Category: Nat Turner

“Though it is a painful fact that most Negroes are hopelessly docile, many of them are filled with fury, and the unctuous coating of flattery which surrounds and encases that fury is but a form of self-preservation” (Styron, 1967). Nat Turner stood for a cause far greater by organizing and leading a rebellion that would cause mass panic amongst the common white folks, and also present ascendancy during the year of 1831. Through Nat Turner standing up for what he believed was God calling to him to take a stand, to Nat Turner’s execution in the rebellion, Nat Turner showed why his brothers and sisters of color should stand with him and evince not to give up hope.

Nat Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800. Nat’s father was believed to have run from the plantation when he was at a very young age while Nancy, his mother, was a household slave for their owners. The plantation on which Nat Turner was born was once owned by a man named Benjamin Turner in Southampton County, Virginia. Growing up, Nat Turner showed very uncommon caliber and was given the opportunity by his owner to learn how to read and write. In 1810, Benjamin Turner died, and Nat was passed down to his oldest son, this being Samuel Turner. Under given consent, Nat Turner used every opportunity he could grasp to expand his knowledge and, most importantly, his religion. He became very engrossed by religion so much to the point of him reading the Bible, and even studying the books pertaining to the Old Testament. This being said, lead to the point that he grew into manhood almost living by the words of the prophets. As he grew, he became more confused about why he was a slave and not a freedman. He believed he held more knowledge than a vast majority of freed slaves that he had witnessed. Though, no matter how true this was, he was still seen as a slave despite what he thought. Undeterred, Nat Turner continued expanding his strength and knowledge on his faith. Turner once said, “Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting myself to fasting and prayer.” Nat Turner soon would become a preacher and would begin giving preaches to nearby slave owner’s slaves as seen in the movie “The Birth of a Nation” by Nate Parker. In this movie, Nat Turner was seen traveling with Samuel Turner, his owner, to preach and subdue those slaves that were seen as unruly. Samuel’s main reasoning in doing this is due to being financially strained and he saw how much he was to profit from Nat Turner’s preaching. When Nat traveled to preach to his fellow brothers and sisters, did he see how terribly they were being treated? Seeing countless atrocities against him and his fellow slaves made him want to do stand up for what he believed was right. Though there is no evidence that in this movie this actually is a true event that happened, it still signified what Nat Turner believed was his mission and was his calling from God himself. Throughout Nat Turner’s preaching, did he feel as if God was trying to contact him through his dreams? Sometimes hearing things such as, “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven,” the Spirit told him, “and all things shall be added unto you.”. He begin believing the things being told to him, trying to also understand exactly what each and every dream really meant. As Turner strengthen his preaching skill, did it give him a more recognizable character in his county and making it easier for him to know most of Southampton County immediately. This being said, giving him more considerable freedom of movement.

Sometime around 1821, Nat Turner ended up running away from his plantation for about thirty days. This is because his master supposedly put him over an overseer who may have whipped Nat and punished him, making him desire his freedom. Though he was able to successfully escape, did he return back? His fellow slaves were nonplussed with his voluntarily returning despite the consequences that may have followed. This being said, Nat did reply by saying “And the negroes found fault, and murmured against me,” Turner recounted later, “saying that if they had my sense they would not serve any master in the world.” This all being said, Nat Turner didn’t see himself working for a righteous or earthly master in his mind. No not at all, instead he saw himself working for Jehovah, who was the angry and vengeful God of Israel. Later on, Nat Turner allegedly got married to a woman whose name was Cherry. In the movie, Nat is seen trying to convince Samuel to buy her, stating that she would be a strong and very valuable woman. She was first very against wanting to live on the plantation and wanting to run away but after meeting Nat, they fell in love and got married. Though, this was never seen as a legitimate marriage marriages between slaves were never accounted for, unlike those between freedmen and whites. After getting married, Samuel Turner ended up dying in 1822, therefore, Nat Turner and Cherry were sold off to different plantations. Cherry ended up being sold off to a man named Giles Reese and Nat Turner was sod off to Thomas Moore. They were able to see each other from time to time, but it still caused both of them tremendous pain and signified the affliction that came along with living as a slave.

