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The Slave Rebellion of General Nat TurnerRevolutionary Worker #945, February 22, 1998 |
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| Slaveowners in the United States always
insisted that "their" slaves were content and obedient. But research has
documented at least 250 revolts, both large and small, in the U.S. during slavery times.
And much was done to hide their existence. James Madison, the main author of the U.S.
Constitution, warned in 1774 that it was best that "such attempts should be concealed
as well as suppressed." One of the largest revolts was led by the slave Nat Turner in
Southampton County, Virginia during the summer of 1831. Nat Turner was born on the Virginia farm of Benjamin Turner on October 2, 1800. It is said that his African-born mother so hated slavery that she wanted to kill Nat at birth rather than let him grow up in bondage. These were times marked by an intensifying struggle over slavery. Five days after Nat's birth, the slave leader Gabriel Posser was executed in Richmond, the Virginia state capital. Posser, a blacksmith, had assembled hundreds of slaves on his master's estate on August 30, 1800. He planned to recruit Catawba Indians and poor whites, and capture Richmond. Sudden rain and flash floods caused their defeat. When Nat was 11 years old, 500 slaves rose up on the Andry plantation in Louisiana. They marched from plantation to plantation gaining strength, until they were defeated by the U.S. Army. When Nat was 22, a Black freeman named Denmark Vesey organized a conspiracy to seize Charleston, South Carolina, the sixth largest city in the U.S. His organization involved thousands of slaves who stockpiled weapons. Unfortunately, an informer betrayed the conspiracy. Thirty-five people, including Vesey, were hanged. To suppress news of this conspiracy, the authorities even destroyed the records of the trial. By 1830, tobacco farming had exhausted the soil of Virginia. As Virginia plantations went bankrupt, many slaveowners moved to Georgia, Mississippi or Alabama--where vast lands had recently been stolen from the Creeks, Cherokees and other Native people. Virginia slaves were often "sold down the river" to carve the new cotton plantations out of southern forests. Slave families were broken up. Discontent was intense. The Prophet of Cross Keys
Nat Turner displayed remarkable abilities from an early age. He taught himself to read and conducted experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder, paper and sand-cast moldings. Even when he was a small child, fellow slaves came to him for help planning secret activities. Nat believed he was destined for some great mission. To prepare himself, he refused to touch tobacco, money or liquor and spent much time fasting and meditating. He had a reputation as a holy man--which played a role in his ability to organize people. Nat Turner had a series of vivid visions, which he believed revealed his mission--to lead slaves in a war for freedom. He expected a final sign telling him when "I should rise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons." Nat wanted to avoid the betrayal that exposed Vesey's conspiracy. He chose an inner circle of only four disciples--Henry Porter, Hark Travis, Nelson Williams and Samuel Francis--and even they were not told all his plans. The group developed wide contacts among small farms of Southampton, where slaveowners typically had three or four slaves. Nat traveled preaching, learning about the roads and identifying potential recruits. He filled pages with maps and plans--often written in his own blood--using special hieroglyphs that, even after his death, the slavemasters could not decipher. On August 13, 1831, Nat Turner saw a black dot move across the sun. He decided that it was time for Black folks to go on the move. "The seal was lifted from my lips." He told his core supporters to meet on Sunday, August 21, by Cabin Pond in the Cross Keys district of Southampton. Lightning StrikesOn the appointed day, six men gathered by the pond--Nat's four tested supporters, plus two new recruits. They ate barbeque and drank apple brandy as they waited. Late in the afternoon, after Nat arrived, the group discussed things deeply and seriously. Could they win? Were the risks worth it? Nat questioned one of the new recruits closely. Will was a tall, powerful man, whose back was a mass of scars from whippings. Will told Nat that his wife had recently been sold to a slave trader--and that he was willing to die for freedom. Morale was high, their resolve was fierce. General Nat laid out his plan: They would strike hard and fast that night--marching toward the county seat at Jerusalem. Along the way, they would kill every slaveowner they could find--regardless of age or sex--to stampede slaveowners out of the county in panic. They wanted no one left alive during their raids who could sound an alarm or provide intelligence to the slaveowners' armed forces. They planned to gather arms, supplies and especially new recruits along the way. They expected the slaves of Virginia to rally to their cause. Slaveowners would later report that no specific incidents drove these men to act and there