner Award]] for Best Reality-Based Work and the [[Glyph Comics Awards|Glyph Comic Award]] for Best Story of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jaffe |first=Meryl |date=February 19, 2014 |title=Using Graphic Novels in Education: Nat Turner – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund |url=https://cbldf.org/2014/02/using-graphic-novels-in-education-nat-turner/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Sharon Ewell Foster published her novel, ''The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part One, The Witness, A Novel'' in 2011.<ref>Foster, Sharon Ewel. ''The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part One, The Witness, A Novel''. Howard Books, 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-7803-1}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Resurrection of Nat Turner |url=https://www.wunc.org/show/the-state-of-things/2011-08-31/the-resurrection-of-nat-turner |access-date=2024-02-21 |publisher=WUNC |language=en}}</ref>

=== Music ===
* The 1960s funk-soul band [[Nat Turner Rebellion (band)|Nat Turner Rebellion]] was named after Turner's slave revolt.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=2019-03-26 |title=How a College Music Department Helped Unearth a Long-Lost Philly Funk-Soul Classic |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nat-turner-rebellion-drexel-university-812739/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Chance The Rapper]]'s song "How Great" refers to Turner's rebellion in the line, "Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up enslaved people from Southampton to Chatham Manor."<ref>{{cite web |title=Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up enslaved individuals from Southampton to Chatham Manor |url=https://genius.com/9148002 |website=Genius}}</ref>
* In the early 1990s, [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] artist [[Tupac Shakur]] 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kitchens |first=Travis |date=2016-11-29 |title=Unfortunate Son: The roots of Tupac Shakur's rebellion |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcp-113016-music-tupac-shakur-and-baltimore-20161129-story.html |access-date=2021-02-10 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>
* [[Tyler, the Creator]]'s opener "[[Foreword (Tyler, The Creator song)|Foreword]]" on his 2017 album [[Flower Boy]] contains the line, "How many slaves can it be 'til Nat Turner arrives?".

=== Theater ===

* African American theater educator Randolph Edmonds included ''Nat Turner: A Play in One Act'' in his ''Six Plays for the Negro Theatre'', published in 1934 for schools and colleges.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property - Transcript |url=https://newsreel.org/transcripts/natturner.htm |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=newsreel.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kendt |first=Rob |date=November 4, 2019 |title=Nat Turner |url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/nat-turner-22233/ |access-date=July 18, 2024 |website=Backstage}}</ref>

