Nat Turner And The American Revolution

Nat Turner has an unbelievable life story that portrays his exponential amount of courage and his willingness to fight for anything that he believed in. With his courage in mind, many other slave rebellions occurred after the massacre led by Nat Turner. Throughout his whole entire life, Nat Turner was looked upon as a leader, and using his influence, he had a huge impact on slavery. “He was said to have described events that occurred before he was born, leading several of his relatives to believe that he was a prophet.” (“Nat Turner”)

The revolt lasted up to two days, but what we see if Turner actually does not practice the killing himself. Turner finds it hard to find enough courage to even find his former slave owners and slaughter them and their family. It turns out a lot of them actually influenced a lot of his religious point of views, and that “In spite of his enslavement, in spite of his own preaching’s and prophecies, he did not know that he could do it.” (54). A lot of the slave army actually took it too much into their own hands slaughtering infants, children, and any other whites that did not even have part to do with the

Nat Turners Rebellion became monumental for many people of color, he was idolized and respected for his courageous actions. The rebellion created fear that spread through the South, even those in favor for abolishment now wanted stricter laws for slaves. Turner was “recorded on the list of dishonor” for the organization he had lead (“An Address To The Slave Of The united Slaves”). There had been an interview by Thomas R. Gray, defending and slightly sympathizing with Turners actions, many rejected the validation of the interview and felt as if he just wanted “to trick, confuse, and overwhelm the slave’s minds.” (“The Southampton Tragedy”).

On March 5th, 1770, the event now known as the Boston Massacre took place, in which about 5 colonists were killed after soldiers opened fire on a riot. The event led to the engraving entitled "The Bloody Massacre" by Paul Revere. Revere was a well known silversmith and leader of Patriots, the group against the British Parliament, who had been taxing them and not letting them live in the areas they wanted to live in. The group called the Sons of Liberty was a group of Patriots who had held protests against the British taxation and boycotted many British goods in retaliation. The Boston Massacre occurred after a British customs official killed the 11 year old Christopher Seider, followed by a large funeral held by the Sons of Liberty.

With the start of the Industrial Revolution taking shape in America, a plethora of inventors began to contribute, whether they knew how impactful it would be or not. Massachusetts born Eli Whitney was one such inventor. Eli Whitney was a young student who, after graduated from Yale College in 1793, took a ship to Savannah, Georgia in which he was to take up a tutoring position on a South Carolina plantation. He was to become a private tutor while he concurrently prepared to enter law. While on his journey to Georgia Eli met the widow of General Nathanel Greene, Katherine Greene, in which she invited Eli to visit Mulberry Grove, where she believed that he could be of use in aiding local planters with farming issues.

Nat Turner and John Brown are both noted, as being symbols of American reform. Leaders of abolitionist groups, who went on a killing spree believing they were given “extraordinary powers from above” and were executed for their strong beliefs of anti-slavery. Their gruesome murders could easily attract followers and spark interest in others to write their biographies. John Brown and Nat turner both came from strong religious backgrounds.

Paper Topic 1 After reading Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) in the course packet, and watching the film Birth of a Nation (2016) I was able to notice some key takeaways and differences between the two. The film Birth of a Nation was directed by Nate Parker, he also played the main role in the film acting as Nat Turner.

Nat Turner Rebellion Stacey Cofield Florida State College at Jacksonville Nat Turner Rebellion The primary source that I have chosen is Nat Turner Explains His Rebellion, 1831. More than fifty white men, women and children were led to their untimely demised at the hands of Nat Turner. Leading a revolt that was comprised of Black men, some freed and others enslaved, Turner felt his actions were an act of God.

Role of African Americans in the American Revolution African Americans played an important role in the American Revolution. They fought for the British in hopes of being free from their owners, they fought for the Americans because they believed in the American cause and the fight for freedom. They were fighting for their beliefs. During the American Revolution, the biggest motivation to win the war, for African Americans was gaining their freedom. Many African Americans, free and enslaved wished to join the fight for freedom.

The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793. Versions of a cotton gin have existed since the first century in which single rollers were used to try to separate the seed from the cotton. Over time, a double roller system was invented. Finally, in 1793, the version invented by Whitney actually used teeth-like projections to remove the seed from the cotton. A belt and pulley system then separated the lint from the seeds.

Stephen B. Oates writes about a slave named Nat Turner, who led a rebellion against slavery in the book “The Fires of Jubilee”. Turner was born on October 17, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. His mother Nancy was bought by a man named Benjamin Turner in 1795 and was transported to America. Nat’s father was never named, but was married to Nancy.

He stayed out of trouble and he would do everything that was asked of him (“Nat Turner and the bloodiest slave rebellion”). Many believed that Turner’s education and intelligence played a major role in his ability to be able to be a leader of such a bloody rebellion (Klein,Christopher). His rebellion made a statement. They ended up killing 51 white people including children (“Nat Turner”). He had slave owners and their families in fear.

Turner killed more than 60 whites including women and children during the rebellion. Nat Turner believed he was chosen by god, and Harriet believed in god but did not think she was chosen. On the other hand Nat had no siblings and his father is unknown while Harriet had eight and her father was Ben Ross. All in all, both Nat turner and Harriet Tubman besides them both being slaves had many differences and similarities that affected many people good and badly.

The Fires of Jubilee written by Stephen B. Oates is a book written about a young slave life from prepubescents to adulthood, or better yet a young smart boy to an older anarchy inducing man. The setting of the book takes place in Southampton County Virginia around the 1800’s. The main protagonist being a young slave called Nat Turner. The author very briefly gives details about Nat’s life as a newborn, mainly giving a brief summary of who his mother is. His mother was purchased to be a slave by a man named Benjamin Turner, a wealthy tide water planter.

The banned book that I chose to read for this quarter was “The Confessions of Nat Turner” by William Styron. The book is loosely based upon the slave rebellion that Nat Turner led in Southampton County, Virginia from August 21-23, 1831. The book starts with Nat Turner waiting for his trial for the rebellion, and then proceeds to look back on his life and then tell the novels through a series of flashbacks. The flashbacks start with his first slave master, Samuel Turner, and end with him leading the slave rebellion. The book has also come under quite a bit of criticism however.