was no sign that the conspiracy was motivated by desire for revenge against specific slavemasters and overseers. The slaveowners tried to imagine how the slaves intended to escape--by fleeing North or by seizing ships in Norfolk? None of these speculations added up--and the southern newspapers insisted that this uprising was simply an insane act of murderous fanaticism. In fact, it was nothing of the kind. It was a deliberate, planned revolutionary uprising--an attempt by slaves to liberate themselves by class warfare that would overthrow the slaveowners. Nat Turner was not looking for escape. He had already successfully escaped once, but (to the amazement of other slaves) had voluntarily returned to his master so he could continue his mission. Nat Turner expected to seize Jerusalem's arsenals and rally all the slaves of the county to his side. Southampton was, by then, 60 percent Black. It is believed that he expected to retreat into the nearby Dismal Swamp and wage an expanding guerrilla war from that base. This plan involved tremendous daring and deep faith in the masses of slaves. The state of Virginia, like most slave states, was an armed camp. The slaveowners' white militias had 100,000 part-time soldiers. Nat's forces started with only one hatchet and a broadax. At 10 p.m., they moved out of their sanctuary and entered the home of Joseph Travis--whose papers said he owned Nat Turner. Nat Turner struck the first blow with the hatchet. And Will finished the killing with the broadax. They took arms and horses, and rode into the night. The slave rebels arrived at a slaveowner's compound at a full gallop, completely unexpected, and swiftly killed all the slaveowners. No mercy was shown. Then they set out to explain their uprising to the slaves. At almost every stop, slaves joined General Nat and his cause. They would leave with more fighters, more horses, muskets (mostly loaded with birdshot), swords, and any other weapons at hand. A letter later reported: "Their banner was a red cross on a white field. Some of the wretches wore red caps, and other had their hats ornamented with red bands of various materials." Through those dark, early hours of August 22, General Nat's forces grew as he had planned--first a dozen, and then 30 and then 60, and perhaps 80. He divided his fighters into two units. The most resolute 10 or 15, including Will, were given the horses, to ride up rapidly on the farm houses and kill the slaveowners. Nat took his post at the rear with a second contingent including those on foot. They would arrive running soon after the farmhouses had been taken, discuss the revolt with new recruits and go on to plan the next operation. Two reports reveal their discipline and class consciousness: First, no woman was sexually abused during the revolt. And second, though they showed no mercy toward any slaveowners, they spared a family of poor white farmers, who Turner believed "thought no better of themselves than they did of the Negroes." BattleAt dawn bodies were discovered and word went out--creating an instant panic. Slaveowners simply left their farms--often in the hands of their slaves. Armed groups of whites started to form. At that point, the slave rebels were approaching the county seat in Jerusalem, intent on seizing the arsenal and supplies there. Monday afternoon Nat sent fighters to one last farm, Parker's Farm, for recruits before advancing on Jerusalem, only three miles away. A rear guard of Nat's rebels were guarding the Parker's gate and suddenly came under attack from 18 whites with guns. Nat rushed to the scene with his main force. This was a decisive moment. Nat rallied his men and led a charge that scattered the whites. As they pursued the whites over a hill, they found them reinforced by a unit of militia. In the firefight that followed, a core of 20 men rallied to Nat, but many of the rest were scattered. Nat realized that he could not take Jerusalem without regrouping. He moved on through the countryside--though by now most farms they reached were deserted. It is not known how many slaves were wandering the countryside trying to hook up with Nat's forces--but that night, at Major Ridley's plantation, at least 20 new recruits arrived, bringing Nat's forces to 40. Even though his forces were growing again, at this point Nat had lost the initiative and the element of surprise. Armed forces of the system were now pouring into the county seat--and three companies of federal troops with artillery were advancing from Fort Monroe. Jerusalem had become impossible to seize. That next Tuesday morning, Nat's forces fought several skirmishes. Again his men fought well, but they were exhausted. They were also very low on ammunition and had started loading gravel into their guns. In the last battle, they faced a force of over 100 armed men. Will died, reportedly leaving three whites dead at his feet. His last words were said to be "Bury me with my ax." By midday, the slave rebels had been dispersed into smaller groups of three or four--still moving through the countryside, trying to regroup or escape. Turner returned to Cabin Pond, hoping his forces would join him there. No one made it. The revolt had lasted 48 hours. The fighters had killed about 60 slaveowners--and had shaken the whole system to its core. Nat dug a hole under a pile of fence rails and went into hiding. Trying to Smother the Fire