* In 1940, Paul Peter's play, ''Nat Turner'', was produced by the People's Drama Theater in New York City.<ref>[https://americanantiquarian.org/NatTurner/items/show/61. "People's Drama, Inc. presents Nat Turner by Paul Peters"]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. ''Revisiting Rebellion: Nat Turner in the American Imagination'', American Antiquarian Society. Accessed December 10, 2022.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Script: "Nat Turner" / by Paul Peters, 1939 |url=https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/108823 |access-date=2024-07-18 |publisher=Amistad Research Center, Tulane University}}</ref><ref name=":7" />
* In 2011, ''Following Faith: A Nat Turner Story'', a play by Paula Neiman, was produced in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-02-08 |title=Following Faith: A Nat Turner Story |url=http://www.natturnerstory.com/Nat_Turner_Story/Welcome.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208142336/http://www.natturnerstory.com/Nat_Turner_Story/Welcome.html |archive-date=February 8, 2011 |access-date=2022-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nat Turner: Following Faith |url=https://www.totaltheater.com/?q=node/6679 |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=totaltheater.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rampell |first=Ed |date=2015-11-03 |title=General Nat Turner, the Black Spartacus in a new play |url=https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/general-nat-turner-the-black-spartacus-in-a-new-play/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=People's World |language=en-US}}</ref>
* In 2016, the play ''Nat Turner in Jerusalem'', by Nathan Alan Davis was produced at the [[New York Theatre Workshop]], and in 2018 at the [[Forum Theatre (Washington, D.C.)|Forum Theatre]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="2016-09-26-NYMag">{{cite news |last=Green |first=Jesse |date=September 26, 2016 |title=God's Will and God's Warning, in Nat Turner in Jerusalem |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/theater-review-nat-turner-in-jerusalem.html |access-date=2021-11-15 |website=vulture.com |publisher=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pressley |first=Nelson |date=March 20, 2018 |title=Nat Turner play at Forum Theatre gives the rebel the high ground |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/nat-turner-play-at-forum-theatre-gives-the-rebel-the-high-ground/2018/03/20/bc4126bc-2c4a-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322202723/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/nat-turner-play-at-forum-theatre-gives-the-rebel-the-high-ground/2018/03/20/bc4126bc-2c4a-11e8-b0b0-f706877db618_story.html |archive-date=March 22, 2018 |access-date=March 22, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brantley |first=Ben |date=2016-09-27 |title=Review: 'Nat Turner in Jerusalem', an Avatar of Divine Vengeance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/theater/nat-turner-in-jerusalem-review.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* In 2021, the [[Conejo Players Theatre]] streamed a live production of ''Nat's Last Struggle'' by playwright P. A. Wray.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nat's Last Struggle |url=https://conejoplayers.org/archive/NatsLastStruggle.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Conejo Players Theatre}}</ref> The play was also performed virtually by the [[Virginia Stage Company]] in August 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Virtual Reading of Nat's Last Struggle {{!}} Event Calendar |url=https://www.wavy.com/events-calendar/#!/details/virtual-reading-of-nat-s-last-struggle/8434765/2020-08-09T15 |access-date=July 18, 2024 |publisher=WAVY TV |archive-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718143601/https://www.wavy.com/events-calendar/#!/details/virtual-reading-of-nat-s-last-struggle/8434765/2020-08-09T15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of slaves]]
* [[Slavery in the United States]]
* [[Slave rebellion and resistance in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Nat Turner}}{{wikisource author|Nat Turner}}{{wikiquote|Nat Turner}}

* [[gutenberg:15333|The Confessions of Nat Turner]] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* [https://archive.org/search?query=nat+turner Works] by or about Nat Turner's slave rebellion at [[Internet Archive]]
* Breen, Patrick H. "We need more black memorials, but do we need Nat Turner's?" ''Salon'', September 30, 2017
* ''[[iarchive:confessionsofnat00gree|The Confessions of Nat Turner and Related Documents]]''. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed. Bedford Books, 1996
* Gibson, Christine. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100829172548/http://www.americanheritage.com/people/articles/web/20051111-nat-turner-slavery-rebellion-virginia-civil-war-thomas-r-gray-abolitionist.shtml "Nat Turner: Lightning Rod"], [[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]
* "[http://wunc.org/post/resurrection-nat-turner Interview with Sharon Ewell Foster regarding her recent research on Turner"]. ''The State of Things'', [[North Carolina Public Radio]], August 31, 2011.
* Harraway, Josh. [https://natturner.libsyn.com/ ''Nat Turner Podcast''] March 1, 2018. (audio drama)
* [http://www.natturnerproject.org/ The Nat Turner Project].
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/turner.html "A Rebellion to Remember: Nat Turner"]. ''Documenting the American South'', [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]].

{{Slavery in Virginia}}
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[[Category:1800 births]]
[[Category:1800 births]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]
[[Category:1831 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century American slaves]]
[[Category:19th-century executions of American people]]
[[Category:19th-century rebels]]
[[Category:American people executed for murder]]
[[Category:American people of Akan descent]]
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[[Category:Baptists from Virginia]]
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[[Category:American people executed for murder]]
[[Category:19th-century executions by the United States]]
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[[Category:People convicted of murder by Virginia]]
[[Category:Executed American revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Executed people from Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Southampton County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Executed African-American people]]
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[[Category:1831 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Executed people from Virginia]]
[[Category:Literate American slaves]]
[[Category:Literate American slaves]]
[[Category:19th-century American slaves]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Virginia]]
[[Category:People executed by Virginia by hanging]]
[[Category:People from Southampton County, Virginia]]
[[Category:People enslaved in Virginia]]

