FACTS ABOUT NAT TURNER

1. He was born a slave to a small, but prosperous plantation owner named Benjamin Turner. He was greatly influenced by his grandmother who had been brought over from Africa.  She was very religious and very anti-slavery.
2. He was a special child. As early as age 3, he claimed to know things that happened before his birth.  He was taught to read and write and showed great intelligence.
3. He became a preacher and was known as “The Prophet” because he claimed to get visions. One of the visions told him to “fight against the serpent”.
4. He ran away at age 21. His father had run away at a similar age.  After a month in the woods, he returned to “his earthly master”.
5. A solar eclipse (on Lincoln’s 22^nd birthday) convinced him to lead a slave rebellion. Later, when the sun took on a bluish green tint (possibly due to an eruption by Mount St. Helens), he assumed this was the signal to launch the insurrection on August 21, 1831.
6. He started with about six trusted followers. Their first victims were his master Joseph Travis, his wife, nine-year-old son, and a hired hand.  Two of his men were sent back into the house when they remembered there was a baby.
7. Officially called the Southhampton Slave Insurrection, the rebels went from plantation to plantation freeing slaves and killing whites, many in their beds. Their weapons were mostly axes, hatchets, and blunt instruments. 
8. The rebellion was not very successful as only about 75 slaves joined. The entire countryside was riled up and white militias quickly responded.  The rebellion was over by August 23.   Although up to 60 whites were killed, many more innocent blacks were killed in the retaliation. 
9. More than 50 suspected rebels were executed after trials, plus some 40 who were lynched.
10. Turner managed to hide for six weeks. One day a white man noticed his brushwood lair and he surrendered without a fight.  He was hanged on November 11, 1831.  Before he died, the told his story to a local lawyer named Thomas Gray.  He wrote “The Confessions of Nat Turner”, but some historians question its veracity.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-nat-turners-rebellion

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nat-Turner

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Nat-Turner-Quick-Facts