Nat Turner

author

Nat Turner

d. 1831

A preacher and enslaved man in Virginia, he became one of the most consequential figures in the history of resistance to slavery in the United States. His 1831 revolt shocked the South and left a lasting mark on American history and literature.

1 Audiobook

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, and Acknowledged by Him to be Such when Read Before the Court of Southampton; With the Certificate, Under Seal of the Court Convened at Jerusalem, Nov. 5, 1831, For His Trial. Also, an Authentic Account of the Whole Insurrection.

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, and Acknowledged by Him to be Such when Read Before the Court of Southampton; With the Certificate, Under Seal of the Court Convened at Jerusalem, Nov. 5, 1831, For His Trial. Also, an Authentic Account of the Whole Insurrection.

by Nat Turner

About the author

Born into slavery in Southampton county, Virginia, around October 2, 1800, he became known for his religious intensity and for preaching to other enslaved people. Accounts from his lifetime describe him as deeply shaped by visions and biblical reading, which he believed pointed him toward a special purpose.

In August 1831, he led an uprising in Southampton that killed dozens of white people before it was suppressed. He was captured, tried, and executed on November 11, 1831. The rebellion brought brutal retaliation, tighter controls on enslaved and free Black people, and enduring fear across the slaveholding South.

Turner remains a powerful and contested figure in American memory: to some, a freedom fighter resisting an inhuman system; to others in his own time, a symbol used to justify even harsher repression. His life and the document published as The Confessions of Nat Turner have continued to shape debates about slavery, violence, religion, and resistance.