Latest revision as of 04:47, 19 November 2024

Nat Turner
Discovery of Nat Turner by William Henry Shelton
Born(1800-10-02)October 2, 1800
Southampton County, Virginia, U.S.
DiedNovember 11, 1831(1831-11-11) (aged 31)
Jerusalem, Virginia, U.S.
Known forNat Turner's slave rebellion
Criminal chargesConspiring to rebel and making insurrection
Criminal penaltyExecution by hanging

Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an enslaved Black carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both enslaved and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia in August 1831.

Nat Turner's Rebellion resulted in the death of 55 White men, women, and children before state militias suppressed the uprising, while 120 Black men, women, and children, many of whom were not involved in the revolt, were killed by soldiers and local mobs in retaliation. Turner was captured in October 1831 and executed after a trial in November. Before his execution, he told his story to attorney Thomas Ruffin Grey, who published The Confessions of Nat Turner in November 1831.

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Nat Turner on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. He has been depicted in films, literature, and plays, as well as many scholarly works.

Early life

[edit]

Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Virginia.[1][2] Southampton County was a rural plantation area with more Black people than White.[2] Benjamin Turner, the man who held Nat and his family as slaves, called the infant Nat in his records. Even when grown, the slave was known simply as Nat; but after the 1831 rebellion, he was widely referred to as Nat Turner.[3]

Turner knew little about the background of his father, who was believed to have escaped from slavery when Turner was a child.[4][1] However, Turner grew up "much attached to his grandmother".[1]

Turner learned how to read and write at a young age.[1] He was identified as having "natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension, surpassed by few".[5] He grew up deeply religious and was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.[6]

Benjamin Turner died in 1810, and his son Samuel inherited Nat.[7] When he was 21, Nat Turner escaped from Samuel Turner; but he returned a month later, after becoming delirious from hunger and receiving a vision that told him to "return to the service of my earthly master".[8] In 1830, Joseph Travis purchased Turner; Turner later recalled that Travis was "a kind master" who "placed the greatest confidence" in him.[9]

An 1831 reward notice described Turner as:

5 feet 6 or 8 inches [168–173 cm] high, weighs between 150 and 160 pounds [68–73 kg], rather "bright" [light-colored] complexion, but not a mulatto, broad shoulders, larger flat nose, large eyes, broad flat feet, rather knockneed [sic], walks brisk and active, hair on the top of the head very thin, no beard, except on the upper lip and the top of the chin, a scar on one of his temples, also one on the back of his neck, a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, near the wrist, produced by a blow.[10]

Visions and religious activities

[edit]

Turner was deeply religious and was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.[6] He had visions that he interpreted as messages from God, and which influenced his life. The historian Patrick Breen stated, "Nat Turner thought that God used the natural world as a backdrop in front of which he placed signs and omens."[11] Breen further states that Nat Turner claimed he possessed a gift of prophecy and that he could interpret these divine revelations.[11]

Turner often conducted religious services, preaching the Bible to his fellow slaves, who dubbed him "The Prophet". In addition to Blacks, Turner garnered some White followers such as Ethelred T. Brantley, whom Turner baptized after convincing him to "cease from his wickedness".[12][1]

When he was 21, Nat Turner escaped but returned a month later, after receiving a vision that told him to "return to the service of my earthly master".[8] In 1824, Turner had a second vision while working in the fields for Thomas Moore: "The Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment was at hand".[13]

Historian David Allmendinger notes that Turner had ten different supernatural experiences between 1822 and 1828. These included appearances of both the Spirit communicating through a religious language and scripture along with the visions of the Holy Ghost.[14] By the spring of 1828, Turner was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty".[8]

