Nat Turner’s Southampton Slave Revolt Essay -- Nat Turner’s Slave Rebe

Nat turner was a man with a vision that would change America forever. His vision mayhave not sounded right to the intermediate person but to Nat Turner, he was on Earth to realize his vision. Nat Turner is the most famous and most controversial slave rebel in American history, and heremains a storm center of dispute(Fires of Jubilee author Stephen B. Oates). Nat Turners slave revolt may have not been the greatest centering to solve the problem of slavery,but it did open many peoples eyes. Slavery was an accepted practice in society but it was not ahumane or kind thing. The cruel and unjust treatment by the slave masters in the 1800s led to NatTurners slave revolt, which in turn led to the abolitionist movement.Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 in the small town of Jerusalem in Southampton,Virginia. Nats mother Nancy was one of 400,000 native Africans brought to North America before1808. While most of the Africans had come from West Africa, Nancys was supposedly from in theNor ths Nile River country(Fires of Jubilee). Folk chroniclers say that slave traders or warlikenatives abducted Nancy when she was a teenager. She was thrust over to European slave tradersand crammed on a disease infested slave boat headed to the New World(Fires of Jubilee). Nancysship landed at Norfolk, Virginia around 1795. She then was herded more inland where slave tradersexhibited her at some(prenominal) slave auctions. Around 1799 Nancy was brought by Benjamin Turner andher life on a plantation began. Not long after Nancy had arrived at the plantation, she married other slave whose name is unknown(Fires of Jubilee). Their union produced Nathaniel NatTurner. In Hebrew this name meant the gift of God. Nancy did not want to bring her young sonup as a slave so she tried to kill him. The slave owners punished Nancy for trying this and shackledher for a lengthy period.As Nancy watched Nat get a little older, she find that she had a special child. She wasextremely proud of her young s on Nat. Nat was bright, and quick to learn and he stood out from therest of the children. In one instance, Nancy overheard a communication Nat was having with some ofhis playmates. He was telling them of a story that had taken place long before he had been born,yet he told the story like he was there. Nancy asked young Nat Did anyon... ...rocess of abolishing slavery. The climax of the steps was PresidentLincolns Emancipation Proclamation. Nat Turners slave revolt and the abolitionist movementreally helped bring an end to the cruel and unjust naive realism of slavery. Without the Nat Turner slaverevolt the abolitionist movement would have never come about. Some critics complain that therevolt was very violent and unnecessary, but so was slavery. The slave revolt opened Americaseyes to the ills of slavery and paved the way for less violent revolutions such as the Black Islamicuprising and the Civil Rights non-violence movement. Bibliography1. Aptheker, Herbert Nat Turners Slave R ebellion, Johnson and Williams Inc., New York, New York, 19212. Farina, Reggie Nat Turners Rebellion, Snyder Publications, Chicago Publishing House,Chicago, Illinois, 19633. Friedman, Jesse Nat Turner Prophet, Visionary, Slave Revolt leader, Adu publish inc.,New York, New York, 18924. Gray, Thomas R. The Confessions of Nat Turner, Thomas R. Gray publishing, Lucas andDenver printing, 18315. Oates, Stephen B. Fires of Jubilee Nobles, Turner and Smith, Los Angeles, California1899