He learned to read from one of his masters sons, and he eagerly absorbed intensive religious training. Such sources must be analyzed with great care.[12], Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 20:26, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Ruffin_Gray&oldid=1138646831, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 20:26. Accessibility Statement, DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Gray grew up in a wealthy family with deep roots in Southampton County and powerful connections in local, state, and federal politics. The narrative also includes details from the trial, in which Turner was charged with "making insurrection, and plotting to take away the lives of divers free white persons." Will responded his life was worth no more than others, and his liberty as dear to him. Will professed no loyalty to Turner and gave no hint that he believed in Turners religion. Though their families worked the same Southampton County soil, their birthrights could not have been more different. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine There is also an expenditure of additional energy for the movement by livestock and humans (Osuji 1974; Turner et al. Even though Turners situation was a unique one, slave owners at the time had to recognize the potentiality for violence iven the peculiar mix of social, psychological, and racial tensions shaping life on the antebellum plantation thus required a certain logic with which threats to that way of life might be explained (Browne, 316). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. In To Wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature (1993), literary critic Eric Sundquist argued that the idea of a conspiracy between Gray and Turner obscured the intricate antagonism between slaves voice and masters voice that the language and formal structure of the Confessions makes evident. Sundquist characterized the Confessions of Nat Turner as more of a literary collaboration thatlike slavery itselfcould be read from the dominant perspective of the enslaver or from the subversive perspective of the enslaved person. Over the next 36 hours, they were joined by as many as 60 other enslaved and free Negroes, and they killed at least 10 men, 14 women, and 31 infants and children. When he was 21 his father gave him 400 acres at Round Hill where there was a structure worth about $50. Type your requirements and Ill connect you to Slavery and Resistance Through History Quiz, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nat-Turner, Nat Turner - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Nat Turner - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Without the literary-historical controversy surrounding Styrons novel, however, the 1831 Confessions of Nat Turner most likely would not be enjoying this scholarly renaissance. He was influenced by those closest to him, including his father and mother strengthened him in the belief of his divine gift, along with his grandmother, who was very religious (Gray, 5). Instead it seems more likely that Brantley was drawn by Turners millennialism, Turners ability to convert Brantleys heart, and Turners success in stopping the outbreak of a disease where blood oozed from Brantleys pores. Armed resistance from the local whites and the arrival of the state militiaa total force of 3,000 menprovided the final crushing blow. How does Jacob Lawrence characterize American art? How were John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster similar? [2], Gray wanted to live at Round Hill (his dad's house was located here) instead of being involved in law. The late insurrection in Southampton has greatly excited the public mind, and led to a thousand idle, exaggerated and mischievous reports. What factors led to the ultimate defeat of Nat Turner? What was Frederick Jackson Turner main reason for encouraging imperialism? He paid taxes on 2 horses and 14 slaves that were older than 12 that spring. Nat Turner (1800-1831) was known to his local "fellow servants" in Southampton County as "The Prophet." On the evening of Sunday, August 21, 1831, he met six associates in the woods at Cabin Pond, and about 2:00 a.m. they began to enter local houses and kill the white inhabitants. Turner describes two other ways that God communicated with him. Only a few miles from the county seat the insurgents were dispersed and either killed or captured, and many innocent slaves were massacred in the hysteria that followed. Scholarly critics of the post-Styron era, he noted, had tended to emphasize the unreliability of Grays narrative rather than the unique revelatory powers of Nats story., Sundquist, by contrast, argued for the possibility that Nat Turners voiceand hence his thought, his vision, and his leadershipremains strongly present in the historical text that may be reconstructed from the accounts of his revolt and his published document. Sundquist acknowledged his own scholarly agenda in recovering Turners voice. Paul Royster (Depositor), University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow. Gray seems to want to emphasize the power of whites following the insurrection, making a point of including the fact that "Nat's only weapon was a small light sword which he immediately surrendered, and begged that his life might be spared" (p. 3). Gray depicts Turner as a religious leader who at a young age was touched by divine greatness, and whose mother concluded that "surely" he would "be a prophet." According to Confessions, a divine spirit also dictated Turner's otherwise unexplainable return after running away in 1825. Examine what slavery means. 