Turner said he "heard a loud noise in the heavens" while working in Moore's fields on May 12th "and 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, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first".[9] Historian and theologian Joseph Dreis says, "In connecting this vision to the motivation for his rebellion, Turner makes it clear that he sees himself as participating in the confrontation between God's Kingdom and the anti-Kingdom that characterized his social-historical context."[15]

During the 1820s, Turner was motivated by strong convictions, at least partly inspired by his religious beliefs, to organize his fellow slaves against enslavement.[16] His deep spiritual commitment served as a significant influence on slaves within the surrounding plantations in Virginia.[17][16] After Turner viewed the solar eclipse in 1831, he was certain that God wanted the revolt to commence.[11]

Rebellion

[edit]
Main article: Nat Turner's Rebellion
An illustration of rebel slaves from 1831

Over approximately a decade, Turner built up support for his cause, culminating in an anti-slavery uprising that served as a source of inspiration for later abolitionist organizers and rebels.[18]The four-day rebellion started on August 21, 1831.[19]

Nat Turner's Rebellion resulted in the death of 55 White men, women, and children.[1] This is considered the "most deadly slave revolt" in United States history.[1] The state militia and local troops quickly suppressed the uprising; between 36 and 120 Black men, women, and children, many of whom were not involved in the revolt, were killed by soldiers and local mobs in retaliation.[20][21][22][1]

Turner eluded capture but remained hidden in Southampton County.[16] On October 30, a farmer named Benjamin Phipps discovered Turner hiding in a depression in the earth, created by a large, fallen tree covered with fence rails.[23] This was referred to locally as Nat Turner's cave although it was not a natural cave.[23] Around 1 p.m. on October 31, Turner arrived at the prison in the county seat of Jerusalem, Virginia (now Courtland).[24]

Trial and execution

[edit]
Title page of The Confessions of Nat Turner

Turner was tried on November 5, 1831, for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection" and was convicted and sentenced to death.[25][26] His attorney was James Strange French. Before his execution, he told his story to attorney Thomas R. Grey, who published The Confessions of Nat Turner in November 1831.[27] James Trezvant served on the jury for Turner's trial.

Asked if he regretted what he had done, Turner responded, "Was Christ not crucified?"[28] Turner was hanged on November 11, 1831, in Jerusalem.[29] According to some sources, he was beheaded as an example to frighten other would-be rebels.[30][31]

After his execution, Turner's body was dissected and flayed, with his skin being used to make souvenir purses.[32][33] In October 1897, Virginia newspapers ran a story about Nat Turner's skeleton being used as a medical specimen by Dr. H. U. Stephenson of Toana, Virginia.[34] Stephenson acquired the skeleton from a son of Dr. S. B. Kellar; Dr. Kellar claimed to have paid Turner $10 for his body while he was in jail.[34] After the execution, Kellar had Turner's bones scraped and hung as a medical specimen.[34]

In 2002, a skull said to have been Turner's was given to Richard G. Hatcher, the former mayor of Gary, Indiana, for the collection of a civil rights museum he planned to build there. In 2016, Hatcher returned the skull to two of Turner's descendants. Since receiving the skull, the family has temporarily placed it with the Smithsonian Institution, where DNA testing will be done to determine whether it is the authentic remains of Nat Turner. If the test renders positive results, the family plans to bury his remains next to his descendants.[35]

Another skull said to have been Turner's was contributed to the College of Wooster in Ohio upon its incorporation in 1866. When the school's only academic building burned down in 1901, the skull was saved by Dr. H. N. Mateer. Visitors recalled seeing a certificate, signed by a physician in Southampton County in 1866, that attested to the authenticity of the skull. The skull was eventually misplaced.[36]

Marriage and children

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Turner married an enslaved woman named Cherry, also spelled Chary (however, historians still dispute exactly who Nat Turner's wife was).[37][38] It is thought that Turner and Cherry met and were married at Samuel Turner's plantation in the early 1820s.[37] The couple had children; historians vary in believing that there were one, two, or three children (a daughter and possibly one or two sons, including one named Riddick).[38][39]

