Nat Turner Rebellion Essay

In The Book the story of one of history’s most famous Slaves, Nat Turner, is described by Stephen B. Oates. Nat Turner Became famous for leading a rebellion with his fellow slaves. In that rebellion the fugitive slaves killed without remorse the families that owned them. Because of Nat’s good reputation with whites, the rebellion was never expected and the reason behind it was unknown until Nat confessed to Thomas Gray in 1831. Nat Turner’s violent actions caused uproar in the white community and spurred many convulsive attacks in response. Being born into slavery most slaves would just go out into the fields or in other work places, but Nat was different. Nat was more intelligent than other slave children. His original owner, Mr. Benjamin

Because Travis liked Nat so much, he allowed Nat to continue his studying of the Bible and leading his church meetings for the slaves. Although these meeting would soon lead to the gathering of the slave that joined Nat in his plot against the families he believed God had told him to kill. In the August of 1831, Nat began his rebellion Starting at night by going from house to house in South Hampton County and mutilating the entire family of each house. After the attacks Nat was eventually turned in to the Authorities, who came to believe that Nat was a “religious maniac” (Oates 102) who planned the rebellion because of his delusional impulses. Though Nat’s revolt only lasted five days, the group of rebellious slaves managed to take the lives of at least fifty people (American Firsthand 232). While in jail and being interviewed by Thomas Gray, Nat described how God spoke to him and said that Nat should “ take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching, when the first should be last and the last should be first.” (American Firsthand 234). Thomas Gray followed that by asking if Nat believed he was wrong for what he did to the white families, and Nat answered with “ Was not Christ crucified?” (American Firsthand 234), a controversial saying that some believe Gray might have added to the account for the purpose of making the story able to be