Turner Revolt

Nat Turner was a man with a vision that would change America forever. His vision may not have sounded right to the average person but to Nat Turner, it was right. Turner is the most famous and most controversial slave rebel in American history. Turner’s slave revolt may have not been the greatest way to solve the problem of slavery, but it did open many people's eyes. Slavery was an accepted practice in society but it was not a humane or kind thing. The cruel treatment by the slave masters led to Turner's revolt, which in turn led to the abolitionist movement.

In February 1831 the sign Nat had been waiting for appeared. A solar eclipse appeared this day and Nat told his four closest comrades that they were to stir all of the other Negroes on the plantation because the revolt was going to happen on July 4. The same day the country would celebrate its freedom Nat said, Negroes will celebrate theirs. This day did not work out well because on July 4, Nat got extremely sick and the revolt was called off. This caused Nat to wait for another sign.

Saturday, August 13, 1831 the sky was supposedly a greenish blue color, and this caused Nat to again to tell his four men to spread the word. All that were to be involved in the revolt, would wear red bandannas around their necks to signify cooperation. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 21, the conspirators gathered and Nat decided that was the day the rebellion would begin. The last thing Nat Turner said to his followers was this: "Remember that ours is not a war for robbery nor to satisfy our passions; it is a struggle for freedom. Ours must be deeds not words. Then let us away to the scene of action."

The number of conspirators is a number that has been in question for sometime. Some estimate that there was between sixty and eighty slaves. Mostly what Nat and the group did was go from house to house and killed all white people in the house, this included women and children. Nat and the conspirators killed and burned some plantations down for about seven days. On August 28, 1831, most of the conspirators had been jailed or killed except Turner. The state militia had put down