Nat Turners Rebellion by Reggie Farina, last updated 5/10/98

Related historical timeline created with Timeliner (Nobles grad, Tom Snyder)

Nat Turner's Rebellion


On October 2 of 1800, Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia. He worked on a farm with his master Benjamin Turner. Nat Turner had taught himself how to read by the time he was a young man and from there on also taught other blacks to read at nights. He was hoping for emancipation when he was sold and separated from his wife. Because of that event, Turner became extremely spiritual, and took up one of the many forms of abolitionism, slave rebellion.
Having seen visions many times, Turner came to the conclusion that he was the person to carry Christs burden of the race war that existed. The visions also gave him the idea that slavery would end, although it did not for some time. Concluding that an eclipse of the sun was the omen he was looking for, Turner , along with a handful of relatives and friends, became determined to meet the horror of masters with horror of their own. Almost sixty slaveowners were killed along with their families, many of them being decapitated or having parts of their bodies dismembered. Turner had hoped that other slaves would join in on the rebellion but when that did not occur, a white militia broke up Turner's forces. All over the country slave owners killed their slaves at random, decapitating them and placing their heads on poles. Fifty slaves were tried and found guilty of crimes and hanged. Nat Turner went into hiding for almost two months after which he was found and hanged. Throughout his rebellion and hiding, Turner recognizing the fact that he was on a mission of Christ, tried to end slavery in the quickest way he thought possible.

Graphics of Nat Turner



Links to Nat Turner


  1. Prophet, Visionary, Slave Revolt Leader
  2. Nat Turners Confessions
  3. A brief History of Nat Turner




--Reggie Farina, student at Noble & Greenough School-Class of 2000
--history teacher:LE Hartmann
--sources:Americas History Volume 1