The family was separated after Samuel Turner died in 1823, when Turner was sold to Thomas Moore and his family were sold to Giles Reese.[40][41] By 1831, his son was enslaved by Piety Reese and lived on a farm that was near the Travis farm where Turner was enslaved.[1] However, in February 1831, Reese's son John used Turner's son as collateral for a family debt.[1] One historian notes that Turner approached his conspirators for the rebellion days after his son was used as collateral.[1]

After the rebellion, the authorities beat and tortured Cherry Turner in hopes of finding her husband.[42] On September 26, 1831, the Richmond Constitutional Whig published a story about the raiding of Reese plantation stating that, "some papers [were] given up by his wife, under the lash."[43]

Legacy

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[edit]

Film

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Literature

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Music

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  • The 1960s funk-soul band Nat Turner Rebellion was named after Turner's slave revolt.[62]
  • Chance The Rapper's song "How Great" refers to Turner's rebellion in the line, "Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up enslaved people from Southampton to Chatham Manor."[63]
  • In the early 1990s, hip hop artist Tupac Shakur 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.[64]
  • Tyler, the Creator's opener "Foreword" on his 2017 album Flower Boy contains the line, "How many slaves can it be 'til Nat Turner arrives?".

Theater

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  • African American theater educator Randolph Edmonds included Nat Turner: A Play in One Act in his Six Plays for the Negro Theatre, published in 1934 for schools and colleges.[54][65][66]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Breen, Patrick H. (December 7, 2020). "Nat Turner's Revolt (1831)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Drewry, William Sydney (1900). The Southampton Insurrection. Washington, D.C.: The Neale Company. p. 108.
  3. ^ Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. Oxford University Press, 2003. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed., pp. 3–12. According to Greenberg, the trial transcript refers to him on the first mention as "Nat alias Nat Turner" and subsequently as "Nat". Greenberg writes that Thomas Ruffin Gray's The Confessions of Nat Turner, which purports to be Turner's confession and account of his life leading up to the rebellion, was the most influential source of the name by which he is known.
  4. ^ Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed. Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 18.
  5. ^ Bisson, Terry (1988). Nat Turner. Chelsea House Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 1555466133.
  6. ^ a b Aptheker, Herbert. American Negro Slave Revolts. 5th ed., New York: International Publishers, 1983. p. 295. ISBN 978-0717806058
  7. ^ Gray White, Deborah (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. New York Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 225.
  8. ^ a b c Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 9.
  9. ^ a b Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 11.
  10. ^ Description of Turner included in a $500 reward notice in the Washington National Intelligencer on September 24, 1831.
  11. ^ a b c Breen, Patrick H. (2015). The land shall be deluged in blood: a new history of the Nat Turner Revolt. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-982800-5. OCLC 892895344.
  12. ^ Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver. pp. 7–9, 11.
  13. ^ Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver, p. 10.
  14. ^ Allmendinger, David F. (2014). Nat Turner and the rising in Southampton County. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1480-5. OCLC 889812744.
  15. ^ Dreis, Joseph (November 2014). "Nat Turner's Rebellion as a Process of Conversion: Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Christian Conversion Process". Black Theology. 12 (3): 231.
  16. ^ a b c Makungu M. Akinyela (2003). "Battling the Serpent: Nat Turner, Africanized Christianity, and a Black Ethos". Journal of Black Studies. 33 (3): 255–80. doi:10.1177/0021934702238631. JSTOR 3180833. S2CID 143459728.
  17. ^ Anthony E. Kaye (2007). "Neighborhoods and Nat Turner: The Making of a Slave Rebel and the Unmaking of a Slave Rebellion". Journal of the Early Republic. 27 (4): 705–20. doi:10.1353/jer.2007.0076. JSTOR 30043545. S2CID 201794786.
  18. ^ "Nat Turner | Biography, Rebellion, & Facts | Britannica". Britannica. 28 September 2024.
