Books with title Nat Turner: Rebellious Slave

Nathaniel Nat Turner was a black slave who led a rebellion in the American South in the summer of 1831. A charismatic leader, Turner gathered about 75 slaves to his cause. By the time the insurrection was suppressed, more than 100 were dead, and Turner was hanged. In the aftermath, laws were passed to prevent the education of slaves and a deeper schism opened between abolitionists and slaveholders. The rebellion was truly a harbinger of the bloody events to come. This significant story of pre-Civil War America is the focus of this comprehensive volume, a valuable support for social studies curricula.

In this detailed study spanning the eras of slavery, Jim Crow, and civil rights, Scot French places the contested history and enduring memory of Nat Turner's Rebellion within the broader context of the black freedom struggle. French builds his narrative around close readings of historical texts, both famous and obscure, from early American prophecies of slave rebellion to William Styron's 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Turner. He devotes considerable attention to the interplay between quasi-official narratives, such as "The Confessions of Nat Turner" by Thomas R. Gray, and less authoritative sources, such as rumor and oral tradition. Whereas most historians accept "The Confessions" as gospel, French presents several compelling counternarratives that point to a wider conspiracy. A groundbreaking work of American history, analogous to Merrill D. Peterson's Lincoln in American Memory and Nell Painter's Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol, The Rebellious Slave will alter our views of both slavery and its complex, everchanging legacy.

Nathaniel Nat Turner was a black slave who led a rebellion in the American South in the summer of 1831. A charismatic leader, Turner gathered about 75 slaves to his cause. By the time the insurrection was suppressed, more than 100 were dead, and Turner was hanged. In the aftermath, laws were passed to prevent the education of slaves and a deeper schism opened between abolitionists and slaveholders. The rebellion was truly a harbinger of the bloody events to come. This significant story of pre-Civil War America is the focus of this comprehensive volume, a valuable support for social studies curricula.

Nathaniel Nat Turner was a black slave who led a rebellion in the American South in the summer of 1831. A charismatic leader, Turner gathered about 75 slaves to his cause. By the time the insurrection was suppressed, more than 100 were dead, and Turner was hanged. In the aftermath, laws were passed to prevent the education of slaves and a deeper schism opened between abolitionists and slaveholders. The rebellion was truly a harbinger of the bloody events to come. This significant story of pre-Civil War America is the focus of this comprehensive volume, a valuable support for social studies curricula.

Nat Turner, an enslaved black man, believed he was chosen by God to battle against the evils of slavery. Driven by visions, Turner banded with six others, and on August 22, 1831, his rebellion began with attacks at plantations in Southampton, Virginia. As he and his group moved from plantation to plantation, dozens of enslaved men joined them. Finally, the local militia put an end to their movement, arresting and hanging many of the men involved. Nat Turner’s rebellion deepened the divide between Americans who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to protect it, setting the groundwork for the American Civil War.