In the weeks that followed, the authorities carried out an intense and brutal terror aimed at the slaves. Militia came from neighboring counties. Federal troops and artillery arrived. Marines from Norfolk marched through the countryside--showing that the federal government firmly backed the counterrevolution. On August 31, the Southampton county court convened to try the captured rebels of General Nat's army. Sixteen were executed. Everywhere, slaves were reported to be surly and unruly. Slaveowners were terrified that Nat Turner's revolt would be followed by more uprisings--especially because General Nat himself was uncaptured, and no one knew if he still had an armed force. Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, niece of George Washington, said that to slaveowners, slave revolt appeared to be "a smothered volcano--we know not when, or where, the flame will burst forth, but we know that death in the most horrid form threatens us." The slaveowners lashed out in Dixieland's infamous lynching tradition. Bands of armed men descended on the slave shacks. Many hundreds of Black people--both freemen and slaves--were brutalized and executed, not just in Southampton but in all the surrounding counties and states from Maryland to Georgia. In many towns and rural districts, every Black home was searched. Slaves everywhere were told that if they dared another revolt, every single slave--adult or child--would be systematically murdered. The slaveowners' bloody message: submit or die. The Richmond Whig reports that "men were tortured to death, burned, maimed and subjected to nameless atrocities. The overseers were called upon to point out any slaves whom they distrusted, and if any tried to escape they were shot down." One early historian, James Wells Brown, reports that a slaveowner, Captain Harris, had been saved from Nat Turner's fighters by a slave Jim, believed to be the Captain's half-brother. Afterwards Jim refused to join Captain Harris in hunting down escaped rebels. Jim said they were only men, like him, who wanted to be free. Harris reportedly drew his gun and shot Jim dead on the spot. Slaves were tortured to gather information about plots for revolt--including General Nat's wife (whose name was not recorded). In North Carolina, dozens of slaves were jailed, tortured and executed for plotting revolt in the counties of Duplin, Cape Fear and Pedee River. A letter from Raleigh, North Carolina, September 5, 1831 said, "Yesterday, every free negro in the city, without exception was arrested and underwent an examination before the Committee of Vigilance constituted at our town meeting." New laws were imposed. Slaves were forbidden to meet in groups of more than five, except for work. There were new and intense efforts to forbid teaching slaves to read, and Black preachers were forbidden to travel and preach. Several states considered laws against the interstate trade in slaves--so that no Virginia slaves could bring the "infection" of revolt. Alabama announced it would hang anyone caught with revolutionary abolitionist literature. Georgia offered a $500 reward for anyone who would kidnap the leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and bring him to that state for trial and execution. One Virginia legislator said, "We have, as far as possible, closed every avenue by which light might enter their minds. If you could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be completed; they would then be on a level with the beasts of the field, and we should be safe!" The Death of the Prophet
On October 30, Nat Turner surrendered in Cross Keys after two months in hiding and was brought in chains to Jerusalem. A lawyer, T.R. Gray, interrogated him--producing a document called The Confessions of Nat Turner, containing many details of the revolt. In court, Nat Turner pled "Not guilty"--saying he felt no guilt. On November 5 he was convicted of insurrection. On November 11, he walked to the hanging tree without any signs of fear, refused to speak last words, and was executed. The heirs of his owner were given $375 after his execution --apparently what the slave-state of Virginia thought this heroic leader was worth. His body was cut up by the oppressors. All the counterrevolutionary terror of the slaveowners could not save their system. Though Nat Turner's revolt ended in defeat--it had a huge impact. Millions, North and South, could see that slaves were not, in fact, content in bondage--but were straining against the most brutal conditions. The most radical activists of the abolitionist movement looked for ways to encourage and support future slave insurrections. Within 30 years, the country would be gripped by a great civil war in which the revolutionary task of abolishing slavery would finally be carried out, by force of arms. Nat Turner's memory and spirit lived on among the slaves and free Blacks. In the shacks of slave row, people sang:
Sources
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary
Worker Online |
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