  19. ^ Turner, Nat (1831). Grey, T. R. (ed.). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. Baltimore: T. R. Gray. "Confession" paragraph 2. Retrieved July 14, 2018 – via Documenting the South. I was thirty-one years of age the 2d of October last [Nat reported in Nov 1831]
  20. ^ Brinkley, Alan (2008). American History: A Survey (13th ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-0073385495.
  21. ^ Breen, Patrick H. (2015). The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt. Oxford University Press. pp. 98, 231. ISBN 978-0199828005.
  22. ^ Breen 2015, Chapter 9 and Allmendinger 2014, Appendix F are recent studies that review various estimates for the number of slaves and free blacks killed without trial, giving a range of from 23 killed to over 200 killed. Breen notes on page 231 that "high estimates have been widely accepted in both academic and popular sources".
  23. ^ a b Drewry, William Sydney (1900). The Southampton Insurrection. Washington, D.C.: The Neale Company. pp. 13, 151–53. via Internet Archive
  24. ^ Kossuth, Lajos (1852). Letter to Louis Kossuth: Concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States. R.F. Walcutt. p. 76. via Hathi Trust.
  25. ^ Southampton Co., VA, Court Minute Book 1830–1835, pp. 121–23. Archived November 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "Proceedings on the Southampton Insurrection, Aug–Nov 1831" Archived August 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Fabricant, Daniel S. "Thomas R. Gray and William Styron: Finally, A Critical Look at the 1831 Confessions of Nat Turner". The American Journal of Legal History, vol. 37, no. 3, 1993, pp. 332–61.
  28. ^ Foner, Eric (2014). An American History: Give Me Liberty. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. p. 336. ISBN 978-0393920338.
  29. ^ "Nat Turner executed in Virginia | November 11, 1831". History.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  30. ^ Fornal, Justin (October 7, 2016). "Exclusive: Inside the Quest to Return Nat Turner's Skull to His Family". National Geographic. paragraph 7. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  31. ^ French, Scot. The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in American Memory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2004, pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-0618104482
  32. ^ Cromwell, John W. (1920). "The Aftermath of Nat Turner's Insurrection". The Journal of Negro History. 5 (2): 208–234 [218]. doi:10.2307/2713592. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2713592. S2CID 150053000. "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. It is said that there still lives a Virginian who has a piece of his skin which was tanned, that another Virginian possesses one of his ears and that the skull graces the collection of a physician in the city of Norfolk."
  33. ^ Gibson, Christine (November 11, 2005). "Nat Turner, Lightning Rod". American Heritage Magazine. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  34. ^ a b c "Nat Turner's Skeleton". The Norfolk Virginian. 1897-10-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-12-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Fornal, Justin (October 7, 2016). "Inside the Quest to Return Nat Turner's Skull to His Family". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  36. ^ Ortiz, Andrew (December 21, 2015) [October 2003]. "Skullduggery". Indianapolis Monthly. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  37. ^ a b Breen, Patrick (2015). The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199828005
  38. ^ a b Allmendinger, David (2014). Nat Turner and the Rising in Southampton County. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-1421422558
  39. ^ Greenberg, Kenneth (2004). Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195177565
  40. ^ Bisson, Terry; Huggins, Nathan Irvin (1988). Nat Turner. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 21. ISBN 1-55546-613-3. OCLC 17383625.
  41. ^ Wood, Peter H. "Nat Turner | Encyclopedia of Race and Racism". Cengage Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  42. ^ Bisson, Terry; Davenport, John (2005). Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Chelsea House Publications. p. 22. ISBN 0791083411.
  43. ^ Kossuth, Lajos (1852). Letter to Louis Kossuth: Concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States. R.F. Walcutt. p. 76. via Hathi Trust.
  44. ^ Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia, Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8.