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. The author describes Nat as intelligent because of his thinking and highly dangerous because of his actions and how Nat doesn't feel any sorrow for his actions. The Confessions of Nat Turner was published within weeks of the Turner's execution on November 11, 1831, and remains an important source for historians. Nearly two centuries later, the legacy of that question is still evolving. 13. It gave enslavers and their sympathizers a plausible explanation for the uprising, one that placed the blame on a single charismatic leader acting under extraordinary conditions. To do so, he had to establish that the confession was voluntary, that the transcript was accurate, and that Turner was telling the truth. He was born sometime in the early 1800s, the exact date is unknown. Tens of thousands of Americans have come to know the event only through William Styrons 1967 novelThe Confessions of Nat Turner. He was the youngest of six children of Thomas and Anne Cocke Brewer Gray. Through the open cell door, we see the barely visible features of NAT TURNER covered in chains in the small jail cell. Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Virginia, the week before Gabriel was hanged. great uprising for it is said that God spoke to him and told him One-hundred and eighty-five years ago this week, in the early hours of Aug. 22, Turner and a some of his fellow slaves entered Turners masters home, having decided that Turner must spill the first blood to start the rebellion, as Turner would later recount. Describe Southampton Nat Turner Slave in Virginia who started a slave rebellion in 1831 believing he was receiving signs from God His rebellion was the largest sign of black resistance to slavery in America and led the state legislature of Virginia to a policy that said no one could question slavery. The most consequential signs appeared in the months prior to the revolt. This electronic online edition is based on the first edition, published at Baltimore, MD, in November 1831. The Spirit that spoke to the prophets in former daysand I was greatly astonished, and for two years prayed continually, whenever my duty would permitand then again I had the same revelation, which fully confirmed me in the impression that I was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty. 12. copyright 2003-2023 Homework.Study.com. He did find a survivor who was a 12-year-old girl who gave him a recounting of what happened there. As a result, the document has become a springboard for artists who want to imagine the life of the most famous American to rebel against slavery. On the night of August 21, together with seven fellow slaves in whom he had put his trust, he launched a campaign of total annihilation, murdering Travis and his family in their sleep and then setting forth on a bloody march toward Jerusalem. In the spring of 1831, when Turner and his co-conspirators were deciding the day for the revolt, the rebels selected Independence Day with its obvious political resonances. The opportunities to assess and reassess Turners legacy, however, are far from over: The Sundance sensation Nat Turner film, The Birth of a Nation, arrives in theaters in October. How were Thomas Sankara and Fred Hampton alike? These confessions were intended to create a powerful, yet vicious, image of Turner and his reasons for initiating such a devastating. [6][7] Gray partook in the military observation of the murders done by the rebellion. How were Booker T. Washington and Ben Franklin similar? But the slave rebel turned Gray's purpose to his own advantage. Nat Turner, (born October 2, 1800, Southampton county, Virginia, U.S.died November 11, 1831, Jerusalem, Virginia), Black American slave who led the only effective, sustained slave rebellion (August 1831) in U.S. history. [3], In 1829 he bought his brother Roberts property - who had recently died - (giving him 800 acres of real property), he also bought a lot - a piece of land - in town with a house and got of another one. Turner was born the property of a prosperous small-plantation owner in a remote area of Virginia. A deeply religious man, he "therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped [him]self in mystery, devoting [his] time to fasting and praying. Patrick H. Breen teaches at Providence College. Abraham may have been his father. A series of incidents, beginning in childhood, confirmed Turner in the belief that he was intended for some great purpose and that he would surely be a prophet. His father and mother strengthened him in this belief, as did his grandmother, who was very religious, his master, who