Nat Turner

(noun)

Nathaniel "Nat" Turner (October 2, 1800–November 11, 1831) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths and at least 100 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States.

Related Terms

Examples of Nat Turner in the following topics:

  • Nat Turner's Rebellion

    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was the era's largest slave insurrection.
    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831.
    • Led by Nat Turner, rebel slaves killed anywhere from 55–65 white people, the highest number of fatalities caused by slave uprisings in the South.
    • In the aftermath of the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion, the Virginia General Assembly passed new legislation making it unlawful to teach slaves, free blacks, or mulattoes to read or write.
    • Evaluate the effect of Nat Turner’s rebellion in the southern black community

  • Anti-Slavery Resistance Movements

    • Three of the best known in the United States during the nineteenth century are the revolts by Gabriel Prosser in Virginia in 1800, Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina in 1822, and Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831.
    • Turner's 1831 rebellion was considered by some to be the largest slave revolt in the history of the southern United States, involving up to 75 slaves.
    • Turner and the other slaves were eventually stopped as their ammunition ran out, resulting in the hanging of about 18 slaves, including Nat Turner himself.
    • Nat Turner was captured on October 30, 1831 after attempting to lead a slave revolt in Virginia.

  • Forms of Resistance

    • Three of the most infamous uprisings that took place in the United States during the nineteenth century are the revolts by Gabriel Prosser in Virginia (1800); Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina (1822); and Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia (1831).
    • Although it involved only about 70 slaves, Turner's rebellion is considered to be a landmark event in American history.
    • Around 55 to 65 people were killed—the highest number of fatalities caused by a slave uprising in the South—as Turner and his fellow rebel slaves rampaged from plantation to plantation throughout Virginia.
    • Turner and the other slaves’ ammunition ran out within a few days and they were apprehended, with Turner evading capture for more than two months.
    • Eighteen slaves, including Nat Turner, were hanged for their part in the rebellion, and 100 to 200 African Americans were killed by militias and angry mobs in retaliation, exceeding the fatalities of Turner’s rebellion itself.

  • The Politics of Slavery

    • Many white Virginians blamed Garrison for stirring up slaves and instigating slave rebellions such as the one led by Nat Turner.

  • Treatment of Slaves in the United States

    • After well-known rebellions, such as that by Nat Turner in 1831, some states even prohibited slaves from holding religious gatherings due to the fear that such meetings would facilitate communication and possibly lead to insurrection or escape.

  • The Proslavery Argument

    • From the late 1830s through the early 1860s, the proslavery argument was at its strongest, in part due to the increasing visibility of the small but vocal abolitionist movement, and in part due to Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831. 

  • Higher Education

    • The movement was led by Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner of Illinois College.
    • On February 8, 1853, the Illinois Legislature adopted a resolution, drafted by Turner, calling for the Illinois congressional delegation to work to enact a land-grant bill to fund a system of industrial colleges, one in each state.

  • The End of the Frontier

    • The idea that the frontier provided the core defining quality of the United States was elaborated by the historian Frederick Jackson Turner, who built his Frontier Thesis in 1893 around this notion.
    • Historian Frederick Jackson Turner used the statistic to announce the end of the era in which the frontier process shaped the American character.

  • Higher Education

    • For 20 years prior to the first introduction of the bill in 1857, a political movement, led by Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner of Illinois College, called for the creation of agriculture colleges.
    • On February 8, 1853, the Illinois Legislature adopted a resolution, drafted by Turner, calling for the Illinois congressional delegation to work to enact a land-grant bill to fund a system of industrial colleges in every state.

  • Television

    • Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Lawrence Welk as well as other stars had popular weekly musical variety shows.