Nat Turner perennially saw how white people treated men and women of color. Slaves owners acting as with complete, and udder, benevolence. This being said, breaking up families, selling off Negroes to whip-happy type masters, and even denying education to men and women of color because they felt as if it wasn’t necessary for them to retain knowledge.

In the paper, there is the presentation of information surrounding the Nat Turner rebellion as well as its significance to the course of the black people during the time. It can be established that Nat Turner’s rebellion is among the most significant rebellion by slaves ever in the history of the United States of America. It is a war considered to have also played an important role in the emergence and development of an antebellum slave society. The society could subsequently engage in the American civil war that occurred between 1861 and 1865, where the abolition of slavery was the leading cause. In the case of the Nat Turner war, it happened where there were armed black men who moved systematically from plantain to plantation, murdering white slave owners and their families. They started from Nat Turner’s own master, where they killed all the facility members. It occurred in Southampton County. It led to the quest by the whites in Southampton county to prevent further revolt through the installation of many armed white militias, who arrested and killed the blacks, both free and the enslaved, alongside being put in subservient positions. Nat Turner, a slave, led such a rebellion and initially consisted of six armed men, whose number increased to fifty-six in the end. In the end, fifty-six white people had been killed, while militias intercepted Nat Turner’s group as they headed to Jerusalem in the execution mission. The insurrection led to the development of its waves to Virginia and North Carolina. It is where the blacks, even those who had not taken part in the rebellion, were murdered mercilessly by the white mobs for fear of getting attacked by them. It can be established that Nat Turner’s rebellion, which consisted mainly of the black people championing for the end of slavery, was of importance to the course of the blacks at the time, as further explored subsequently.

First, it can be observed that during the Nat Turner rebellion, many white slave owners were murdered. In this case, the main course of the black people was to obtain freedom from slavery induced to them by the whites, while the whites aimed to maintain slavery for their economic benefit of cheap labor. In such a scenario, it occurred that as Nat Turner and his team planned for the execution of the white slave owners, the people who were to benefit in the end were the black slaves. It occurred that Nat Turner and his team of black people moved from one plantation to another, systematically murdering the owners and their families consisting mainly of the white people. During the murder, there was the killing of fifty-five white people, who were slave owners. Their slaves could then benefit since they could enjoy some freedom following the absence of the rude and ruthless owners. It is during such a time, where the slave owners had been murdered, where the blacks could have some freedom. Such freedom entails making their own decisions and implementing them as guided by their instincts and not forcefully demanded by external forces from their bossy masters. Also, the slaves could move around freely, such that no one could pile pressure on them regarding only the places where they should be present. Therefore, the murdering of the white masters during Nat Turner’s rebellion provides some degree of freedom to the black people since their masters could be rendered absent.

Additionally, there is an aspect of health for the lacks, more especially the enslaved ones. In such a case, it can be observed that Nat Turner and his armed group, in 1931, moved from plantation to plantation in a systematic manner to murder the Whites who were the owner, and hence set free their slaves who had been subjected to work under harsh conditions by their masters. In such a scenario, it is worth noting that the environments in which the slaves operated were not recommendable for a healthy human being. Thus, they posed human health threats and problems that could detriment the lives of the slaves. Such environments include working in the cold since their masters did not matter much about their wellbeing. They only minded about the assigned works being completed by the concerned slaves, and not their health matters; also, the slaves did not have proper clothing to orient them from cold, hence further exposing them to dangers of contacting cold-related infections, such as pneumonia. In the event such diseases persisted in the patients, they were also exposed to death since no proper medications were provided to them by their masters. Also, the fact that their masters were murdered in the rebellion meant that they could, for some time, can access healthy food for the betterment of their health, since they contained a balanced diet that is suitable for healthy individuals in the long run. In the normal periods when their masters were present, they could not have the right to access better foods since they were considered of less value when it comes to the treatment of fellow human beings. The fact that racism took center stage meant that they were marginalized by their white counterparts and thus treated poorly in terms of the healthy lifestyles, characterized by eating healthy foods required of a human being. Thus, the slaves had faced marginalization of greater magnitude, and their taking of a balanced diet was inexistent. The opportunity for them to get treated as humans with healthy foods arose during the Nat Turner rebellion, and they could access whatever food they wanted since the limiting rules of their masters were temporarily halted during their killings. Also, they could effectively shelter themselves as necessary, depending on the nature of environmental conditions, hence shielding them from the effects of bad weather elements such as rain, cold, intensive exposure to sunlight, as well as working for long hours in humid conditions, that could expose the slaves to contract such ailments as gangrenes. Also, due to the temporary absence of their masters, the slaves could afford to rest after working, which is recommendable for the healthy development of individuals. The slaves could also afford to interact with one another, an aspect that promotes socialization that is known for its fitness in the healthy development of people. Thus, Nat Turner’s rebellion contributed to the healthy living of the slaves at the time, hence important.

