Page 278 - American Stories, A History of the United States

11Slaves and

Masters 1793–1861

Nat Turner’s Rebellion:
A Turning Point in

the Slave South
O n August 22, 1831,

the worst nightmare of
southern slaveholders
became reality. Slaves in
Southampton County,
Virginia, rose in bloody rebellion. Their
leader was Nat Turner, a preacher and
prophet who believed God had given
him a sign that the time was ripe to
strike for freedom; a vision of black and
white angels wrestling in the sky had
convinced him that divine wrath was
about to be visited upon the white
oppressor.
Rallying followers as he went
along, Turner led his band from plan-
tation to plantation, killing nearly 60
whites. The rebellion was short-lived;
after only 48 hours, white forces dis-
persed the rampaging slaves. The reb-
els were then rounded up and executed,
along with dozens of other slaves who

Le ARN i N g O b j e C T i V e S

11.1 11.2 11.3

What factors What divided How was
made living and united slavery related
conditions white to economic HORRID MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA (1831) A composite of
for southern southern success in the scenes of Nat Turner’s Rebellion, an illustration from a book entitled
blacks more society? South? p. 259 “Authentic and impartial narrative of the tragical scene which was
or less p. 253 witnessed in Southampton County” [New York, 1831]
difficult?
p. 247

Listen to Chapter 11 on MyHistoryLab