  45. ^ "The Trust for Public Land Celebrates Groundbreaking at Nat Turner Park". Pr-inside.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  46. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (February 16, 2012). "Descendants of Va. family donate Nat Turner's Bible to museum". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  47. ^ Moomaw, Graham (September 20, 2017). "Nat Turner, the leader of a violent Virginia slave uprising, will be honored on a new emancipation statue in Richmond". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  48. ^ Haltiwanger, John (September 21, 2017). "Nat Turner to Be Included on Monument in Richmond". Newsweek. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  49. ^ Shivaram, Deepa (2021-09-22). "An Emancipation Statue Debuts In Virginia Two Weeks After Robert E. Lee Was Removed". NPR. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  50. ^ Kaur, Harmeet (2020-08-03). "Activists are commemorating Black August. Here's the history behind the month-long celebration". CNN. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  51. ^ Adams, Sam (2016-10-14). "Don't Want to Support Birth of a Nation? Watch Charles Burnett's Nat Turner Movie Instead". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  52. ^ Cunningham, Vinson (2016-10-03). "'The Birth of a Nation' Isn't Worth Defending". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  53. ^ "Primary Source: Remembering Nat Turner". NCpedia. State Library of North Carolina. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  54. ^ a b c Scott, Jr., Nathan A. "The Return of Nat Turner: History, Literature, and Cultural Politics in Sixties America". The Southern Review 28, no. 4 (1992): 965+. Gale Academic OneFile (accessed July 18, 2024).
  55. ^ "Poem: Remembering Nat Turner by Sterling Allen Brown". poetrynook.com. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  56. ^ Gabbin, Joanne V. "Sterling Brown's Poetic Voice: A Living Legacy". African American Review 31, no. 3 (1997): 423–31. accessed July 18, 2024.
  57. ^ Callahan, John F. "'A Brown Study': Sterling Brown's Legacy of Compassionate Connections". Callaloo 21, no. 4 (1998): 899–900. via JSTOR, accessed July 18, 2024.
  58. ^ a b c Tanenhaus, Sam (August 3, 2016). "The Literary Battle for Nat Turner's Legacy". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  59. ^ Jaffe, Meryl (February 19, 2014). "Using Graphic Novels in Education: Nat Turner – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund". Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  60. ^ Foster, Sharon Ewel. The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part One, The Witness, A Novel. Howard Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4165-7803-1.
  61. ^ "The Resurrection of Nat Turner". WUNC. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  62. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2019-03-26). "How a College Music Department Helped Unearth a Long-Lost Philly Funk-Soul Classic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  63. ^ "Hosanna Santa invoked and woke up enslaved individuals from Southampton to Chatham Manor". Genius.
  64. ^ Kitchens, Travis (2016-11-29). "Unfortunate Son: The roots of Tupac Shakur's rebellion". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  65. ^ "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property - Transcript". newsreel.org. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  66. ^ Kendt, Rob (November 4, 2019). "Nat Turner". Backstage. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  67. ^ "People's Drama, Inc. presents Nat Turner by Paul Peters"[permanent dead link‍]. Revisiting Rebellion: Nat Turner in the American Imagination, American Antiquarian Society. Accessed December 10, 2022.
  68. ^ "Script: "Nat Turner" / by Paul Peters, 1939". Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  69. ^ "Following Faith: A Nat Turner Story". 2011-02-08. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  70. ^ "Nat Turner: Following Faith". totaltheater.com. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  71. ^ Rampell, Ed (2015-11-03). "General Nat Turner, the Black Spartacus in a new play". People's World. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  72. ^ Green, Jesse (September 26, 2016). "God's Will and God's Warning, in Nat Turner in Jerusalem". vulture.com. New York. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  73. ^ Pressley, Nelson (March 20, 2018). "Nat Turner play at Forum Theatre gives the rebel the high ground". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  74. ^ Brantley, Ben (2016-09-27). "Review: 'Nat Turner in Jerusalem', an Avatar of Divine Vengeance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  75. ^ "Nat's Last Struggle". Conejo Players Theatre. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  76. ^ "Virtual Reading of Nat's Last Struggle | Event Calendar". WAVY TV. 2020. Archived from the original on 2024-07-18. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
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