Nat Turner

Home > ... > Social Sciences and the Law > Sociology and Social Reform > Social Reformers > ...

Nat Turner

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Nat Turner 1800-1831, American slave, leader of the Southampton Insurrection (1831), b. Southampton co., Va. Deeply religious from childhood, Turner was a natural preacher and possessed some influence among local slaves. Apparently believing himself divinely appointed to lead fellow slaves to freedom, he plotted a revolt with a band of approximately 60 followers. After killing the family of Turner's owner, the band ravaged the neighborhood, in two days killing a total of 55 white people, mostly women and children. The revolt was soon crushed, however, and 13 slaves and three free blacks were hanged immediately. Turner himself escaped to the woods, but was captured six weeks later and hanged. Dozens more blacks were also killed in retaliation. The abortive uprising, by far the bloodiest and most serious in the history of slavery in the United States, led to more stringent slave laws in the South and to an end of the organized abolition movement there. Over the years, Turner became a figure of controversy, seen by some as a vicious fanatic and by others as a hero of black resistence.

Bibliography: See studies by H. Aptheker (1943 and 1968), E. Foner (1971), J. Duff and P. Mitchell, ed. (1971), K. S. Greenberg, ed. (2003), and S. French (2004); C. Burnett, dir., Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (documentary film, 2004).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Turner-N" title="Facts and information about Nat Turner">Nat Turner</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Nat Turner." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Nat Turner." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 15, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Turner-N.html

"Nat Turner." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Turner-N.html

Learn more about citation styles

Nat Turner Insurrection

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Nat Turner Insurrection (1831) Slave revolt in Virginia. It was led by Nat Turner, a carpenter and preacher who believed he was inspired by God to seek vengeance for blacks. With c.70 men, he killed 57 or more whites in four days before the revolt was crushed. Many blacks died in revenge killings, while Turner and 19 others were hanged.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O142-NatTurnerInsurrection" title="Facts and information about Nat Turner">Nat Turner</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Nat Turner Insurrection." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Nat Turner Insurrection." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (November 15, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-NatTurnerInsurrection.html

"Nat Turner Insurrection." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-NatTurnerInsurrection.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in American Memory.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Journal of Social History; 6/22/2005
Free Article Race and Liberty in the New Nation: Emancipation in Virginia from the Revolution to Nat Turner's Rebellion.(Book review)
Magazine article from: The Historian; 12/22/2008
Free Article Biggest Black march: Million Man demonstration opens new era.
Magazine article from: Ebony; 12/1/1995

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Nat Turner before the bar of judgment: Fictional treatments of the Southampton Slave Insurrection.
Magazine article from: African American Review; 12/22/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...responsible for the cure.'" Pauline Bouve's Nat Turner is similar to and yet different from the other authors' Nat Turners. Bouve endows her Nat Turner with special powers, a narrative "strategy...
Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment: Fictional Treatment of the Southampton Slave Insurrection
Magazine article from: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography; 4/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment: Fictional Treatment...Massacre (1856) is an overlooked example of Nat Turner in literature. James, a British consul...ninety books over three decades, introduced Nat Turner into a conventional romance. To...
Interview: Kenneth Greenberg on the Nat Turner rebellion and a new book he has edited about that event
Transcript from: NPR Tavis Smiley; 4/17/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...Kenneth Greenberg on the Nat Turner rebellion and a new...confessions of Nat Turner, which were published...offer insights on Nat Turner, who he was...passionately about Nat Turner, given the kind of...modern scholarship on Nat Turner was during...
The confessions of Nat Turner.(American History Play)
Magazine article from: Junior Scholastic; 12/13/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...should understand * Nat Turner led the bloodiest...troubled slave named Nat Turner helped to explode...everything we know about Nat Turner comes from...the words! Benjamin Turner: With such a restless...farm marvel at young Nat's remarkable gifts...
Profile: Charles Burnett's documentary "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property"
Transcript from: NPR Morning Edition; 2/10/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...Burnett's documentary "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property...Noon BOB EDWARDS, host: "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property...and co-writer of "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property...the story of the story of Nat Turner, how people have...
Nat Turner kin talks about rebellion significance.(Virginia Beach Beacon)
Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot; 2/24/2008; 700+ words ; ...KEMPSVILLE Although Nathaniel Turner died almost two centuries...slavery. The name of Nat Turner was supposed to...students Feb. 6 about Nat Turner: Visionary, Liberator...opportunity to learn about Nat Turner the same as you are...grandson of Nathaniel Nat ...
Nat Turner: a Slave Rebellion in History and Memory.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Journal of Southern History; 5/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History...4.) We know less about Nat Turner, who led one of the...reader is first introduced to Turner, then to the foundational...novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner. Central to the collection...
Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory
Magazine article from: The Journal of Southern History; 5/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History...4.) We know less about Nat Turner, who led one of the...reader is first introduced to Turner, then to the foundational...novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner. Central to the collection...
Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment: Fictional Treatments of the Southampton Slave Insurrection.(Review)
Magazine article from: The Mississippi Quarterly; 9/22/1999; ; 700+ words ; Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment: Fictional Treatments...becomes "the bearer and defender of the Nat Turner tradition" who is simultaneously sympathetic...important nineteenth-century novel in the Nat Turner tradition is Harriet Beecher Stowe...
Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment: Fictional Treatments of the Southampton Slave Insurrection.
Magazine article from: Journal of Southern History; 8/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; Nat Turner Before the Bar of Judgment...Stone's study, The Return of Nat Turner (Athens, Ga., 1992...linked to the `historical' Nat Turner" by a military trope--the...Bouve borrows to construct a Nat Turner of "mystery" (p...
Click to see an enlarged picture
Nat Turner. Other (Public Domain)

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Popular on Newser:

Nation's First Marijuana Cafe Opens in Portland

(11/14/2009 6:19:02 PM)

Obama Bows to Emperor

(11/14/2009 4:03:04 PM)

Obama's Ego Needs Its Own ZIP Code

(11/14/2009 6:01:02 PM)

OMG, Enuf With Ur Duckface

(11/15/2009 7:50:02 PM)

Craziest Rap Concert Demands

(11/15/2009 5:30:03 PM)