Furthermore, the occurrence of the Nat Turner rebellion served to show the might and capability of the black people to fight for their rights. In such a case, following the killing of fifty-six white people by Nat Turner and his team in 1931, the governor of Southampton County was concerned to the extent of mobilizing a regimen of white militia to combat the insurgents. The insurgents, who were fifty-six in number, got intercepted by such militia as they tried entering the city of Jerusalem to continue with the killings of the white people. The militia was far much large in number, and was heavily armed, compared to the group of Nat Turner, which had few members with less harmful equipment, and also not trained members of the armed forces. It served to show the mighty combative force that black people can form. Also, such black people could boldly attack the white people in their plantations, away from their original homeland, which also served to express the wrath that had been developed by the black people following the injustices meted on them by the white people during slavery practices. Also, following the insurrection, white people began living in fear of the black people, such that they formed groups/mobs that started descending on the black, in Southampton, Virginia, and North Carolina. It resulted in the murder of more than 300 black people by the irate mob of white people for fear that they could wedge another insurgency on them. Such also shows the extent to which the force of the black people had reached in demanding for the freedom rifts, and which had been consistently withheld by the white people. Also, it led to Virginia beginning to start legislation meant to abolish the slave trade. Such indicates that they might have witnessed how disruptive, destructive, and dangerous the bent-up anger of the black people could be following their denial of freedom rights, as witnessed in the killing of fifty-five whites in their respective plantations, famously referred to as Nat Turner rebellion. The voting out of the bill, and the subsequent imposition of more stringent rules on the blacks where they have had more limited freedom of movement, education, ownership of property, acquisition of money, marrying, and cohabitation came as a result of the white people in fear that the blacks could have more power to re-strategize and reorganize to carry out another even severe insurrection. Also, they could access their rights and finally champion for equality, as aided by the constitutional dictates (Tomlins & Nat, 38). In such a case, there was a light for the blacks that had the capabilities of spearheading even more aggressive protests and rebellion in the run to fight for the abolition of slavery and finally obtaining freedom, as the white people do. Also, following Nat Turner’s rebellion, there spread the rumors even in North Carolina that the black people were plotting to initiate an uprising, forcing the white mobs to kill most of them, with others being arrested. Also, some of them were tried in the end, followed by the execution of a few of them. It is because of the fear of the black people that had developed amongst the white people, which again serves to indicate the mighty nature of the black people’s uprising that can be destructive. In the county, there was also the passing of legislation similar to those of Virginia, where the various elements of the blacks were restricted. They include their freedom of movement, the abolition of rudeness wedged by the black people on the whites, the prohibition of gun-carrying by the blacks, their prohibition from hunting in the woods, their limitation from cohabiting with their fellow black people, and their prohibition from preaching: as also done in Virginia. In the end, the blacks had realized their potentials in fighting for freedom.

