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    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia
    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia
    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia
    Ebook41 pages49 minutes

    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia

    By Nat Turner

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    About this ebook

    Perhaps no other moment in history crystallized the fears of slave owners in the South like the August 21-22, 1831, slave insurrection led by Nat Turner in Southampton, Virginia. The Confessions of Nat Turner details Turner's life and the events surrounding that armed revolt, which left more than fifty men, women, and children dead and that culminated in Turner's execution. Interviewed by Thomas R. Gray while in prison for his crimes, Turner begins his story with his earliest childhood memories, and the subsequent narrative leads the reader through his decision, formed over years in slavery, to strike for freedom. He discusses his religious conversion and his belief that he was called by God to murder slave owners. He spares no detail as he describes each murder he oversaw or committed. Unique in its historical moment and powerful voice, The Confessions of Nat Turner provides an uncensored look into one of the key events in the slave-holding South.

    A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUNC at Chapel Hill Library
    Release dateSep 1, 2011
    ISBN9780807869468
    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia
    Author

    Nat Turner

    Nat Turner (1800-1831) was an African American preacher and rebel. Born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia, Turner learned to read and write as a boy. Known for his devotion to prayer and the Bible, Turner often spoke of receiving visions from God. At 21, he escaped slavery for a month before returning to Samuel Turner. Sold to Thomas Moore, he was working in the fields one day in 1824 when he foresaw a day of judgment ahead. He began preaching to enslaved African Americans and white Southerners alike, gaining a reputation as “The Prophet.” In 1831, after witnessing a solar eclipse, he began preparation for his rebellion by purchasing muskets and gathering his closest allies. On August 21st, he gathered around 70 enslaved and free African Americans, many of them armed and on horseback. Over the next several days, the rebels moved from house to house, freeing slaves and killing the slaveowners they encountered. Soon, a state militia arrived to strike down the insurrectionists, leading to the execution of over a hundred Black people in the area. Captured six weeks later, Turner was tried on November 5th and hanged on November 11th. His last words at the trial, reportedly, were “Was Christ not crucified?” Despite the failure of the insurrection, Turner and his allies have been recognized for their commitment to Black liberation for giving their lives to defend their people from injustice, enslavement, and persecution. Using jailhouse interviews with Turner and independent research, Thomas Ruffin Gray, an attorney who represented some of the rebels, published The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831). Since his execution, Turner has inspired generations of activists, artists, and political figures alike with his commitment to revolutionary action and moral indignation regarding the institution of slavery.

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    Book preview

    The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia - Nat Turner

    The Confessions

    of Nat Turner, the

    Leader of the Late

    Insurrection in

    Southampton, Va.

    By Nat Turner

    Edited by Thomas R. Gray

    A DocSouth Books Edition

    The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

    Chapel Hill

    A DocSouth Books Edition, 2011

    ISBN 978-0-8078-6945-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)

    Published by

    The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

    CB #3900 Davis Library

    Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

    http://library.unc.edu

    Documenting the American South

    http://docsouth.unc.edu

    docsouth@unc.edu

    Distributed by

    The University of North Carolina Press

    116 South Boundary Street

    Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808

    1-800-848-6224

    http://www.uncpress.org

    This book was digitally printed.

    About This Edition

    This edition is made available under the imprint of DocSouth Books, a collaborative endeavor between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library and the University of North Carolina Press. Titles in DocSouth Books are drawn from the Library’s Documenting the American South (DocSouth) digital publishing program, online at docsouth.unc.edu. These print and downloadable e-book editions have been prepared from the DocSouth electronic editions.

    Both DocSouth and DocSouth Books present the transcribed content of historic books as they were originally published. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors are therefore preserved from the original editions. DocSouth Books are not intended to be facsimile editions, however. Details of typography and page layout in the original works have not been preserved in the transcription.

    DocSouth Books editions incorporate two pagination schemas. First, standard page numbers reflecting the pagination of this edition appear at the top of each page for easy reference. Second, page numbers in brackets within the text (e.g., [Page 9]) refer to the pagination of the original publication; online versions of the DocSouth works use this same original pagination. Page numbers shown in tables of contents and book indexes, when present, refer to the original works’ printed page numbers and therefore correspond to the page numbers in brackets.

    Summary

    During a span of approximately thirty-six hours, on August 21-22, a band enslaved people murdered over fifty unsuspecting white people in Southampton, Virginia. The exact number killed remains unsubstantiated—various sources claim anywhere from fifty to sixty-five. Almost all of those involved (or suspected of involvement) in the insurrection were put to death, including Nat Turner, who was the last known conspirator to be captured. Following his discovery, capture, and arrest over two months after the revolt, Turner was interviewed in his jail cell by Thomas Ruffin Gray, a wealthy Southampton lawyer and slave owner (French). The resulting extended essay (summarized below), The Confessions of Nat Turner, The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, VA., was used against Turner during his trial. The repercussions of the rebellion in the South were severe: many slaves who had no involvement in the rebellion were murdered out of suspicion or revenge.

    Gray attempts to commit his [Turner's] statements to writing, and publish them, with little or no variation, from his own words (p. 3-4). It should be noted, however, that

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