Illustration of the discovery of Nat Turner (1800 - 1831), the American slave who led an uprising in August 1831.
•On November 11, 1831, after a swift trial and conviction, an enslaved black man named Nat Turner was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, after being convicted of leading a violent revolt against slavery.
•Nat Turner lived in Southampton, Virginia. A religious leader who ministered to both free white people and enslaved black people, Mr. Turner studied the Bible fervently and often reported experiencing visions from God.
•He interpreted some of these visions as calls to revolt against slavery and white plantation owners and soon planned a rebellion.
•On August 21, 1831, Mr. Turner led a group of black people in an attack on a nearby plantation, recruiting other enslaved black allies along the way.
•Armed with firearms and tools, Mr. Turner's troops grew to sixty-seventy people and killed about sixty white people before being confronted and defeated by a militia.
•Many of Mr. Turner's followers were killed or captured immediately, but Mr. Turner escaped and evaded searchers for weeks. They captured him on October 30, 1831.
•Fearful defenders of slavery throughout Virginia wanted Nat Turner harshly punished as an example to others who might be inspired by his efforts.
•He was executed along with thirty other black participants in the revolt, but the enslavers' brutal retaliation and suppression did not end there.
•In the months after the rebellion, angry white mobs tortured and murdered hundreds of black people who had not taken part in the revolt.
•In addition, Virginia and other slaveholding states passed laws prohibiting black people from assembling freely, conducting independent religious services, or learning to read and write.
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