The course of this historical event
Nat Turner was born a slave worked in a plantation in Southampton, Virginia. He had been privileged to receive instruction through reading, writing, and religion, and was a highly intelligent man (Aptheker, 2006). Nat later ran away from his master’s plantation and stayed in the woods for thirty days. During that time, he claimed to have had visions and heard the Spirit tell him to return to his master’s fields and serve him just like he ought to have been doing. Nat sneaked back to the displeasure of his fellow slaves who had been of the impression that during this time, he had escaped just like his father. However, he told them of the Spirit’s call to return and they could not believe his ‘folly’.
Nat became a fiery preacher, and started claiming that he had been chosen to release them from slavery. He claimed to see visions that directed his mission. On this night when the solar eclipse happened, Nat translated it for the sign to attack. He gathered his followers and together they attacked their masters’ houses killing more than fifty people who were mainly women and children.
The immediate and long-term consequences of the rebellion
Word about the rebellion spread. According to Allyn (2019), local authorities went after the insurgents capturing and killing them. Turner escaped for sixty days before he was caught. Days after the attack, 3,000 soldiers swept the region killing Blacks they suspected to be insurgents, while capturing others, convicting and executing them. The revolution, which was supposed to instill fear and stir other slaves into action in defense of their freedom turned unsuccessful. Instead, the few existing liberties were taken away and stringent laws against slaves and tough penalties against revolutions were put in place (Allyn, 2019). Slaves were not allowed an education, travelling, preaching, or to have social gatherings. The shaken White population became suspicious of every little move their slaves made.
Even so, Turner’s rebellion was imprinted in the minds of the African Americans, and their will for freedom did not die. In the long term, African American individuals such as Martin L. King Jr. among others rose and fought for their rights. The rebellions that followed bore fruits in the long run.
My support evidence
The sources that I used for this paper were secondary sources that included primary evidence to support their claim. As such, there is factual evidence to support the claim of the story, making it a historical event that impacts the American society. Gilder Lehrman provides a letter by Turner, while Aptheker’s “Nat Turner's slave rebellion : including the 1831 "Confessions” provides detailed information to the event.
References
Allyn, N. (2019). History Now. Retrieved from https://www.gilderlehrman.org/content/nat-turner%E2%80%99s-rebellion-1831
Aptheker, H. (2006). Nat Turner's slave rebellion : including the 1831 "Confessions. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications.
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