Introduction

As the Industrial Revolution swept the nation with its improvements to the textile industry, cotton became highly profitable. The demand for more cotton led to a demand for more enslaved workers to labor in the fields. Although African Americans outnumbered whites in many areas of the South, rebellions were rare. Therefore, it came as a surprise to the white residents of Southampton County when on August 21, 1831, a slave named Nat Turner led an insurrection against his master's family and their neighbors. The insurrection caused a backlash against African Americans, both free and enslaved. White Virginians began to rethink the institution of slavery and the regulations associated with it. Thus, Nat Turner's Rebellion became one of the most famous slave insurrections in U.S. history.

Assignment

You are to evaluate the significance of Nat Turner's Rebellion. Who were the principal participants? How did the Rebellion develop? How did it end? What part did education and religion play in the rebellion? How would you characterize Turner? What happened to him after the rebellion? What was the impact of the rebellion on the institution of slavery and on the way southern whites viewed slaves and slavery?

Primary Sources

Thomas R. Gray, “The Confessions of Nat Turner” [ link ]

“The Richmond Enquirer on Nat Turner's Rebellion” [ link ]

Harriet Ann Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself , “Fear of Insurrection” [ link ]

Library of Virginia , “Norborne E. Sutton's message to Governor John Floyd” [ link ]

Library of Virginia , “Message from Williamson Mann to Ben Lee” [ link ]

Goodell, William, 1792-1878. “The American slave code in theory and practice ” pg 331-332 [ link ]

Message from John Floyd to James Hamilton, “Governor of Virginia Discusses the Revolt” [ link ]

T. Trezevant, P.M., American Beacon of Norfolk, Virginia [ link ]

Secondary Sources: Recent Sources

"Nat Turner" from American Heritage [ link ]

“Nat Turner's Rebellion” [ link ]

Scot French, The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in American Memory [ link ]

Secondary Sources: Nineteenth Century

T. W. Higginson “Nat Turner's Insurrection,"The Atlantic August 1861 [ link ]

Geo. H. Burks, New Albany, Ind., “NAT TURNER's INSURRECTION," 1889 [ link ]