Moreover, the Nat Turner revolution was suitable for the black people since it lead to a series of activities by the white people, that involved the suppression and oppression of the black people in Southampton, whereby later between 1861 and 1865, the people from the north could identify how cruel the people in the south got oppressed, leading to them wedging war on them and eventually saw the abolition of slavery, hence freeing the black people in the long run. Such was the ultimate success of the fight for the freedom of the black people that began back in 1831 during the Nat Turner revolution. The series of events that lead to the ultimate attainment of freedom by the black people in 1865, as began by Nat Turner in the revolution of 1831 are explained subsequently.

Following the Nat Turner revolution of 1831, the counties in the south, including Southampton, Virginia, and North Carolina passed stringent laws that saw to it that the black people went through much oppression in their slavery compared to the period before Nat Turner Revolution. In such a case, they were denied basic human rights enjoyed by the white people, including the right of association with their fellow black people, the right to hunt using guns in the woods, the right of free movement, and even the right to cohabitate with fellow blacks, the right to own properties and livestock, the right to carry around guns in public, as well as the right to speak their mind to the white people, as well as the right to earn money from various activities. It is because they were then feared than before, and any opportunity and material could empower them even more; hence, they were denied such aspects. Thus, they were subjected to more severe laws. Such could be observed by other counties who, as time went by, had resorted to reducing their severity on slaves, hence feeling them in the end.

Thus, it occurred that the North, also referred to as the Union, engaged in what got termed as the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865. In such a case, they fought with the South, also referred to as the Confederacy soon after Abraham Lincoln became the president. The war began mainly because of the ensued and long-standing disagreement between the North and the South regarding the enslavement of the black people. The North was against the idea of continued slavery as cherished by the South. Thus, the war between them broke out in the year 1861. It can be established that the North, following the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, was in support of the constitution document that laid a fairground for all, while the South was in favor of the states’ rights that could facilitate the upholding of slavery, hence the continued oppression of the black people. Thus, again, the black people were beginning to experience new dawn as their rights were then being fought for by the white people in the North, as they fought the South. Also, there was a high probability of success since there was a change in the country’s political system, such that there was one resident, and there was also the need to rule by the laws of the land entrenched in the constitution. The North, the Union, in support of the need to have the constitution that spelled equality for all in the land was entailed of eleven states, as compared to only seven states of the South. Thus, there were also high chances of the North winning in the run to have the constitution as a guiding tool in the country’s political landscape. The stance of the South to have continued use of slavery was strengthened after the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831, which had become conspicuous as an outlived way of life still adopted by the South after the passing of their stringent laws on the harsh treatment of the blacks thus, the Nat Turner rebellion played a role in the observed fight of the South by the North in the need to adopt the constitution that could then provide freedom for the blacks, an advantage for them in the long run Chaney.

During the long civil war between the North and the South, it occurred that the South involving the Confederate states were not diplomatic, and were thus not recognized as any joint entity by the government of the United States of America that was ruled by the constitution. Also, no country across the world ever recognized the Confederate states. In most cases, the Union and the South fought in the South, hence leaving most of its people dead, property destroyed, and peace affected. It saw a region of 500,000 people dead in the South. Thus, the South that held onto slavery was being afflicted by the North, consisting of the fellow white people, to the happiness of the backs that could be freed in the south. Also, there were sanctions across the South hence depriving it of the basic resources from other parts across the world. Therefore, it can be observed that the Nat Turner revolution of 1831 led to the South holding more into slavery, a move that could alter attract its enmity with the North, and finally being fought on behalf of the blacks hence their success.

The civil war between the North and the South ended in 1865, following the surrender of the army generals of the South to the ones of the North. It is because the infrastructure of the South had been ruined during the war. It led to the collapse of the Confederacy, leading to the abolition of slavery. It saw a region of four million slaves being freed. It was followed by the reconstruction period where there was the restoration of national unity, with the national government expanding its powers. Since the slaves had been freed, mainly composed of the black people, they were also granted civic as well as political rights after the amendment of the constitution alongside federal legislation. Thus, in the end, the blacks got freedom, where they enjoyed equal rights as white people. Such had been the dream of Nat Turner and his team in 1861 when they wedged war on the blacks. Thus, in the end, Nat Turner’s goal of abolition of slavery in the country had been achieved, to the benefit of the blacks at the time.

