4 As to Nat Turner's rebellion occurring at the wrong time, William Lloyd Garrison, the quintessential abolitionist who firmly believed that moral persuasion would convince slaveholders in Virginia to recognize their sinful ways regarding slavery, flat out condemned Nat Turner and his rebel followers. Garrison also warned the South that "if slavery were not abolished peacefully, more insurrections like Turner's rebellion would be inevitable." 5 Also, some historians have argued that in 1831 the state of Virginia was on the verge of abolishing slavery and that Turner's actions destroyed any and all chances of this happening. In reality, this was not true, for it could be said that Turner's rebellion opened the way for debate in Virginia on the issue of slavery. In fact, the Governor Floyd of Virginia, "was convinced by Turner's rebellion that something had to be done to remove slavery gradually from the state." 6 Thus, it is clear that if...
Nat Turner and the Southampton Revolt of 1831. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992, 178.
Turner was captured on October 30th, tried and found guilty six days later. Turner was hung on November 11th, and then his body was skinned, helping establish a tradition of mutilating blacks accused of wrongdoing, which would survive well into Jim Crow era of the 20th century. Haiti At first blush, it seems difficult to comprehend why Virginia whites would be so distraught about an ultimately unsuccessful slave rebellion. Yes, Turner and
Walker specifically addresses this point when he writes that "God rules the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, having his ears continually open to the cries, tears, and groans of his oppressed people; and being a just and holy Being will at one day appear fully in behalf of the oppressed." Thus, Walker's passage suggests that he knows that slave owners see God in a different
Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion In Stephen B. Oates's The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion, Nat Turner was the Black American slave who led the only useful, unrelenting slave rebellion (August 1831) in U.S. history. Spreading terror throughout the white South, his action set off a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves and stiffened proslavery, anti-abolitionist convictions that persisted in
Slavery Insurrections and Revolutionary Wars Revolutionary Wars vs. Slavery Insurrection Uprising is a common thread throughout history. Whenever one group is oppressed by another the inevitable outcome will be a revolution. In fact, the very term revolution is defined as, "a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence." (Dictionary.com). Throughout history there are many examples of various violent overthrows. Among
The first Great Awakening in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries became a harbinger of the later, more vocal and radical abolitionist movements. The Maryland Abolition Society was another early abolitionist group. Some abolitionist movements espoused violent means to obtain full freedom for slaves, and John Brown is one of the most notorious advocates of radical means. In 1817, a group of wealthy white males founded the American Colonization
Still it is not completely unheard of for a name to be derived from a longer epitaph of Nat, property of man, Mr. Turner. This is how many people's last names resulted in ending with "man." Nat Turner was born a slave in Virginia in 1800 and grew to become a slave preacher. He did not use tobacco or liquor and maintained a clean, disciplined life. He was very religious
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