belonged to the church, and other religious persons who visited the house.. While Turner acknowledged Gray's rendering of his confession as "full, free, and voluntary" during his trial, there can be no doubt that Turner's execution was inevitable, regardless of his confession, given the climate in the state following the insurrection (p. 5). Through Gray, Turner successfully manipulated the insecurities of the master class to broadcast his message. The text of the confession also suggests that neither of these statements is actually accurate. After his revolt was violently suppressed by local whites and the Virginia state militia, Nat Turner went into hiding but was eventually captured, tried, and hanged. [2], Their land they owned was next to the plantation of Joseph Ruffin who was Edmund Ruffins's father's cousin. Gray captured Turner's words in an effort to understand, and thus control, the assault that had been made on his society. October of 1830, he became certified as an attorney and was allowed to start practicing in court in December. Omissions? Turner describes two other ways that God communicated with him. How did James Watson characterize Rosalind Franklin? Tomlins' first chapter focuses on the most important source on the revolt, Thomas R. Gray's The Confessions of Nat Turner (Richmond, 1832). Though their families worked the same Southampton County soil, their birthrights could not have been more different. Why is Frederick Jackson Turner important? Turner had many reasons for revolting, but his most important Kenneth S. Greenberg, professor, and Chair of the History Department at Suffolk University explains why Gray's book is not reliable as one may think. One confession of Nat Turner is important, they wrote. In 1831, shortly after he had been sold againthis time to a craftsman named Joseph Travisa sign in the form of an eclipse of the Sun caused Turner to believe that the hour to strike was near. Source: Thomas Gray, The Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. As Fully and Voluntarily Made to Thomas R. Gray, in the Prison Where He Was Confined, November 5, 1831. Return to North American Slave Narratives Home Page, Return to The Church in the Southern Black Community Home Page, Return to The North Carolina Experience Home Page. The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. Turner described himself as uncommonly intelligent for a child (Gray, 6). Turner claims that, as an adult, the Spirit revealed to him "the knowledge of the elements," with the promise of much more (p. 10). At some point it's believed that Thomas Gray sold these slaves which were called "legacy slaves" and took the money for himself. Indeed, Sundquist wrote, given its formative role in the course of African American cultural history and both anti- and proslavery argument, it is hard to imagine why Turners Confessions should not be accorded the same attention granted, say, Emersons Self-Reliance or Thoreaus Civil Disobedience.'. How did Thomas R. Gray describe Nat Turner? Once granted an audience with Virginia governor James Monroe, however, Gabriel confessed little or nothing of value to his captors. Why was john brown viewed differently than Nat Turner? Nat Turner escaped until October 30, when he was caught in the immediate vicinity, having used several hiding places over the previous 9 weeks. Doomed from the start, Turners insurrection was handicapped by lack of discipline among his followers and by the fact that only 75 Blacks rallied to his cause. Faulkner who, in speaking of the differences between the North and the South, was particularly prescient: You must adopt some plan of emancipation, he declared, or worse will follow., Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter, During the mid-20th century, the Nat Turner story was revisited by many, in the course of the movement for the study of black history in schools, an attempt to remedy the fact that many mainstream textbooks glossed over or omitted major turning points in the history of the U.S. if the people involved were black. He is a complete fanatic, or plays his part most admirably., Turners narrativepresented, Gray insisted, with little or no variation, from his own wordsgave an autobiographical history of the late insurrection and the motives behind it. Perhaps for similar reasons, when blacks referred Turner at the trials, they called him Captain Nat or General Nat, instead of alluding to his religious position as a preacher or a prophet. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. On November 10th, Gray registered his copyright for the Confessions, in Washington, D.C. Nat's first master was Samuel Turner, a wealthy Virginia aristocrat who believed in educating his slaves. While still a young child, Nat was overheard describing events that had happened before he was born. Filmmaker and actor Nate Parker portrays Southamptons most famous son as a warm, encouraging preacher, in the words of the New Yorkers Vinson Cunningham. So the first question is, who was Gray and why was he doing this? His "Confession," dictated to physician Thomas R. 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