The screenplay of The Confessions of Nat Turner should contain a brief story on his birth first. I know is not too much information on the parents and grandparents; however a short synopsis on how he ended in Virginia. This way when the screenplay will be developed the audience will have a brief background on Nat Turner’s origin. After this short information, we should start with Nat Turner’s childhood. It should include when he was born and where. Also, who was his first and last master? How was his early year while grew up? If he went to school and how he develops the knowledge of reading and writing. Also, who motivated him for seeking spiritual advice. In the book, it states that Nat Turner was very religious. We should include how he became so religious, what religion or church he assist, and how the master allow him to do it. This will develop the values Nat Turner develops during the course of his life before he decides to organize a revolt. The drama will show how pacific and religious a person can turn into evil according to the book and the confessions. How any influence of his parents/grandparents ended Nat to take the decision to revolt. In Nat Turner’s life, he had a wife and several children, according to the book information.

During his marriage and before the revolt, the drama will include how his relationship with his wife and children was. Also if he was still married at the time of his execution. How the wife and children took his dead. This is important because based on Nat Turner’s legacy to his children is how the screenplay will take the best of the action. If Nat’s children will continue with his legacy? According to with the book, Nat wants to end slavery. At that time it was a system in place for the abolition of slavery; however was taking too long and based on the book, the masters abused the slaves to the point of torturing them, mutilating, and finally murdering. No justice against the masters; however all the punishment has toured the slaves. I think that was one of the reasons Nat Turner organize the revolt. He wants to kill all the white masters. It is ironic how a person so consecrated to God will make such acts that contradict God’s will. According to the book the person who interview Nat Turner was having a monetary problem and took advantage of the confession to make money. The way the book explained is that some of the confession was omitted, other was inflated or deflated, and others were redacted to the benefit of the person who interview Nat Turner for his own position to gain publicity and money. The screenplay should include the outcome or aftermath after Nat Turner’s execution. I deduct that his children and successor will continue fighting for the abolition of slavery. That will make a big change in the social status of the masters that were predominant whites. Besides the social status, the economy will suffer a big drop since all the slaves were the ones who were doing the hard and most of the jobs around. From my perspective side on viewing the outcome, it will be a great move for the ending of slavery; that happened after that according to with United States History; however, on the screenplay, I want to see Nat Turner’s children fighting for the abolition of the slavery with a won situation. Seeing the future generation free and prosperous. I want to see that Nat Turner’s legacy and execution were worthy. Have the roles inverted, having the whites working the same as black ex-slaves? Having a good relationship and working together. Of course, this is for this screenplay because as of today’s day; we still have differences that have been carried out thru slavery times. There are not as obvious as before, but we all know that they are out there. Closer than we think.

I have a question about Nat Turner that was not on the Confessions. I am curious what was the motive of the revolt since he was so religious and intelligent. I wonder if he lost common sense or what was the trigger for his actions. Also, want to know, why he didn’t mention any of his family in the confession. Is because there were killed or moved, or just lost their mind and forgot everything to end slavery. There is no information if Nat Turner’s parents were alive too before his execution. Those questions I would like to have in the screenplay at the end of the movie.

A good ending will be that one of Nat Turner’s children has a copy of the real confession and at the time of the abolition of slavery, it will be posted for everyone to see. That will be a really nice and happy ending. Showing everyone that the one was posted before his execution was not so credible. The end of the movie will end with having the masters agree to free the slaves based on the confession. It will show that the reason for Nat Turner’s revolt was a reaction to the not well treatment from the masters to the slaves. This final will mark the end of slavery and the beginning of the new prosperous community which ended in a great Country. I know it sounds too easy; however, this is the way I want the movie will follow.

I believe that the Confessions of Nat Turner is not a reliable primary source. According to the book, there were a lot of preferences for the masters (whites) and fewer preferences and/or treatments for the slaves. I believe that the Confessions of Nat Turner was not the original one for the benefit of the masters. This is my opinion based on the book and based on today’s way of life.